Amanda Jones
Who was Amanda Jones?
American author and inventor (1835–1914)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Amanda Jones (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Amanda Theodosia Jones, born on October 19, 1835, in East Bloomfield, New York, became a well-known literary figure and inventor in 19th-century America. She's best known for creating the Jones Process, a vacuum method for preserving food developed in 1872 with Professor Leroy C. Cooley of Albany. This process used vacuum-sealed glass jars to preserve fruits and vegetables without the high cooking heat that changed their flavor and texture, significantly improving on the common soldered tin cans used in food preservation at the time. Jones received a series of patents for this process in 1873, marking her as a notable American inventor at a time when there were very few women inventors.
In 1890, Jones took her preservation work beyond the lab and into the market by founding the Women's Canning and Preserving Company in Chicago. This company not only applied her patented process commercially but also employed only women, aligning with Jones's strong beliefs in women's economic independence and suffrage, which she supported throughout her life. Although the business struggled financially and didn't last long, it was an early effort in women-led business ventures.
Besides being an inventor, Jones had a successful literary career for many years. She published her first poem in 1854 and went on to write multiple poetry collections, including Ulah, and Other Poems in 1861 and Poems in 1867. She regularly contributed to the Ladies' Repository and other magazines, earning respect as a poet among her peers. Her writing and inventing efforts showed an unusual range of interests even for the most accomplished women of her time.
Jones was also a dedicated spiritualist, claiming to be a medium and believing that spirits guided many of her creative and practical decisions. She detailed this aspect of her life in her 1910 memoir, A Psychic Autobiography, where she credited spiritual influence with guiding her inventions and business choices. This belief was a core part of how she viewed her own accomplishments. Along with the Jones Process, she held six patents in total, including one for an oil burner, showing her continued inventive work in different technical areas. In 1893, she was recognized in the biographical book A Woman of the Century as one of the most notable American women of the 19th century. She passed away on March 31, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York.
Before Fame
Amanda Jones grew up in East Bloomfield, a small town in western New York State, at a time when women's education and job opportunities were limited. Despite this, the mid-nineteenth century in the U.S. saw a boom in female literary culture, with magazines like the Ladies' Repository publishing work by women writers. Jones entered this world young, publishing her first poem in 1854 as a teenager, and she established herself as a respected poet and writer over the next decade.
Her interest in inventing came later, influenced by her spiritualist beliefs and practical concerns about household and industrial issues. After the Civil War, American manufacturing and food production rapidly expanded, making the challenge of safe and affordable food preservation important for both homes and industry. Jones's focus on this issue, which led her to work with Professor Cooley on the development of the Jones Process in 1872, emerged more from the cultural and economic conditions of the time rather than from any formal scientific education.
Key Achievements
- Invented the Jones Process, a vacuum method of food canning that preserved fruits and vegetables without cooking, patented in 1873
- Founded the Women's Canning and Preserving Company in Chicago in 1890, one of the earliest women-only commercial enterprises in the United States
- Published multiple volumes of poetry, including Ulah, and Other Poems (1861) and Poems (1867), and contributed regularly to major periodicals
- Held six patents across multiple technical domains, including an oil burner, establishing a record rare among women inventors of her era
- Named in the 1893 compendium A Woman of the Century among the most notable American women of the nineteenth century
Did You Know?
- 01.Jones developed her vacuum canning process in 1872 without formal scientific training, collaborating with a university professor to translate her concept into patented technology.
- 02.The Women's Canning and Preserving Company she founded in Chicago in 1890 had an explicit policy of hiring only women at every level of its operation.
- 03.She held six patents in total, covering inventions ranging from food preservation methods to an oil burner, making her one of the more prolific female patent holders of the nineteenth century.
- 04.Jones described her inventive ideas as coming to her through spirit guidance, and she documented this belief at length in her 1910 memoir A Psychic Autobiography.
- 05.Her poetry collection Ulah, and Other Poems was published in 1861, the same year the American Civil War began, illustrating how her literary career ran parallel to the major upheavals of her era.