Wiley Jones

Walter "Wiley" Jones
Image of Jones from 1887
Born	(1852-04-15)April 15, 1852 Madison County, Georgia, U.S.
Died	July 29, 1929(1929-07-29) (aged 77) Pine Bluff, Arkansas, U.S.
Political party	Republican

Walter "Wiley" Jones (July 14, 1841 - December 7, 1904) was a businessman in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in the late 19th century. He was one of the wealthiest African-Americans in Arkansas. He was owner of the cities first streetcar company, and also owned a park in the city which housed fairgrounds. He enjoyed horse racing and had some success with his own horses, having stables and a race track on the park grounds. He also owned a saloon. He was active in civic affairs and was an advocate for civil rights.

Early life

Walter "Wiley" Jones was born in Madison County, Georgia on July 14, 1848.^[1] His parents were white planter, George Jones, and his slave, Anne.^[2] She had six children by George: Matthew (who superintended the construction of the Wiley Jones Street Car Line), Thomas, Julia (wife of Ben Reed), Wiley, Taylor, and James (who managed many of Wiley's businesses). Wiley received his nickname on account of his mischievous nature. At the age of five he moved to Arkansas with his master and over forty fellow slaves. They settled on the Governor Byrd plantation. George Jones died in 1858. Anne was called his wife in an 1889 biography of Jones, and she believed that George had promised to free herself and her children upon his death, but no manumition papers were found and the family was kept as slaves, to be sold by the estate administer, Peter Finerty, to James Yell, a lawyer and planter in Pine Bluff. Jones worked as a houseboy and carriage driver for his new master. When Jones was ten, he was given to Yell's only son, Fountain Pitts Yell, on the occasion of Pitts Yell's marriage. Pitts was a state representative from 1860-1861. During the US Civil War (1861-1865), James Yell became a Major General of the Arkansas State Militia and Pitts became colonel in company S of the 26th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, in the Confederate Army. The father, James' force was transferred to the Confederate States Army in the summer of 1861, and James left the service and moved to Texas. Jones served as Pitts during the war until his death in 1864 at the Battle of Pleasant Hill. Jones then joined James Yell and his family in Waco, Texas. There, he served as porter in a mercantile house for one year. He was then hired to drive wagon carrying cotton on a route along the Brazos River to San Antonio.^[3]

Business career

After the war he returned to Monticello, Arkansas with the Yell family. From there, he moved to Pine Bluff, initially working as a mule driver and then as business manager of the Yell plantation.^[3] In 1868,^[1] he began to work as a barber in the shop of Ben Reed, his brother-in-law,^[3] continuing until 1881. He then began dealing tobacco, cigars, and other goods. His brother, James, worked as his business manager.^[1] In 1884, Jones got the better of state legislator and pastor William Young in a fist fight in front of Jones's saloon as a result of Young giving a speech which Jones did not like.^[4]

In August 1886, he secured the charter for the first streetcar line in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He had one and one-fourth mile completed and the first car running on October 19, 1886, coinciding with the first day of the annual fair of the Colored Industrial and Fair Association, an organization of which he was treasurer. He also owned the fair grounds, which along with stables and a race track were located on a 55-acre park he owned near main street^[1] and which was called Wiley Jones Park.^[5] His stables included one stallion, "Executor" that was of particular note, and later his colt, "Trickster". He also owned a number of mares and a herd of Durham and Holstein cattle.^[1] In 1901, his thoroughbred pace, "Billy H", broke a track record at a race in Windsor, Canada.^[6] In 1890, he purchased the second line in Pine Bluff, known as the Citizen's line, from H. P. Bradford for $125,000.^[7] In 1894, Jones sold his streetcar company to another streetcar syndicate.^[8] In 1901, Jones founded the Southern Mercantile Company, making his longtime friend Fred Havis president and his brother, James, manager.^[9]

Affiliations and public life

Jones was an active Republican and was a delegate to the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago.^[9] He opened a manual training school, the Colored Industrial Institute of Pine Bluff in about 1888.^[10] He played an important role in promoting black's to office in Pine Bluff and in Jefferson County. He was an organizer of the Arkansas Colored Men's Association. In 1893, he was a delegate to the annual convention of the Colored Men's National Protective Association in Chicago.^[11] He was an active Mason and along with professor J. C. Corbin played an important role in the building of a Masonic Temple in Pine Bluff. Jones sold land at 12th Avenue and Main to the Masons to be used to build the temple,^[12] but the building was instead built at 4th and State.^[13]

Personal life and death

He did not learn to read and write until an adult.^[11] He was a Christian, but not a part of any denomination or church. He did not marry.^[3] He died in Pine Bluff on December 7, 1904 of Bright's disease.^[14] The funeral was held at the new black Masonic Temple and he was buried at the black cemetery, which he founded.^[15]

References