John Jones and Doria Deighton-Jones

John Jones (died 1876) and Doria Deighton-Jones (1824-1908) were husband-and-wife landowners and developers in 19th- and early 20th-Century Los Angeles, California. John Jones was president of the Los Angeles Common Council, the governing body of that city, in 1870–71.

John Jones, a Jew, was born in Poland, then lived in England until he came to the United States and settled in Los Angeles. He was married in 1858 to Doria Deighton, born in Perth, Scotland, on June 6, 1824; the marriage occurred 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." 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).

John Jones died in 1877. Doria Deighton-Jones died on 24 March 1908 at the age of 84, in her home at 955 South Hill Street. At the time of her death, "She is said to have been the oldest 'white woman' resident of the city."

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.

Doria Deighton-Jones became a property developer after her husband's death. She was known as the "owner of a vast estate in and around Los Angeles" valued at a million dollars, at the time of her death in 1908.

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.

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