John Jones (California politician)
{{short description|American politician and property developer}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = John J. Jones
| image = John Jones (Los Angeles politician).jpg
| image_size =
| image_upright =
| smallimage =
| smallimage_alt =
| alt =
| caption =
| order =
| office = President of the Los Angeles Common Council
| term_start = December 9, 1870
| term_end = December 11, 1871
| predecessor = John King
| successor = H. K. S. O'Melveny
| office1 =Member of the Los Angeles Common Council for the 1st ward
| term_start1 = December 9, 1870
| term_end1 = December 11, 1871
| birth_date = {{birth-date|1800}}
| birth_place = Warsaw, Poland
| death_date = {{death date and age|1876|12|28|1800}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California
| children = 3
| spouse = {{marriage|Doria Deighton-Jones|1868}}
}}
John J. Jones (1800 – December 28, 1876) was a Polish-born American property developer and politician who served as President of the Los Angeles Common Council from 1870 to 1871.
Personal life
Jones, a Jew, was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1800 and emigrated to Britain. After being transported to Australia following a criminal trial in 1836, he came to the United States and settled in Los Angeles. He was married in 1858 to Doria Deighton,Graeme Deighton Hastie, History of the Deighton Family in Scotland, 2012 with the marriage occurring three years after Doria came to Los Angeles from San Francisco. "Some historians posit that Mrs. Jones converted to Judaism prior to her marriage to Jones."[http://www.jewishjournal.com/los_angeles/article/downtowns_jewish_landmarks_20110809 Stephen J. Sass, "Downtown's Jewish L.A.Landmarks," JewishJournal.com, August 9, 2011] Others maintain that she never ever converted. In Los Angeles the couple lived in a "large adobe home" adjoining the present site of Olvera Street in the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District. They had three children, including son Mark Gordon and daughters Constance (Simpson) and Caroline A. (Mrs. James B. Lankershim).[http://dbase1.lapl.org/webpics/calindex/documents/02/17358.pdf "The Alvarado House Tour Presented by the Los Angeles Conservancy" (1982)] He died in 1877.
Business
John Jones was a wholesale grocer, and by 1853 the first wholesale liquor dealer in Los Angeles, with their business located the Arcadia Block at the corner of Main and Commercial Streets. By 1866 he had sold it to Harris Newmark, who had premises next to his.[http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/juan-jos-warner/an-historical-sketch-of-los-angeles-county-california-from-the-spanish-occupan-nra/page-10-an-historical-sketch-of-los-angeles-county-california-from-the-spanish-occupan-nra.shtml Juan José Warner, An Historical Sketch of Los Angeles County, California . . .][https://archive.org/stream/sixtyyearsinsout00newm/sixtyyearsinsout00newm_djvu.txt Harris Newmark, Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853–1913 . . .]
=Public service=
John Jones was elected as the city's 1st Ward representative on the Los Angeles Common Council, for a one-year term ending December 11, 1871. Fellow Common Council members chose him as the first Jewish president of the city's governing body, during his term.Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials,1850-1938, compiled under direction of Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles (March 1938, reprinted 1966). "Prepared ... as a report on Project No. SA 3123-5703-6077-8121-9900 conducted under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration."
References
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{{LosAngelesCommonCouncil}}
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Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent
Category:American businesspeople in real estate
Category:Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Category:Landowners from California
Category:Los Angeles Common Council (1850–1889) members
Category:Immigrants to the United States