Richard H. Jones (1846-1890) was born in Llanllyfni, Gwynedd, Wales, and died in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In about 1858 he immigrated with his family to the United States and they settled on a farm in Waushara County, Wisconsin. Jones worked on the family farm before embarking on a career in the farm machinery business, first in Cambria, Wisconsin, then in Berlin, Wisconsin, and finally in Minneapolis where he moved in 1871. In 1870 he married Hannah R. Jones (b. Naylor) in Berlin. In 1876 he was one of the incorporators of Minneapolis Harvester Works and subsequently worked as its secretary, treasurer, and general manager. Due to persistent ill health he left his business in 1881 and spent the remainder of his life seeking various treatments in the United States and Europe. In the mid-1880s he became interested in Christian Science, read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and was acquainted with several people who were practicing Christian Science in the Minneapolis area, including Emma A. Thompson, a student of Mary Baker Eddy's from whom he sought treatment in 1886.

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