In 1837, the family moved to Fayette County, where Benjamin Jones achieved considerable success as a planter, cultivating over 2,500 acres of cotton for several decades.

[3] Benjamin's father was Reverend Elliot Jones (1764 – 16 Dec 1841), a Methodist-Episcopal preacher, whose religious impact would manifest itself in several of John Wallace's more prominent political decisions later in life.

Details regarding John Wallace Jones's early life are sparse, but it is documented that he attended LaGrange College, where he pursued legal studies.

[5] By 1850, he was residing in a boarding house with several other young attorneys, among whom was Henry M. Spofford, a New Hampshire native and future Louisiana Supreme Court Justice.

[11] In March 1856, Jones empowered the Streets Committee to investigate potential locations for a modern wharf on the Red River, a development aimed at augmenting both revenue and efficiency for the city and its cotton industry.

[14] During the same month, Jones nominated delegates from the Shreveport Board of Trustees to attend a railroad convention in Monroe on June 30, 1857, to discuss transportation developments, underscoring his proactive approach to enhancing the city's connectivity and infrastructure.

[16] This initiative was expected to significantly enhance commercial opportunities and infrastructure development between Shreveport and the emerging Bossier City on the opposite bank of the river.

[18] During the same month, Jones proposed an ordinance banning the sale of liquor in quantities of less than a gallon within the corporate bounds of Shreveport, effective January 1, 1856.

[20] Additionally, in January 1856, Jones proposed a $5 penalty for allowing horses to run wild in town and legislated against locking wagon wheels on the plank road within city limits.

The following year, in July 1855, Jones and the board of trustees published an ordinance banning any white person "from visiting the house of any negro slave [...] at an improper hour of the night," under threat of both fines and imprisonment, a clear attempt to curtail sexual relations between races in Shreveport.

Furthermore, in November 1856, Jones and the city trustees proposed an ordinance that strictly prohibited slaves from residing away from their owner’s premises or engaging in trade as free persons.

Owners who violated this rule faced penalties..[26] This ordinance was an explicit effort to reinforce the boundaries of the institution of slavery and prevent any semblance of economic independence among the enslaved.

[26] These policies, enacted under Jones’s administration, were indicative of the broader socio-political climate of the period, which sought to maintain racial hierarchies and control over both enslaved and free African American populations.

During his tenure as mayor, Jones was actively engaged in political and community affairs, demonstrating a strong commitment to the principles of the American Party, also known as the Know Nothings.

Both elder Weemses were natives of Port Tobacco, Maryland, who migrated to Louisiana in 1828 following Judge Weems's appointment to West Feliciana Parish magistrate.

[42] As a result of his Methodist-Episcopal upbringing, and in keeping with the anti-alcohol stance of his professed American Party, Jones took it upon himself to introduce, in the first session of the newly elected board, motions to levy taxes on gambling halls and to curtail the rampant growth of brothels to a finite area.

At the nominating convention of 1888, Hicks was again the selected nominee for the position of "additional judge," but in this instance, apparently, Jones took umbrage and began campaigning for himself under the noses of his legal compatriots.

This confrontation led to a series of letters in the local newspaper from both Jones and his detractors, calling into question one another's characters, motives, and stooping to outright accusations of fraud and election tampering.

[56] However, Jones did not let that defeat quash his ambition, and in 1894 he again announced his candidacy, this time for judge of the First Judicial District, the same position that he lost to Hicks in 1882 amid such vitriol in the papers.

[59] His funeral took place at the old St. Mark's Church on the corner of Fannin and Market Streets, which was "filled nearly to its entire capacity by a vast throng of citizens.