Miss Jones was born on January 19, 1876, in the Manchester area and was the daughter of John R. and Frances Mayers Jones. She graduated from Beloit High School in 1893 and later received a PhD degree from Chicago University. Nellie Jones was a teacher and principal in the Beloit public schools for forty-two years. She had been a principal at Parker and Wright elementary schools before becoming the first principal of Lincoln Junior High School. Upon her retirement she had served as the Junior High Principal for twenty-one years.

She began her teaching career in rural schools of the area in 1896. Miss Jones was active in her retirement years. She read widely, composed and copied poetry and often remarked that she preferred biography to fiction. She lived in a downtown apartment in Beloit and often stopped former students on the street to chat with them. She was a strong believer in personal discipline; not in external discipline enforced by someone else, but favored the individual’s own understanding of his need to achieve.

She was a member of the Second Congregational Church, Monday Club, Retired Teachers’ Association and other state and national educational associations. After leaving Beloit, Miss Jones lived for many years at Cedar Crest Retirement Home in Janesville. She died March 1, 1974, at the age of 98 years.