Harry M. Jones (1890-1973)
Described in a 1912 Providence Journal article as Rhode Island’s “1st home grown aviator”, Jones managed the very first air show ever held in Rhode Island that same year. He was also the first (and last) person ever to land a plane on the Boston Common. Jones was best known, however, for his role as the pilot of the first-ever air parcel post flight (January, 1913). He carried a cargo of baked beans (consigned to state governors and other officials) from Boston to Providence to New York. After that historic flight Jones became a well-known figure on the barnstorming circuit. During WWI he was a test pilot and then a civilian instructor for Army pilots, earning a commission as a lieutenant (later captain) in the US Army Reserve. In 1919 he moved to Maine, where he became arguably the most visible New England aviator in the 1920s. He served as Maine’s State Aviation Commissioner in the 1930s, and eventually became an Inspector for the Civil Aeronautics Administration.