Abishai Coffin

The following extract from an oration delivered upon that occasion by Tristram Coffin of Poughkeepsie, contains some interesting information in regard to the branch of the family transplanted to this county.

       "When the shadow of the approaching Revolution began to darken over the colonies, the exposed situation of Nantucket caused many of the inhabitants to emigrate to the main-land. Among then was Abishai Coffin, a descendant of the fourth generation from the patriarch Tristam, who selected a home for his young wife and children in the valley of the Hudson. His dread of tide-water, as connected in his mind with the expected British men of war, possibly influenced his choice of location, for he settled far out among windings, the hills beyond the reach and almost beyond the sound of their cannon, which soon after awoke the echoes along the river banks. His low, brown house (This house stood on what is now known as the "Tristram Coffin farm" near the village of Little Rest, in the town of Washington.) with the long sloping roof, which stood hard by the country road, disappeared long ago, but the little spring near at hand is still as fresh and pure as when he first took up his abode beside it. Some among those of his grandsons who are with us here today remember him well; his stout walking-staff, broad-brimmed hat and pleasant "thee" and "thou" are among their earliest recollections, and they speak with affectionate respect of his sincere nature, his upright life and excellent standing in the community in which he lived and died. Sixty years have scarcely elapsed since he was laid at rest in the one Nine Partners graveyard, and already his descendants, now living, number two hundred and forty souls. They are scattered far and wide in many States, from New England to California, and are represented in this gathering by about one-twelfth of their entire number."

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/dutchess/dutch/Hist/coffin.htm

• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via wife Sarah Coffin (born Long) by SmartCopy: Jan 31 2015, 5:23:36 UTC