William Richard Jones (1839 – September 29, 1889) was an American steelmaking inventor and manager highly valued by his last employer, Andrew Carnegie.
He attended public school in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, but was expelled for sticking up for a classmate, causing controversy with a teacher.
Due to the ill health of his father, Reverend John Jones,[2] he began working at the age of ten in 1849, beginning an apprenticeship at the Lehigh Crane Iron Works, under David Thomas who was a friend of his father's in Wales.
On July 31, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the 133rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment for nine months service and was promoted to corporal.
[3] Instead Jones asked a large salary; Carnegie paid him as much as the president of the United States earned: $25,000 per year.
[2] It was during this time that he became known for establishing the eight-hour day policy:[3] “Flesh and blood cannot stand twelve hours of continuous work.” Carnegie and Jones had a lot in common, especially when it came to discussing the Civil War.
On September 27, 1889, Bill Jones entered Edgar Thomson Steel Works finding multiple workers around furnace C. He learned it was experiencing continual issues with its cooling system in the day.
When pouring cakes of iron ore on the blockage in hopes of getting it to pass normally failed, Jones climbed the scaffolding of the furnace, assisting to work a rod through the cooling system.