John Coffin Jones Jr. (1796 – December 24, 1861) was the first United StatesConsular Agent to theKingdom of Hawaii.^[1]

John Coffin Jones Jr. was born in 1796 inBoston,Massachusetts, and baptized on June 26, 1796, by the minister of theBrattle Street Church.^[2] He was the son ofJohn Coffin Jones Sr. (1750–1829) and his third wife, Elizabeth (née Champlin) Jones (1770–1837). His father served as theSpeaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.^[3] His siblings included Christopher Champlin Jones and Anna Powel Jones and his elder half-siblings included Thomas Jones and Margaret Champlin Jones^[a] and Mary Jones.^[7]

Through his mother, he was the nephew ofU.S. Senator from Rhode IslandChristopher G. Champlin and grandson of Christopher Champlin, a merchant, ship owner and financier ofNewport, Rhode Island.^[8]

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.^[9] He was considered an advocate for commercial interests in Hawaii, and was often in conflict with missionary elements in the island.^[10] He was aUnitarian.^[11] His career was full of turmoil and complaint, and had limited support or instruction fromWashington, D.C.^[12] Although "his disposition was so unsteady and irascible",^[2] he was known for his entertainment of visiting dignitaries, includingJohn Sutter.^[13]

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 whichKing Kamehameha III refused to acknowledge him as the Consul from the United States.^[10]

In 1843, Manuela's father,GovernorCarlos Antonio Carrillo, and her uncle,José Antonio Carrillo, weregrantedSanta Rosa Island byGovernorManuel Micheltorena. 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 theMexican–American War 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.

In 1823, Jones was married to Hannah Kalikolehua (née Holmes) Davis (d. 1848), the widow of CaptainWilliam Heath Davis. Hannah was the mother of two children from her first marriage,Robert Grimes Davis andWilliam Heath Davis.^[14] Together, Hannah and John were the parents of:

• Elizabeth Jones (1830–1852), who married Captain John H. Brown (1820–1892) in 1848.^[15][16]

While in Hawaii and still married to Davis, Jones fathered three children with Lahilahi Marín (d. 1844), a daughter ofDonFrancisco de Paula Marín, the Spanish bornconfidant of Hawaiian KingKamehameha I. Their children were:^[17]

• Francis Jones (1830–1850)^[18]
• Rosalie Coffin Jones (1835–1863)^[18]
• John "Huanu" Coffin Jones III (1842–1919)^[18]

While inSanta Barbara, California on business, he met and married Manuela Antonia Carrillo (1820–1900) on June 4, 1838. She was the daughter ofGovernorCarlos Antonio Carrillo and Josefa Raymunda Castro. Together, they were the parents of:

• Margarita Antonia Jones (1840–1904), who marriedRobert F. Clark (b. 1838).^[3]
• John Coffin Jones, Jr. (1842–1919), who served in theU.S. Civil War, became a stockbroker, and married Ella Maria Sumner in 1866.^[3]
• Benjamín Geronimo Jones (1844–1845), who died young.^[3]
• Anna Powell Jones (b. 1846).^[3]
• Joseph Cutler Jones (b. 1849).^[3]
• Charles Carrillo Jones (1850–1869).^[3]
• Martha Josepha Jones (b. 1855).^[3]

Jones died on December 24, 1861, inNewton, Massachusetts.^[3] After his death, Manuela married George Nelson Kittle in 1867 and, later, moved to France where she died atNice in 1900.^[3]

• United States Minister to Hawaii
• Relations between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States

Notes

Sources

• Gast, Ross H.Contentious consul: A biography of John Coffin Jones, first United States consular agent at Hawaii, Dawson's Book Shop (1976),ISBN 0-87093-175-X

EnglishWikisource has original text related to this article:

American Diplomacy in the Orient

• John Coffin Jones Jr. atFind a Grave
• Darlene E. Kelley (August 10, 2008)."Keepers Of The Culture, A Study In Time Of The Hawaiian Islands". US genweb archives. Retrieved2010-04-04.

• 19th-century American politicians
• 1796 births
• 1861 deaths
• Ambassadors of the United States to Hawaii

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