Peter Coffin

Coffin Faimly History

• Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts

In Fallaise, a town of Normandy. COFFIN stands the old chateau of Courtiton, once the home of the Norman Coffins; the name is now extinct in that vicinage. The chateau is now owned by Mons. Le Clere. (*note; mons. abr for Monseigneur loosely French for 'lord') who is the grandson of the last Miss Coffin who married a Le Clere in 1796. Until her marriage the chateau had always been owned by a Coffin. (The above information came through Admiral Henry E. Coffin, of the English navy, who is the nephew of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, May 16, 1759, made a baronet and granted a coat-of-arms in 1804). The family traces its ancestry to Sir Richard Coffin, Knight, who accompanied William the Conqueror from Normandy to England in the year 1066, to whom the manor of Alwington in the court of Devonshire was assigned. There are various branches of the family in county Devon. The English records show the name as Covin, whence it was changed to Cophin, and is also found as Kophin, Coffyn and Coffyne. lie fore 1254 the family was flourishing at Portledge near the sea, in the parish of Alwington. five miles from Biddeford, England. From the time of Henry VIII to Edward II, for a period of two hundred years, the heir always received the name of Richard, and so the family was perpetuated for many generations through that name. The name was early brought to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and has been borne by many leading men. The revolutionary war record of the family is an especially honorable one. The Portledge family bore these arms: Vert, five cros-crosslets argent, between four plates. These arms are also used by the American families.

(I) Tristram Coffin, a descendant of Sir Richard Coffin, mentioned above, lived in Brixton, county Devon, England. In his will he left legacies to Anne and John, children of his son, Nicholas Coffin; Richard and Joan, children of Lionel Coffin; Phillip Coffin and his son, Tristram; appointed Nicholas Coffin, mentioned below, his executor.

(II) Nicholas, son of Tristram Coffin, lived in Butler's parish, Devonshire, England, where he died in 1603. In his will, which was proved at Totness, in Devonshire, November 3, 1603, mention is made of his wife and five children, namely: Peter, Nicholas, Tristram, John and Anne.

(III) Peter, eldest child of Nicholas and Joan Coffin, was born on the Coffin estate at Brixton, Devonshire, England, about 1580, and died there in 1627-28. He married Joan, or Joanna Thember, and their six children were born and baptized in the parish of Brixton, Devonshire, England, in the order following: 1. Tristram, 1605, see forward. 2. John, about 1607. He was a soldier, and died in the service from a mortal wound received in battle during the four years' siege of the fortified town during the civil war, and he died within the town about 1642. 3. Joan, born in England about 1609, and probably died there. 4. Deborah, died probably in England. 5. Eunice, born in England, came to Massachusetts Bay Colony with her parents; married William Butter and died in 1648. 6. Mary, married Alexander Adams, and had children: Mary, Susannah, John and Samuel. She died in 1677, or thereabouts. Widow Joan, with her children, Tristram, Eunice and Mary, her two sons-in-law, husbands of her daughters who were married in England, her daughter-in-law, Dionis, and five grandchildren, came to Salisbury in 1642. She died in Boston, in May, ;66i, aged seventy-seven years, and in the notice of her funeral it is quaintly stated that the Rev. Mr. Wilson "embalmed her memory."

(IV) Tristram, eldest child of Peter and Joan, or Joanna (Thember) Coffin, was born in the parish of Brixton, Dorsetshire. England, probably in 1605. He was of the landed gentry of England, being heir to his father's estates in Brixton, and he was probably a churchman after the order of the time of Elizabeth. He was married to Dionis (the diminutive for

