John Coffin Jones Sr.

John Coffin Jones Sr. (1749 – October 25, 1829)[1] was a businessman who served as the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1802 to 1803.

John Coffin Jones Sr.
  Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office
1802–1803
Preceded byEdward Robbins
Succeeded byHarrison Gray Otis
Personal details
Born1749 (1749)
DiedOctober 25, 1829(1829-10-25) (aged 79–80)
Boston, Massachusetts
Political partyFederalist
ChildrenJohn Coffin Jones Jr.
Alma materHarvard College

Early life

Jones was born in 1749. He was the son of Ichabod Jones (d. 1790). John attended and graduated from Harvard College.[1]

Career

In 1790, Jones wrote to Thomas Jefferson 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."[2] Jones was a businessman who became a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. From 1802 to 1803, he served as the Speaker of the House succeeding Edward Robbins. Jones was succeeded by Harrison Gray Otis,[3] who later served as the Mayor of Boston and a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.[4]

In 1814, Jones was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society.[5]

Personal life

Jones was married three times. Among his wives were Mary Lee. Together, they were the parents of:[6]

  • Thomas Jones.[6]

His second wife was Abigail C. Jones,[6] and Jones' third wife was Elizabeth (née Champlin) (1770–1837) the sister of U.S. Senator from Rhode Island Christopher G. Champlin and grandson of Christopher Champlin, a merchant, ship owner and financier of Newport, Rhode Island.[7] Together, they were the parents of:

  • Margaret Champlin Jones (1792–1848), who married Benjamin Underhill Coles in 1817.[8][9] After his death, she married Hon. Benjamin Gorham in 1829.[10]
  • Martha Ellery Jones (b. 1794), who married Isaac Underill Coles, the brother of her elder sister's first husband, Benjamin Underhill Coles, in 1823.[11]
  • Mary Jones (1795–1837), who died unmarried.[6]
  • John Coffin Jones Jr. (1796–1861), who was the first United States Consular Agent to the Kingdom of Hawaii.[12]
  • 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 in Boston.

Descendants

Through his daughter Martha, he was the grandfather of Mary Lee Coles (c. 1842–1922), who married Harry Coster,[13] who were both prominent in New York society during the Gilded Age.[14]

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References
  1. Massachusetts Historical Society (1922), Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings October, 1920 - June, 1921, Volume LIV, Boston, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society, p. 22, fn 3.
  2. "To Thomas Jefferson from John Coffin Jones, 1 May 1790". founders.archives.gov. National Archives | Founders Online. Retrieved 18 January 2019. Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 16, 30 November 1789–4 July 1790, ed. Julian P. Boyd. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961, pp. 397–400.
  3. Gast, Ross H. (1976). Contentious Consul: A Biography of John Coffin Jones, First United States Consular Agent at Hawaii. Dawson's Book Shop. ISBN 9780870931758. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  4. Morison, Samuel Eliot (1913). The Life and Letters of Harrison Gray Otis, Federalist, 1765-1848. Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 238. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  5. American Antiquarian Society Members Directory, americanantiquarian.org; accessed 6 September 2015.
  6. Bridgman, Thomas (1853). Memorials of the Dead in Boston: Containing Exact Transcripts of Inscriptions on the Sepulchral Monuments in the King's Chapel Burial Ground, in the City of Boston. With Copious Historical and Biographical Notices of the Early Settlers of the Metropolis of New England. B.B. Mussey. p. 84. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  7. "Christopher Champlin Papers". www.rihs.org. Rhode Island Historical Society. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  8. Assembly, New York (State) Legislature (1898). Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York. E. Croswell. p. 265. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  9. "Archives Directory for the History of Collecting". research.frick.org. Frick Art Reference Library. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  10. Kenslea, Timothy (2006). The Sedgwicks in Love: Courtship, Engagement, and Marriage in the Early Republic. UPNE. p. 199. ISBN 9781584654940. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  11. The Manifesto Church: Records of the Church in Brattle Square, Boston, with Lists of Communicants, Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals, 1699-1872. Benevolent Fraternity of Churches. 1902. p. 274. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  12. Day, Arthur Grove (1984). History makers of Hawaii: a biographical dictionary. Mutual Publishing of Honolulu. pp. 32, 57. ISBN 9780935180091. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  13. "DIED" (PDF). The New York Times. November 4, 1917. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  14. "Mrs. Henry A. Coster Dead | Funeral To-morrow From St. James's Church". New York Herald. November 23, 1922. p. 11. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
Political offices
Preceded by
Edward Robbins		 Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
1802 — 1803		 Succeeded by
Harrison Gray Otis
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