Mary Coffin

• from An Island in Time... Historic Nantucket, Vol 49, no. 1 (Winter 2000), p. 12-38

Mary Gardner Coffin (1670-1767) was born on Nantucket and married Jethro Coffin, grandson of Tristram, in 1686. Their home, built later that year, is still standing on Nantucket. Now known as the Oldest House, it is owned and operated by the Nantucket Historical Association. The Coffin/Gardner marriage symbolized the end of an early conflict in Nantucket society involving their families that was known as the "half-share revolt." John Gardner and Tristram Coffin were key figures in Nantucket's early governance. Coffin represented the "full-share" men, or original founders of Nantucket, while Gardner was one of a group of tradesmen who came to work on the island but received only half-shares. Bitter debates between the full-share and half-share parties raged on Nantucket about land rights, who could hold public office, and the future directions for the island. A tentative compromise between the two factions was reached in 1678, but it was not until Coffin's death in 1681 and the eventual marriage of his grandson into the Gardner family that a full resolution of this conflict occurred.

https://nha.org/visit/historic-sites/oldest-house