Zach Jones

Zach Jones was born on July 12, 1893 in Albany, Australia. His father was Bob Jones and his mother was Suzanne Scott-Jones. He is best known for his founding of the Albany Glass Company in 1927. The Albany Glass Company employed over 9,000 employees in 1955. Zach Jones was also a major contributor in the 1930's to charities in Sydney as well as Albany.

In August 1903 his father came down with a bad case of dysentery, and died shortly after. During this time his mother was a major figure in his life. She decided at the age of 12 he should get himself a job. She sent him to work for a small Bakery in the center of town. He earned enough to pay for the weekly groceries. While at his job, a man once tried to steal some money from a safe. Zach took a hot fire poker and stabbed the man in the leg. The police arrived and arrested the man. During the attempted robbery the Baker had been injured, and if it had not been for Zach the Baker could have been beaten to death. In reward for his bravery, and that the Baker was not married and had no children or family, Zach was granted the land, money, and 100% of the company upon the death of the owner, the Baker.

In 1924 the Baker died. Zach was left with a very successful business, and a large sum of money. He left his business to his younger brother William Jones. He used his money to start a private school, and helped many charities. In 1926 he met Samantha Miller, the daughter of a successful glass blower Timothy Miller. He immediately fell in love with her, but her father did not approve of their engagement. Zach proposed a compromise with Samantha Miller's father. He told him that he would giver him 25% of the profit produced in a large scale glass manufacturing company, and in return approval of their marriage. The father agreed.

Zach had no clue AbOUT glass blowing or about manufacturing companies, but his love for Samantha was true. In May of 1927 he opened a small building he had bought from the local butcher. It was 3 stories and looked out upon the main avenue of business. Timothy Miller immediately began production. The company made a small profit, but attracted much attention of the local government. In December of 1927 Timothy Miller came down with Typhoid Fever. In January he was dead. For the few months the business was run by him, Zach had learned the ins and outs of glass blowing. He used his profits from the bakery two buy a much larger building. He hired 300 people in February of 1928. By 1930 he had over 1,000 employees.

In Spring of 1932 Zach closed his factory, and opened a much larger one across town. He hired an additional 3,000 people to work for company. They now were quite popular and were shipping glass to towns on the east coast. Zach was middle aged and successful. He couldn't be happier. In August 1932 his mother died at age 64. Zach was devastated. He went through long bouts of depression until 1934.

The whole while he was building his glass empire in the West the rest of the country was in a Great Depression. Luckily his glass company, and his extreme wealth kept him and his company out of debt and in the green. Zach's son Jeff joined the army in 1940. He saw action on the coasts of Normandy.

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Albany Glass Company

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