Robert W. Jones, chief of the fire department of Council Bluffs, was born in Greene county, Iowa, in 1873, a son of Augustus Jones, who was born in New York in 1826 and died in 1903 at Council Bluffs. The father lived in those days when a man's life was filled with various industries and various interests and was not given to a specialty as it is today. As a young man he taught school, that being considered a most dignified position for young men, but it proved to be too tame for him and he took up life as a steward on a merchant ship on the lakes, where he had various interesting experiences. His father had early apprenticed him to a carpenter and he felt that at any time he could return to the trade which he had acquired when a boy. He was also proficient as an agriculturist, having been reared upon a farm. In 1849 he was seized with the gold fever and took a trip overland to California.

Robert W. Jones came to Council Bluffs with his parents at the age of seven, and here he received his education in the public schools. He was a proficient student but, like all boys, was eager to get out in the world and earn his own living. He had from the time he was a child been interested in fire engines and had followed them with enthusiasm on their missions through the streets. At the age of seventeen he left school and entered the fire department, first as pipeman, then as captain of No. 4, and in April, 1906, was made chief. Unlike his father, who was interested in many lines, Mr. Jones early selected the business that he cared for most and has struck to it with the persistent determination to win the highest position that it offered.

In 1901, Mr. Jones was married, in Council Bluffs, to Mary A. Wilson, a daughter of E. Wilson. He has been a life-long republican and though he has never sought the offices or honors of his party he has always been active in assisting those who have done so. On occasions of duty or emergency he has always asserted himself with energy and promptness. He is a devoted husband, an honorable and enterprising citizen, a genial and generous companion, vigilant yet kind and humane in all the offices of life. There are hosts of families in this city who feel deeply grateful to Mr. Jones for his efficient work as chief of the fire department. Fraternally he is connected with the Maccabees, the Knights of Pythias, the Eagles and the Woodmen of the World.