Prosperous real estate broker of Los Angeles; he was the president of the Bookertee Investment Company of Los Angeles, specializing in real estate and other business endeavors during the 1910s and 1920s; he also became a money lender, an insurance agent, a music dealer, and ultimately, a filmmaker and actor. In 1916, he opened the Booker T. Washington Building at 10th & Central, a three story building with offices and apartments on the upper floors. In doing this, Dones established the Central Avenue business corridor, which for years was a center for African American entrepreneurial activity in Los Angeles.