J. H. and E. M. Jones, proprietors of the Hardeman Woolen Mills, are the sons of Paul T. Jones, who was born in North Carolina in 1828, and came with his parents to Hardeman County in 1832. They settled on the farm upon which the West Tennessee Insane Asylum is now situated. He received an excellent and thorough education, completing his course at Lagrange College, Alabama. In 1848, he was married to Miss Jennie M. Wood, who bore him four sons and two daughters. In 1863, Mrs. Jones died a respected member of the Presbyterian Church; five years later he married Miss Mary Kirkman, with whom he had four sons and two daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are consistent members of the Presbyterian Church. Previous to the war, Mr. Jones was a Whig, and is now a stanch Democrat. At the close of the war, he was appointed magistrate by Brownlow, and was afterward elected to the same office. He was the founder of the once lively village of Leatherville, in Hardeman County, where he operated a saw and grist-mill, a tan-yard and woolen-mill, the last of which is successfully run by his two sons whose names appear at the head of this biography. The woolen factory was established in 1838 by the father, who had charge of it until 1874, when the present senior member took the management, and four years later was joined by his brother. Both of these gentlemen were born and raised in Hardeman County. They are energetic, wide-awake men, who have by their ability and integrity been unusually prosperous in their business. They are universally known and popular.
Source: “The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee, 1886”