home economics professor, lecturer, writer, b. near Madison, Maine. About 1869 she moved to Ottawa, Kans., with her parents, and graduated from Kansas State Agricultural College (B.A., 1876; M.S., 1883). In 1881 she married Robert Kedzie and moved to Mississippi, but her husband died a few months later and she returned to Kansas to teach domestic economy at her alma mater (1882-1897). In 1897 she helped organize the domestic science department at Bradley Institute of Technology (now Bradley Univ., Peoria, Ill.) and taught there from 1897 to 1901. In 1901 she married Howard M. Jones, a teacher of history and a Congregational clergyman, and in 1913 they moved to Wisconsin, settling on a farm in Marathon County. While living on the farm, Mrs. Jones created the "Country Gentlewoman" column for The Country Gentleman, and contributed regularly to that magazine. In 1918 she was appointed state leader of the Univ. of Wisconsin home economics extension and served in this capacity until her retirement to the status of emeritus professor in 1933. Mrs. Jones was widely known throughout Wisconsin and helped organize homemakers' clubs in many parts of the state. She lectured widely and conducted radio programs on homemaking subjects. Who's Who in Amer., 11 (1920); Madison Capital Times, Apr. 20, 1956; Univ. of Wis. Faculty Memorial, Document 1229, June 4, 1956 (on file in office of secretary of the faculty).

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Nellie Kedzie Jones Papers for details.

View a related article at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]