Charles Edmund Jones, A. M., M. D., is a son of the late Dr. R. Darwin Jones, and was born in Albany on February 15, 1849. After graduating from the Albany Academy in 1866 he entered Hope College at Holland City, Mich., and was graduated from that institution in 1870 and also took the degree of M. A. in course in 1873, when he delivered the master's oration. He read medicine with his father, was graduated from the Albany Medical College with the degree of M. D. in December, 1872, and subsequently attended one course of lectures at the New York Homeopathic Medical College, graduating therefrom in March, 1873. He went abroad in the summer of 1875 and remained one year, spending the greater part of that time in attendance at the Vienna General Hospital, where he pursued special courses of study. He visited Europe again in 1878, being absent six months, attending the World's Exposition at Paris, and acting as special correspondent of the New York Evening Express.
For many years Dr. Jones has been a greater part of the time officially or semi-officially connected with various positions of public trust and responsibility, the duties of which he has uniformly discharged with fidelity, zeal, and marked effectiveness. He became a member of the Albany County Homeopathic Medical Society in 1873, was elected its secretary in 1874, and served as its president in 1885, 1888, and 1889. He was elected a delegate from the county society to the New York State Homeopathic Medical Society in 1874, 1875, 1876, and 1877. Prior to his last visit to Europe he was delegated by special resolution to represent the Albany County Homeopathic Medical Society at the World's Homeopathic Congress held in Pans in August, 1878, and also to meetings of other homeopathic medical societies which he might have opportunity to attend. Since beginning the practice of his profession in Albany in 1873 Dr. Jones has taken an active interest in the City Dispensary and Homeopathic Hospital, and has devoted to its work and service a large share of his time, money, and influence. He has ably assisted in its management, has supported all measures designed to promote its financial prosperity, and has been a member of its medical staff since 1873, and a member of its executive and supervising committee since 1884. Since November, 1876, he has had charge of the department of diseases of the throat and respiratory organs.
Dr. Jones has been a permanent member of the Homeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York since 1878, and was elected its president in February, 1895. He has been for several years chairman of its bureau on throat and lung diseases, and has presented reports embodying a vast amount of important data gathered as a result of months of original investigation and painstaking research. He became a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy in 1874 and of the Albany Institute in 1876. He was elected a member of the City Board of School Commissioners for a term of three years, and during this service secured the appointment of a permanent committee on hygiene, which became a very influential branch of the executive department of public instruction. He was a foundation member of the Fort Orange Club, and for a number of years has been a member of its Board of Trustees. In 1886 he was appointed a member of the Bi-Centennial Committee of Albany, which was required to perfect and conduct arrangements for celebrating the 200th anniversary of the incorporation of the city. Following this he was appointed a member of the committee having in charge the preparation, location, and permanent preservation of more than twenty bronze tablets designed to identify and describe the history of certain localities and important events. These tablets were placed on various buildings, and perpetuate those historic names and incidents which mark the growth of Albany as a burgh and city. In 1880 Dr. Jones was made a member of the citizens committee appointed to commemorate the opening of the new capitol building, and in 1893 he was appointed by the Civil Service Commission a member of a Homeopathic Examining Board to examine and determine the fitness of candidates for the position of assistant physicians at homeopathic hospitals for the insane. He was appointed by Governor Flower in June, 1894, a member of the first board of managers of the Craig Colony for Epileptics and reappointed by Governor Morton in 1895. He has been a member of Masters Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., since 1873, and is also a member of Capital City Chapter No. 343, R. A. M., and an Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite mason, 32d degree.
Among the many notable papers and essays which Dr. Jones has contributed to the medical literature of his time, the following titles are selected as showing the breadth of scope, research, and versatility of his work: "Pathology and Treatment of Diabetes," to which the McNaughton prize of $100 was awarded by the faculty of the Albany Medical College; "The Throat in Song and Speech," illustrated by photographic slides; "The Differential Diagnosis of Diphtheria and Membranous Croup;" "Tubercular Laryngitis and Cancer of the Throat;" "The Climatic Treatment of Pulmonary Consumption and Chronic Bronchitis;" "The Treatment of Laryngeal Tuberculosis;" and "New York's Leadership in Medical Education," the latter being delivered by him as the president's annual address before the New York State Homeopathic Medical Society in 1896.
Dr. Jones has won distinction in his profession because of an inflexible purpose, persistently carried out through years of effort, to acquire an exact and thorough knowledge of all the practical details of applied medicine. With industry and enthusiasm he has never failed to avail himself of all the resources of standard literature, and the best appliances for the diagnosis and treatment of disease, more particularly the diseases of the throat and chest, of which he makes a specialty. He is unmarried.