John Coffin Jones Sr. (1749 – October 25, 1829) was a businessman who served as the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1802 to 1803.

Early life

Jones was born in 1749. He was the son of Ichabod Jones (d. 1790). John attended and graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

Career

In 1790, Jones wrote to

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

upon his return from France as the U.S. Minister regarding " whalefishery," which Jones considered it to "ever been the most important branch of business to this State, by furnishing its most valuable Staple export, creating a great consumption of the Produce of the Country; and thereby giving employment to a vast number of husbandmen and mechanics, whilst it proved a most extensive nursery of expert and hardy seamen." Jones was a businessman who became a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

. From 1802 to 1803, he served as the

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

succeeding

Edward Robbins Edward Hutchinson Robbins (February 9, 1758 – 1829) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1802 to 1806. Early life Robbins was born on February 9, 1758 in Milton, Province of ...

. Jones was succeeded by Harrison Gray Otis, who later served as the

Mayor of Boston The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four- ...

and a

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 Massachusetts. In 1814, Jones was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

.American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
americanantiquarian.org; accessed 6 September 2015.

Personal life

Jones was married three times. Among his wives were Mary Lee. Together, they were the parents of: * Thomas Jones. His second wife was Abigail C. Jones, and Jones' third wife was 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) (1770–1837) the sister of

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, ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Margaret Champlin Jones (1792–1848), who married Benjamin Underhill Coles in 1817. After his death, she married Hon. Benjamin Gorham in 1829. * Martha Ellery Jones (b. 1794), who married Isaac Underill Coles, the brother of her elder sister's first husband, Benjamin Underhill Coles, in 1823. * Mary Jones (1795–1837), who died unmarried. *

John Coffin Jones Jr. John Coffin Jones Jr. (1796 – December 24, 1861) was the first United States consul (representative), Consular Agent to the Kingdom of Hawaii. Early life John Coffin Jones Jr. was born in 1796 in Boston, Massachusetts, and baptized on June 26, ...

(1796–1861), who 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 ...

. * Christopher Champlin Jones (b. 1798) * Anna Powel Jones (b. 1803) Jones died on October 25, 1829, in Boston, Massachusetts and was buried at

King's Chapel Burying Ground King's Chapel Burying Ground is a historic graveyard on Tremont Street, near its intersection with School Street, in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1630, it is the oldest graveyard in the city and is a site on the Freedom Trail. Despite ...

in Boston.

Descendants

Through his daughter Martha, he was the grandfather of Mary Lee Coles (–1922), who married

Harry Coster Henry Arnold Coster ( – November 2, 1917) was an American clubman who was prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age. Early life Coster was the son of Daniel Joachim Coster and Julia (née DeLancey) Coster (1806–1890), who married ...

, who were both prominent in New York society during the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...

References

External links

*
John Coffin Jones papers
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, John Coffin Sr. 1749 births 1829 deaths Harvard College alumni Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts Federalists Members of the American Antiquarian Society Burials in Boston