Among the officials of Walton County who are standing boldly for clean government and whose discharge of the responsibilities and duties of their offices have been characterized by faithfulness and expedition, one who has won popular approval, well-merited, is William Franklin Jones, of DeFuniak Springs, county tax collector. Mr. Jones has occupied his present office since November, 1917, and his record is one of fidelity and competency.
William Franklin Jones was born August 29, 1882, in Santa Rosa County, Florida, and is a son of William H. and Mary F. (Hinote) Jones. His paternal grandfather was Jonathan Jones, a native of South Carolina, in which state also was horn William H. Jones, who is now deceased. William H. Jones enlisted in the Confederate army for service during the war between the states, in which he served as a private in a Florida infantry regiment. During his service he was incapacitated by a musket wound in the shoulder, and while he recovered from the injury he was never able to use his arm freely thereafter. At the close of his military service he again engaged in farming, and also engaged in logging timber. He was one of the men held in esteem in his community, and for several terms served as a member of the School Board of his community. Mrs. Jones was a native of the State of Alabama.
William Franklin Jones acquired his educational training in the public schools of Walton County, and was reared on the farm of his father, on which he remained until reaching the age of fifteen years. He then entered the employ of D. T. Finley, for whom he kept books about one year, following which he went to work as a general man in offices and stores at DeFuniak Springs. In 1908 Mr. Jones, who had long taken more than a passing interest in public affairs, entered actively into politics and was elected that year to the office of county treasurer, a post which he filled with much success for two terms, from January 1, 1909, to January 1, 1911, and from January 1, 1913, to January I, 1915. In 1916 he returned to private life for a time, becoming manager of Parker’s gentlemen’s furnishing goods store at DeFuniak Springs, and occupied this post until the fall of that year, when he was elected county tax collector for the first time. His initial term of four years, from January 1, 1917, to 1921, was so satisfactory to the citizens of the county that he was returned to office to succeed himself, being elected in the fall of 1920 for another four-year term, from January 1, 1921, to 1925. Mr. Jones is a stalwart democrat and one of the wheel-horses of his party in Walton County, where he wields much influence. His official record is a good one, and during his terms in office he has made numerous warm admirers and sincere friends. He is a member of the Blue Lodge and Chapter of Masonry and the local lodges of the Woodmen of the World and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian Church.
In December, 1907, at DeFuniak Springs, Mr. Jones was united in marriage with Miss Aileen W. Saunders, daughter of W. B. and Sallie (Ellis) Saunders, the former of whom met his death while engaged in the performance of his duties as a Government revenue officer. Mrs. Saunders still resides at DeFuniak Springs. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones: Ellis, Davis, Lance and Marjorie.
Cutler, H. G., ed. History of Florida: Past and Present, Volume III. Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1923, pp. 49-50.
Burial: Saunders Family Plot, Magnolia Cemetery, DeFuniak Springs