ABSTRACT
Mary Jones (?–1930), popularly known as “Mother” Jones, was born in Ireland, and little is known about her early life, there being controversy even regarding the date of her birth, which various historians set at 1830, 1836, 1838, and 1843 (Jones herself proudly claiming the first date). It is said that her grandfather was hanged in the Irish freedom struggle against British colonialism. Her father emigrated to the United States, obtaining employment as a construction worker on the canals and railroads, and was joined by his wife and children afterward. Working as a teacher and dressmaker as a young woman, Mary Harris married iron molder George Jones and began to raise a family in Memphis, Tennessee, but she was the only one among her loved ones to survive a yellow fever epidemic. She then returned to Chicago and worked as a dressmaker, but soon became involved with the Knights of Labor, whose leader, Terence V. Powderly, was to be a lifelong friend. In the 1870s, she began a career as a labor organizer.
