Fred T. Jones Sr. was born on September 8, 1877 in Homer, Louisiana to Fred R. and Harriett E. Jones. Jones attended Claiborne Parish at Bishops College in Marshall, Texas. Jones later graduated from Arkansas Branch Normal College, now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. In 1905, Jones received his degree in medicine from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. While attending college, Jones married Hattie McGraw in 1904 but soon divorced after the birth of their daughter. Jones later married Katie L. Chandler in 1907 and between the two they had seven children, Mable Jones Ewell, Kathryn Jones Powell, Mildred L. Jones, Booker D. Jones, Fred T. Jones Jr., Myrtle Colleen Jones Martin, and Marie Jones Griffin.

Jones first practiced medicine in Shreveport, Louisiana where he organized Mercy Sanatorium in 1915. During 1919, Jones accepted an offer from R.A. Williams to open the Booker T. Washington Memorial Hospital, later named J.E. Bush Memorial Hospital in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas in 1918. In that same year, Jones organized the Great Southern Fraternal Hospital and Lodge in Little Rock, Arkansas. A year later in 1920, Jones copyrighted “The Fraternal, Benevolent, Charity and Hospital Plan,” which set forth a plan to provide affordable healthcare for African Americans. In 1932, Jones established the Great Southern Hospital in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Jones later returned to Little Rock and with the help of Dr. Lonnie Routen they organized the Southern Hospital Association in North Little Rock where Jones was chief surgeon until his death on September 10, 1938.

Katie Lizzie Chandler Jones, Fred T. Jones's second wife, was the daughter of Millie Reuben and Robert Chandler. Katie was born August 12, 1889 in Shreveport, Louisiana. When Katie was eleven, her mother married Charles Allums. Katie had 6 siblings, John P. Chandler, Blackshire Chandler, Charlie Chandler, Seleste L. Chandler, Norbert R. Allums, and Emma Lee Allums. Katie was a devoted wife and mother up until her death on June 6, 1938.

Two of Katie’s brothers fought in World War I. Charles Chandler was inducted into the United States Army as a Corporal of 4th Company, 1st Development Battalion, 155th Depot Brigade April 29, 1918. On June 3, 1936 Charles was discharged from the army due to a disability. The date of Charles’s death is unknown. Seleste was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on January 2, 1893. Seleste entered Jenner Medical College in Chicago, Illinois to receive his medical education. On June 18, 1917, Seleste was assigned to Company “A” of the 350th New York Battalion and on December 10, 1917 he was transferred to the Medical Detachment. Seleste returned from the war in poor health, due to exposure to various gases and poor conditions, and died in Chicago October 23, 1920 at the age of 27.

Dr. Fred Thomas Jones, Sr. : A Black Trailblazer : Outstanding Physician and Surgeon : Dedicated Civic and Religious Leader, 1877-1938, a biography written by his daughter Marie Jones Griffin, is located in the Arkansas Collection of Special Collections.