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Saturday, August 2, 2014

"Walter "Wiley" Jones" {July 14,1848-December 7,1904}

Was one of  the first wealthy African Americans in the South.Walter a leading businessman,was an ex-slave who became a barber and a saloon owner.
He was born a slave in Madison,County,Georgia.He was one of six children of George Jones,a white planter,and Ann,slave.His mama named him Walter after his doctor,he got his nickname "Wiley"for being untamed and playful.
In 1853,Walter moved with his family to Arkansas.They settled on the former acting governor Richard Byrd's plantation in Jefferson County,twelve miles north of Pine Bluff  (Jefferson County) on the Arkansas river.Shortly before George death in 1858,he claimed to have manumission papers that would give Ann and her children freedom,the papers that would never found.The administrator of the state sold the family to Peter Finerty.A short time later,they were sold to General James Yell,a prominent attorney and in Pine Bluff.On the Yell plantation,ten-year Walter drove the mules to the cotton gin.He was later given to James' son,Fountain,as a wedding present.Walter was a carriage driver for his master's wife.Fountain enlisted in the Confederated army in 1861 and was promoted as a colonel.Walter became a camp servant for Colonel Yell.After the death of of Colonel Yell,Walter joined the Yell family where sought refuge in Waco,Texas.When the war ended,in 1865,the Yell family and Walter returned to Arkansas,settling in Monticello (Drew Count).He most likely had greater opportunities to improve his standing by associating with the family.When walter left the Yell family,he could not decided whether to go Fort Smith (Sebastian County) or Pine Bluff with his family & friends.In the latter part of 1865,he,went to work as mule driver for a while before going back to work for Fourtain F.Pitts on his plantation in Lincoln County.Walter was promoted to manager of the cotton plantation and made twenty dollars a month.In 1868,he moved back to Pine Bluff after the crops were sold.Walter was hired to work at a local saloon for one year.In 1869,he learned to barber at the barbershop of his brother-in-law,Ben worked there for ten years.Walter earned room and board by working a second job at a nearby hotel as a waiter.He saved his pay from the barbershop and invested in real estate in Arkansas.Walter used his savings to loan money,with interest,to his friends.In 1876,Walter opened a successful saloon at 207 South Main.His brother James managed several businesses for him.One of Walter'scompanies was the well-known Southern Mercantile Company.Walter had no schooling,he learned all about business from hard work and meeting people.As an unmarried man,he was able to work from sunrise to sunset,riding on his horse to check on his businesses.Walter's hobbies were horses and horse-racing,so he built a park on fifty-five acres near 17th and Main in Pine Bluff.It was a city recreational park with a harness-racing track.The park was also home fairs,bicyles races,and annual May Day celebrations.Next to his park was the "Colored People's Fair Ground," which housed amphitheathers and horse stables.
In August 1886,Walter became one of of the first African Americans in the nation to receive a franchise to operate a mule-drawn streetcar system,which he established in Pine Bluff.It was named Wiley Jones Street Car Lines and merged with the Citizens Street Railway around December 1890.This later became the electric railway,which the city brought.Now known as the Pine Bluff Transit,it is still owned by the city of Pine Bluff.On June 14,1889,Walter became made investments with Ed B.Houston of white Sulphur Springs (Jefferson County) now known as Sculphur Springs.They sold lots to Pine Bluff residents for summer homes.
Walter never ran for office,he was one of Jefferson County's most influential political citizens in the 1880s and1890s.He was a delegate for several national Republican conventions.He served a circuit clerk of Jefferson County from1892-1894 and was involved in different civic affairs in the city.When the Republican candidate fpr Congress was assassinated in 1889,Walter was chosen as chosen of as of the citizen's committee to escort his body from Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Pine Bluff.
Walter was one of several businessmen who supported the Colored Industrial Institute on 16th Avenue and State Street.He also donated land on Poplar and West Fourth for the black St.James Methodist Church.
Walter died from a heart attack and Bright's disease in his home on 19th Avenue and Georgia Street.He was the
richest African American in the state at the time of his death,with an estate worth more than $300,000.Walter also owned twenty-four race horses and stallions.He is bured in a burgular-proof casket in his own cemetery west of Bellwood Cemetery,now known as Miller Cemetery,in Pine Bluff.It took several years to settle his estate because he did not leave a will.


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