Jones was an active Republican and was a delegate to the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago , which nominated the James Garfield-Chester Arthur ticket . He opened a manual training school , the Colored Industrial Institute of Pine Bluff in about 1888 . He played an important role in promoting blacks 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 . 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 , but the building was instead built at 4th and State
1880 Republican National Convention
1880 Republican National Convention
Wiley Jones