Ebenezer Coffin was born in Boston in 1763 and moved to South Carolina and settled at Coffin Point. His son Thomas Aston Coffin was in charge of the plantation until Union occupation of St. Helena in 1861. Prior to the Civil War Coffin Point was a well-known cotton plantation on the Carolina coast, having a reputation of being well managed and prosperous. (1)

• Timeline: 1800 - Earliest known date. 1801? - Two story house built by Ebenezer Coffin. The house sits on high ground overlooking St Helena Sound. 1861 - The Coffins were among the Sea Island plantation families who fled in front of advancing Union troops. The slave row on the street at Coffin Point was made up of 23 double houses intended for 46 families. (Number of slaves – 63 in 1801; 260 in 1862) Along the entrance to the plantation is a cemetery once used for slaves. At one time it was a hunting preserve. Coffin Point Plantation was added in 1975 to the National Register of Historic Places. (2)

Sources

1. South Carolina Department of Archives and History - Coffin Point Plantation, Beaufort County (Seaside Rd., St. Helena Island
2. Archives & Records of the Plantations of South Carolina

Links

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=syf&id=I13773