Eleazer Coffeen

HON. ELEAZER COFFEEN One of the early settlers of Delaware County, and now a resident of Carthage, Mo., was born at Cavendish, Vt., in the year 1799. At the age of two years, he accompanied his father's family to Jefferson County, N. Y., locating six miles above Watertown. In 1816, he accompanied his father and twenty others upon a surveying expedition to Western Virginia, where there was a tract of about one hundred thousand acres, situated between Parkersburg and Charleston. The owner of these lands had agreed to take the lands of the surveying party at an appraised value, and give them, in exchange, land in Western Virginia at $2 per acre. From early spring until late in the fall, Mr. Coffeen remained, with this party, carrying the chain, sleeping on the hard ground, and living on very rough fare. It was well that a personal examination of this land was made by those chiefly interested, for they found that very little of it was adapted to agricultural purposes, and returned to the State of New York, determined to retain the lands they then owned. While en-route to Virginia, young Eleazer had an adventure that would have resulted fatally but for the timely arrival of his father, upon the scene. At Fort Schlosser, above Niagara Falls, he and two other boys of the party procured a yawl and floated down with the current of the river, in dangerous proximity to the rapids. His father saw the peril of the boys, and, wading out to them, pulled the boat ashore. But a moment longer, and the frail craft, with its precious burden, would have been in the rapids, floating down to certain destruction.

The party consisted of about seventy persons, among whom was Mrs. Huston, the aunt of Mr. Coffeen, then on her way to Vevay, Ind. She accompanied them from their home in New York as far as Parkersburg, Va., where she left them, and, embarking on a flat-boat, pursued her journey down the Ohio.

The subject of this biography remained in his native place in New York until the year 1822, when he removed to Lebanon, Ohio, and, in 1823, married Cynthia McCreary, who still survives. She was born in the year 1804. The fruits of this union were eleven children, eight of whom grew to maturity, and six still survive, viz., Cynthia, wife of Turner, a resident of Muncie; Salome, wife of Mr. Langdon, of Muncie; William, now engaged in the manufacture of brick in the State of Texas; Amelia, wife of Mr. Sutton, of Carthage, Mo., Adeline, wife of Mr. Snurr, editor at Joplin, Mo, and James, who is the general agent for a horticultural and fruit company at Springfield, ILL.

After a residence of five years at Lebanon, Ohio, Mr. Coffeen removed to Middletown, in the same State, where he resided for an equal length of time. He came to Muncie in 1833, and opened a small stock of merchandise. He sold goods here for a time, and was afterward the proprietor of a drug store and two sawmills, and erected a large woolen factory on Buck Creek, which has since been converted into a flouring-mill.

He purchased a tract of land (now within the city limits of Muncie), which was entered by a reckless, dissipated man. The owner became involved in a fight, was stabbed, and died ten days later. The estate was sold at public sale, and passed into the possession of Dr. S. P. Anthony. The widow induced Mr. Coffeen to redeem it, and gave him a deed for the property. Years afterward, her heirs entered suit against him for the recovery of the land, but finally abandoned the proceedings, after the costs had aggregated $1,300. This same piece of land afterward played another conspicuous part, in connection with the Fort Wayne, Muncie & Cincinnati Railroad. Mr. Coffeen improved the land, thus increasing its value; and, when this road was first projected, he took stock to the amount of $10,000, in payment of which he transferred the land to the railroad company. The railroad, for a while proved a failure; its stock was worthless, and the company had the land. Absolute loss of the property seemed inevitable, for they were very tenacious of their acquisition; but Mr. Coffeen gave them no peace until they consented to sell him back a portion of the land for $3,000. Altogether, the history of this tract of land is quite curious.

Mr. Coffeen, while one of the early citizens of Muncie, was also one of the most enterprising. He laid out the village of Coffeentown (now a suburb of Muncie) in 1851, and kept pace with the march of improvement in all matters of public interest while a resident of this city. In the earlier years of his prime, he was called to the performance of various public duties in this county. He was Associate Judge for several years, a member of the Indiana Legislature in 1840, and occupied other offices of a local nature. In 1869, he removed to Carthage, Mo., where he now makes his home with the family of his son. He is in the eighty-second year of his age, yet he retains his activity of body and mind in a very marked degree. He is spending the present winter (1880-81) among his children, and the friends of other days, at Muncie. Among these, as well as all who know him, he is regarded with affection and esteem. (Page 212)

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