After the Civil War, J.J. moved to Rockwall, TX. in 1867 from Gordo, Pickens County, Alabama, at the suggestion of his close friend L.L. Jackson which preceded him to Rockwall.

He first married Mary A. Miller in 1857, who died ten year after their journey to Rockwall in 1877. They were parents of daughters: Ida, Lulah, and Rosa, sons: William Haywood, Alonzo, Ardell James, and Arindell.

J.J. then married Rebecca Belle (Tucker) Shaw, widow of Thomas Shaw(First Sheriff of Rockwall County), in 1878. They were parents of sons: Robert, Leon, John (Jack), Earl, Ernest, Woodie, and Leo (Henson), and a daughter Mary A..

J.J. ran a "Staple and Fancy Dry Goods" business with good friend and business partner L.L. Jackson, and simultaneously next door ran a general merchandising store with son in-law Chancey Allen in the "Lowe & Allen" building located at the corner of Goliad and Rusk on the downtown square of Rockwall, Texas. This was one of the first brick buildings on the town square, and early brick buildings in downtown Rockwall were made at the Lowe and Allen brickyard, yet another business venture of J.J.'s.

J.J. was a member of the Methodist Church(South), the East Trinity Masonic Lodge No. 157, and the "Rockwall Camp" ex-Confederate Veterans.

Headstone reads: "He died as he lived- a Christian."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Served in the Civil War:
- Enlisted March 22, 1862, at Tuscaloosa, Ala., Company D, 2d Regiment, Alabama Cavalry, Confederate States Army, rank of Corporal, and discharged January 11, 1863.
- J.J. reenlisted December 17, 1863, at Tuscaloosa, Company K, 8th (Hatch's) Regiment, Alabama Cavalry, Confederate States Army, was appointed 1st sergeant, Jan. 11, 1864, and elected 2d lieutenant June 28, 1864, and having been surrendered by Lieutenant General R. Taylor, Confederate States Army, he was paroled at Gainesville, Ala., May 14, 1865.