Leon Foster Jones (1871-1940)

Leon Jones was a landscape painter, etcher, lithographer, and teacher. He was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, the son of Mary A. Jones (1846-1916) and Frank A. Jones (1840-b. 1910). His father was the overseer in one of the hosiery mills located in and about Manchester. He married his wife, Josephine Currier (b. 1876), around 1901. During the early years of their marriage he and his wife lived in Concord, New Hampshire. They settled permanently in Port Jefferson, Long Island, New York in 1910, though he was working there as early as 1907. According to multiple sources, during his lifetime Jones was best known for his paintings and etchings that depicted historic locations across Long Island. Jones studied for four years at the Cowles Art School in Boston, Massachusetts under Joseph Rodefer DeCamp (1858-1923) and Ernest Lee Major (1864-1951). Later, Jones did illustrative work for Frank A. Munsey (1854-1925), the noted newspaper and magazine publisher, and spent twelve years working in commercial drawing during the winters while spending the summers sketching on Long Island.