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Jonas Mynderse Coe
1823 - 1891

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• Birth	12 Feb 1823	Troy, Rensselaer County. NY. USA
  Gender	Male
  Died	6 Nov 1891	Apia,Samoa
  Person ID	I26	JMC Forsayth
  Last Modified	20 Feb 2016

  
  

  Family	Joana Coe née Le’utu
  Children	1. Emma Eliza Coe,   b. 26 Sep 1850, Apia Samoa ,   d. 21 Jul 1913, Monte Carlo
  Family ID	F12	Group Sheet

  
  

• Notes

  ID: I5497 •Name: Jonas Mynderse Coe •Sex: M •Birth: 12 FEB 1823 in Troy,Rensselaer County,NY USA •Death: 6 NOV 1891 in Apia,Samoa •Burial: Matautu,Samoa •Note: HON. JONAS MYNDERSE7 COE (Edward Morris6, Rev. Jonas5 D.D., Hon. John4, Lieut. Samuel3, Capt. John2, Robert1), born at Troy, NY, February 12, 1823, when a young man started on a mercantile career in New York City; but soon left there and went on a sailing vessel to the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific. He washed ashore on Samoa in 1838; his American whaler was caught in a tropical storm that was lashing the Navigators Island (now Samoa) and was smashed in the maze of coral reefs eastward of Savai'i Island. Clinging to a broken spar, he was thrown by giant waves across the reef into the quiet lagoon near Sapapali'i village, on the Savai'i eastern coast. Samoans dragged him ashore and carried him to two Tongan missionaries in the village. Sometime later, with a Malietoa bride (Le'utu Joana Taleatale), Malietoa goodwill, and little besides, the American became a trader, first at Mulinu'u, as a partner of John Wright, otherwise know as "Bigleg Johnny," and later at Matautu Point, at the other end of the Bay, where he built a big house. He permanently settled in Samoa about 1846 and engaged in business as an exporting merchant. European influence by the late nineteenth century, in these faraway islands, was becoming pervasive. Traders from across the world were now bringing European ways to this South Seas paradise. Religion, the whip and gin were becoming the order of the day. So too were land grabs, smallpox and cash - corrupting the once untouched Polynesian life. Jonas Coe was the only American who could speak fluent Samoan, so was knighted the American commercial representative to Apia. It was a task to which he brought much needed skill. The first American Commercial Agent in Apia 1864-1874, for over fifteen years he held the post of US Consul at Apia, Samoa, where he died Nov. 6, 1891. His first wife was Le'uta Malietoa, born at Salesatele, Samoa, about 1830, daughter of Lelei, a native chief of high rank. His second wife was Manuelua Saefaolu, a native of Samoa. His third wife was Litia Ahongalu, a native of Tonga. The father of eighteen children, his son William Prichard Coe became governor of Guam in 1899. And he was the father of the legendary Queen Emma Eliza Coe of the South Seas. • Ancestry Hints for Jonas Mynderse Coe found on Ancestry.com Father: Edward Morris Coe b: 29 SEP 1796 in Lansingburgh,Rensselaer County,NY USA Mother: Mary Ann McCullen Marriage 1 Le'uta Malietoa b: JAN 1829 in Salesatele,Samoa•Married: 1847 in Apia,Samoa Children 1.Maria Miller Coe b: 27 JAN 1849 in Apia,Samoa 2.Emma Eliza Coe b: 26 SEP 1850 in Apia,Samoa 3.Edward Henry Coe b: 5 NOV 1852 in Apia,Samoa 4.Mary Ann Coe b: 6 NOV 1854 in Apia,Samoa 5.William Pritchard Coe b: 12 APR 1857 in Apia,Samoa 6.John Coe b: 24 MAY 1859 in Apia,Samoa 7.Ann Murray Coe b: 7 MAY 1861 in Apia,Samoa 8.Phebe Clotilda Coe b: 5 JUN 1863 in Apia,Samoa Marriage 2 Saefaolu Manuelua b: in Vaimoso,Samoa•Married: in Apia,Samoa Children 1.Caroline Coe b: in Apia,Samoa 2.Grace Forsayth Coe b: in Apia,Samoa 3.Mary Ann Coe b: in Apia,Samoa 4.Elizabeth Coe b: in Apia,Samoa 5.Josephine Coe b: in Apia,Samoa 6.Laura Sophia Coe b: 29 OCT 1865 in Apia,Samoa Marriage 3 Litia Ahongalu b: in Tonga•Married: in Apia,Samoa Children 1.Mary Eliza Coe b: in Apia,Samoa 2.Nellie Lydia Coe b: in Apia,Samoa 3.Robert Jonas Coe b: 1887 in Apia,Samoa 4.Adeline Coe b: in Apia,Samoa