Josiah Jones lived in the area near Meridian, Mississippi at the time of the Civil War. Of his seven sons, four died in the war. His wife outlived him by several years and cared for B.F. Jones as his family succumbed to an epidemic during thier move to Louisiana.

DeWitt, who had fathered ten children before he began service in the area of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, was taken prisoner and likelydied at Camp Douglas Prison in Chicago, Illinois. His brothers had been stationed near Port Hudson, Louisiana and made arrangements to move the Jones family to the Baton Rouge area after the war in 1867. At the time of the move, an epidemic caused the deaths of his wife and eight of his children.