John Coffin Jones Jr. was born in Boston, Massachusetts, about 1796. He was the son of John Coffin Jones, Sr. (1750–1829), Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and Elizabeth Champlin. John Jr. was appointed the first U.S. Consul to the Kingdom of Hawai'i in 1820, where he promoted U.S. commercial interests in what was then known as the Sandwich Islands. In 1823 John married (1) Hannah Kalikolehua (Holmes) Davis. Hannah was the widow of sea captain William Heath Davis with whom she had two sons after their marriage in 1817. During his time in Hawai'i, John Jr. also had three children with (2) Lahilahi Marín (died 1844, HI), daughter of Francisco de Paula Marín. In 1838 business interests took Jones to Santa Bárbara, Alta California, México, where he was "conditionally" baptized into the Roman Catholic church at the Presidio Chapel on April 21, 1838 (BP Baptism 01263). John indicated to Fr. Narciso Durán that he was single (soltero) and the serving U.S. Consul to the Sandwich Islands (rendered by Fr. Durán as "San Duhichi"). John's baptism was a prerequisite to his marrying (2) Manuela Antonia Carrillo y Castro (BP Baptism 00566) at the Santa Bárbara Presidio Chapel on June 4, 1838 (BP Marriage 00216). Manuela was the daughter of Carlos Antonio Carrillo y Lugo (BP Baptism 00019) and Josefa Raymunda Castro y Romero (SC Baptism 01784). When Hannah learned of John's marriage to Manuela, Hannah sued him for divorce. In 1843, Manuela's father Carlos and her uncle, José Antonio Carrillo, were granted Santa Rosa Island by Governor Micheltorena. The two Carrillo brothers then sold the island to Carlos Carrillo's daughters, Manuela and Francisca. Francisca was also married to an American, Alpheus Basil Thompson. The two Carrillo sisters and their American husbands then established a cattle ranch on the island. Not long thereafter the United States invaded Mexico and occupied California in the Summer of 1846. John and Manuela then moved to Boston, Massachusetts. When John learned that Thompson had sold a large number of island livestock without sharing the proceeds, he filed a lawsuit against him in 1851. This case was ruled in favor of Jones. Thompson appealed the ruling, claiming John had "bought" a number of witnesses. In 1857, Judge Samuel B. McKee again ruled in favor of Jones, and appointed Abel Stearns as receiver to establish the value of the disputed property so the financial matter could be settled. In 1859 Thomas Wallace More* and his brother Alexander P. More purchased both Jones's and Thompson's remaining interests in Santa Rosa Island. John remained in Massachusetts until his death on Christmas Eve 1861. Manuela then married (2) George Nelson Kittle at Boston July 15, 1867. Manuela later moved to France where she died at Nice on June 5, 1900 (Boston Daily Advertiser, June 8, 1900).

* Not to be confused with Thomas William Moore (1812-1881), who married Maria Magadalena Burke y Boronda at Santa Barbara June 15, 1856.
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Children:
(2 step-sons and a daughter with Hannah [Holmes] Davis, all born Hawai'i. Her sons retained the surname Davis):
- (stepson) Robert Grimes DAVIS (May 10, 1819-Mar. 4, 1872; became Hawaiian politician and judge)
- (stepson) William Heath DAVIS, jr. (Jan 27, 1821-Apr. 19, 1909, Hayward, California)
- Elizabeth JONES (1830–March 13, 1852; married Captain John H. Brown April 14, 1848)

(with Lahilahi Marín, all born Hawai'i):
- Francis Coffin Jones (July 15, 1830-Aug. 24, 1850, HI)
- Rosalie Coffin Jones (1832-1879; married Mr. Gilliland)
- John "Huanu" Coffin Jones, III (1835-1863; m. Kamekanue [..?..])

(with Manuela Carrillo):
- Margarita Antonia Jones (1840, CA-1904, MA; married Robert F. Clark)
- Juan (John) Coffin Jones, Jr. (July 1, 1842, CA-Nov. 30, 1919, FL)
- Benjamín Geronimo Jones (1844, CA-1845, CA)
- Anita Powell Jones (Sep. 2, 1846, MA-1931; m. William Pratt)
- Joseph Cutler Jones (1849, MA-ca. 1900)
- Charles Carrillo Jones (1850, MA-Nov. 3, 1919, Boston, MA; m. [1] Elizabeth K. Selby; m. [2] Helena Abbott)
- Martha Josephine Jones (Jan. 30, 1855, MA-Mar. 15, 1938, MA; m. Charles Harrington in 1884)