He was elected to two terms in the Illinois House of Representatives, then received two positions under the spoils system.

He moved to Waukesha in 1896 and was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate three years later, serving one term.

When Jones was ten, the family moved to Hebron, Illinois, to establish a new farm.

Graduating in 1856, Jones returned to the family farm in Hebron, teaching a school there in winters.

Jones became involved in the farm machinery trade and sold such items for five years.

[1] Jones became a member of the State Republican Committee in 1871, serving twelve years as its chairman.

In 1872, Jones was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives for the 10th district, serving two two-year terms.

President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Jones a tax assessor for Sterling, Illinois, in 1880.

The next year, President James A. Garfield named him marshal of the Northern District of Illinois.