Calvin Jones helped organize the first North Carolina Medical Society and was influential in introducing smallpox vaccinations into the state. Among his many civic duties, Calvin served as a trustee from 1802 to 1832, donating books for its library and a collection of "artificial and natural curiosities" (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography 3:316). In about 1803 he moved to Wake County and for several years edited and published the Raleigh Star. He also served as mayor of Raleigh. When he moved to Tennessee, "he sold Wake Forest, his 615-acre plantation near Raleigh, to the Baptist State Convention, and it became the site of Wake Forest College" (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography 3:316).