Sherriff Benjamin Franklin Jones
by Jonnie Miller
Benjamin Franklin Jones of Georgia was born on the same night that George Washington died, December 14, 1799. He moved to Texas in 1831 and applied to Mexico (States of Coahuila and Tejas) for a land and labor grant in 1835 on Big Cow Creek. It was granted. In July of 1836, when the Texas Revolution began he evidently joined the Texas Army in Captain John Ingram's Company, 1st Regiment 1st Brigade.
When Newton County split off Jasper County in 1846 he was living in that part of the county that became Newton County. The first meeting of the commissioner's Court of Newton County was held at the residence of the widow Nancy Cooper who was to become Ben's second wife after his first wife, Letitia Guthrie, died in September of 1846. A second meeting was held at the residence of Sheriff B. F. Jones, the first sheriff of Newton County. Ben had married Widow Cooper and moved into her residence. He had become the first certified sheriff of Newton County on August 1, 1846. He was reelected in 1848 and was actually elected commissioner of Precinct 3 in 1850 but resigned to become Justice of the Peace and then Chief Justice (County Judge) in 1852. He lost the office in 1854 to N. P. West but two years later was elected sheriff again over G. N. P. Hardy. However, the returns of that year show Hardy as winner. Eight months later in a special election in August of 1859 B. F. Jones was again elected sheriff and took office to fill the vacancy left by Hardy's resignation. It seems something unreported happened in the interim.
In 1860 he switched back to county judge and was in office to certify the returns of the Newton County vote on the Ordinance of Secession. In 1862 he was again elected sheriff under the Confederacy. He resigned in 1863 but ran again in 1864 for county judge and was defeated by D. R. Wingate. He became Justice of the Peace of Precinct 1 in 1867 during the years of Reconstruction. He died in 1872 at the home of his son, John Hadley Jones and according to the relatives of that day his son, John Hadley died on the same night. Family tradition states that they were buried in the same grave on Little Cow Creek. Descendants have tried to find that grave but have been unable to locate it.
One hundred twenty-eight years later Leona Jones Choate, a great, great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin Jones, was elected the first woman Justice of the Peace of Newton County in 1974.