John Coffin Jones Jr. (1796 – December 24, 1861) was the first United States
Consular Agent
A consul is an official representative of the government of one Sovereign state, state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship be ...
to the
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...
.
Early life
John Coffin Jones Jr. was born in 1796 in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, and baptized on June 26, 1796, by the minister of the
Brattle Street Church
The Brattle Street Church (1698–1876) was a Congregational (1698 – c. 1805) and Unitarian (c. 1805–1876) church on Brattle Street in Boston, Massachusetts.
History
In January 1698, " Thomas Brattle conveyed the land on which the meetin ...
.
He was the son of
John Coffin Jones Sr. (1750–1829) and his third wife, Elizabeth (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Champlin) Jones (1770–1837). His father served as the
Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
This is a list of speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the full House through ...
.
His siblings included Christopher Champlin Jones and Anna Powel Jones and his elder half-siblings included Thomas Jones and Margaret Champlin Jones and Mary Jones.
Through his mother, he was the nephew of
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
from Rhode Island
Christopher G. Champlin
Christopher Grant Champlin (April 12, 1768March 18, 1840) was United States Representative, Senator and a slave trader from Rhode Island.
Biography
He was born in Newport in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the oldest ...
and grandson of Christopher Champlin, a merchant, ship owner and financier of
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
.
Career
Jones worked for Marshall and Wildes of Boston before he was appointed as the first Consul to Hawaii, which was then known as the Sandwich Islands, on September 19, 1820. He was considered an advocate for commercial interests in Hawaii, and was often in conflict with missionary elements in the island.
[Lightner, Richard, ''Hawaiian History: An Annotated Bibliography'', p. 71 (2004) Praeger/Greenwood; ] He was a
Unitarian. His career was full of turmoil and complaint, and had limited support or instruction from
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Although "his disposition was so unsteady and irascible",
he was known for his entertainment of visiting dignitaries, including
John Sutter
John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Swiss immigrant of Mexican and American citizenship, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area th ...
.
In 1838, Jones returned to Hawaii after a business trip in California and introduced Manuela Carrillo as his wife. Still married to Hannah, she initiated a divorce, after which
King Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula Kī ...
refused to acknowledge him as the Consul from the United States.
In 1843, Manuela's father,
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Carlos Antonio Carrillo
Carlos Antonio Carrillo (24 December 1783 – 23 February 1852) was a Californio politician, military officer, and ranchero. He was nominated to serve as Governor of Alta California from 1837–38, in opposition to Juan Bautista Alvarado's rule. ...
, and her uncle,
José Antonio Carrillo
Captain José Antonio Ezequiel Carrillo (1796–1862) was a Californio politician, ranchero, and signer of the Californian Constitution in 1849. He served three terms as Alcalde of Los Angeles (mayor).
History
A member of the prominent Carrillo ...
, were
granted Santa Rosa Island by
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Manuel Micheltorena
Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a brigadier general of the Mexican Army, adjutant-general of the same, governor, commandant-general and inspector of the department of Las Californias, then ...
. The brothers then sold the island to Manuela and her sister Francisca, who was also married to an American,
Alpheus Basil Thompson.
The Jones and the Thompsons then established a cattle ranch on Santa Rosa Island. In 1846, after the United States invaded Mexico during the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
and occupied California, John and his wife moved to his native Boston. Jones later learned that Thompson had sold many of the island's livestock and didn't share the proceeds with him so he sued Thompson in 1851. Jones won the suit and Thompson appealed claiming John had "bought" witnesses. In 1857, Jones won the appeal and Abel Stearns was appointed as receiver to set the value of the property in dispute. Two years later in 1859, both Jones and Thompson sold their remaining interests in Santa Rosa Island to brother Thomas, Alexander, and Henry More.
Personal life
In 1823, Jones was married to Hannah Kalikolehua (née Holmes) Davis (d. 1848), the widow of Captain William Heath Davis. Hannah was the mother of two children from her first marriage,
Robert Grimes Davis
Robert Grimes Davis (May 10, 1819 – March 4, 1872) was an early lawyer and judge of the Kingdom of Hawaii who served many different posts for Hawaii and the Republic of Peru. He was also known as ''Lopaka'', the Hawaiian version of Robert.
L ...
(who became a Hawaiian politician and judge) and
William Heath Davis
William Heath "Kanaka" Davis, Jr. (1822 – 1909) was a merchant and trader in Alta California who helped to establish "New Town" (now Downtown San Diego) in San Diego, California.
Life
Davis was born in 1822 in Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawaii ...
(who became an early settler of
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
). Together, Hannah and John were the parents of:
* Elizabeth Jones (1830–1852), who married Captain John H. Brown (1820–1892) in 1848.
While in Hawaii and still married to Davis, Jones fathered three children with Lahilahi Marín (d. 1844), a daughter of
Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
Francisco de Paula Marín
Don Francisco de Paula Marín (1774–1837) was a Spaniard who became influential in the early Kingdom of Hawaii. Often called Manini, Marini or other variations, he became a confidant of Hawaiian King Kamehameha I. Marín acted as a jack-of-a ...
, the Spanish born
confidant
The confidant ( or ; feminine: confidante, same pronunciation) is a character in a story whom a protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing ...
of Hawaiian King
Kamehameha I
Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiikui Kamehameha o Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; – May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. T ...
. Their children were:
* Francis Jones (1830–1850)
* Rosalie Coffin Jones (1835–1863)
* John "Huanu" Coffin Jones III (1842–1919)
While in
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...
on business, he met and married Manuela Antonia Carrillo (1820–1900) on June 4, 1838. She was the daughter of
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Carlos Antonio Carrillo
Carlos Antonio Carrillo (24 December 1783 – 23 February 1852) was a Californio politician, military officer, and ranchero. He was nominated to serve as Governor of Alta California from 1837–38, in opposition to Juan Bautista Alvarado's rule. ...
and Josefa Raymunda Castro. Together, they were the parents of:
* Margarita Antonia Jones (1840–1904), who married Robert F. Clark (b. 1838).
* John Coffin Jones, Jr. (1842–1919), who served in the
U.S. Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states t ...
, became a stockbroker, and married Ella Maria Sumner in 1866.
* Benjamín Geronimo Jones (1844–1845), who died young.
* Anna Powell Jones (b. 1846).
* Joseph Cutler Jones (b. 1849).
* Charles Carrillo Jones (1850–1869).
* Martha Josepha Jones (b. 1855).
Jones died on December 24, 1861, in
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...
.
After his death, Manuela married George Nelson Kittle in 1867 and, later, moved to France where she died at
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
in 1900.
See also
*
United States Minister to Hawaii
The United States Minister to Hawaii was an office of the United States Department of State to the Kingdom of Hawaii during the period of 1810 to 1898. Appointed by the President of the United States with the consent of Congress, the Minister to ...
*
Relations between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States
References
;Notes
;Sources
Further reading
* Gast, Ross H. ''Contentious consul: A biography of John Coffin Jones, first United States consular agent at Hawaii'', Dawson's Book Shop (1976),
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, John Coffin Jr.
19th-century American politicians
1796 births
1861 deaths
Ambassadors of the United States to Hawaii