Dionysia, and after written Dionys), daughter of Robert Stevens, of Brixton, England. It is a strange fact that the christian name of the immigrant forefather of all the Coffins in America, Tristram, is repeated and multiplied in every family in every generation, while the name of the foremother Dionis is repeated but once in all the generations, and that was when it was given to the eldest daughter of Stephen, the youngest child of Tristram and Dionis (Stevens) Coffin, but when she married Jacob Norton her name appears as Dinah. It is not known on which of the early ships conveying emigrants from England to New England the Coffin family took passage, but it is generally believed that it was the same ship that brought Robert Clement, the emigrant, who owned the ships "Hector," "Griffin," "Job Clement," and "Margaret Clement," and if Robert Clement, the immigrant, took passage in one of his own ships, Tristram Coffin, the immigrant, was a passenger in the same ship, and both men settled in Haverhill in 1642. The early settlers of Salisbury, which town was established October 7, 1640, commenced a settlement at Pentucket the same year, and the Indian deed for this land was witnessed by Tristram Coffin in 1642, and in 1643 he removed to the place which was established as the town of Haverhill, Norfolk county, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He settled near Robert Clement. Tradition has it that Tristram Coffin was the first man to plow land in the town of Haverhill, he constructing his own plow. He changed his residence to the "Rocks" the following year, and in 1648-49 removed to Newbury where he kept an ordinary and sold wine and liquors and kept the Newbury side of Carr's Ferry. In September, 1643, his wife Dionis was prosecuted for selling beer for three pence per quart, while the regular price was but two pence, but she proved that she had put six bushels of malt into the hogshead, while the law only required the use of four bushels, and she was discharged. He returned to Salisbury and was commissioner of the town, and while living there planned the purchase of the estate of Nantucket, where he with his associates removed on account of religious persecution. At least. Thomas Macy, who was the pioneer settler on Nantucket Island, "fled from the officers of the law and sacrificed his property and home rather than submit to tyranny which punished a man for being hospitable to strangers in a rain storm, even though the strangers be Quakers." Macy returned to Salisbury and resided there in 1664. and when he left he sold his house and lands, the story of his "fleeing from persecution" is spoiled and history gives the true reason for the migration, the search for a milder climate and better opportunity for cultivating the soil. Early in 1654 Tristram Coffin took Peter Folyer, the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin, at that time living in Martha's Vineyard, as an interpreter of the Indian language, and proceeded to Nantucket to ascertain the "temper and disposition of the Indians and the capabilities of the island, that he might report to the citizens of Salisbury what inducements were offered for emigration." The land was secured the same year, and James Coffin accompanied Thomas Macy and family, Edward Starbuck and Isaac Coleman to the island later the same year, where they took up their residence. The Coffin family that settled at Nantucket included Tristram, Sr., James, Mary, John and Stephen, and each the head of a family. Tristram Coffin was thirty-seven years old when he arrived in America, and fifty-five years old at the time of his removal to Nantucket, and during the first year of his residence he was the richest proprietor. The property of his son Peter is said to have soon after exceeded in value that of the original proprietor, the family together owning about one-fourth of the island of Nantucket and the whole of Tuckernock. He was appointed the second chief magistrate of the town of Nantucket, succeeding his friend, Thomas Macy, and at the same time Thomas Mayhew was appointed the first chief magistrate of Martha's Vineyard, their commissions signed by Governor Lovelace, of New York, bearing date June 29, 1671, and the two chief magistrates, together with two assistants from each island, constitute a general court, with appellate jurisdiction over both islands. The appointment was made by Governor Francis Lovelace, of New York, and his second commission, September 16, 1677, was signed by Edward Andros, governor-general of the Province of New York. He died at his home on Nantucket Island, New York, October 2, 1681, leaving his widow, Dionis, seven children, sixty grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren, and in 1728 there had been born to him one thousand five hundred and eighty-two descendants, of whom one thousand one hundred and twenty-eight were living. The children of Tristram and Dionis (Stevens) Coffin were nine in number, the first five having been born in England, as follows: Peter, Tristram, Jr., Elizabeth, James, John, Deborah, Mary, John, Stephen.

(V) Tristram (2), second son and child of Tristram (1) and Dionis (Stevens) Coffin, was born in England in 1632, and came to America with his parents at ten years of age. He died February 4, 1704, aged about seventytwo. He was the ancestor of all the Coffins originating from Newbury. He married, March 2, 1653, in Newbury, Judith Greenleaf, daughter of Edmund Greenleaf, the emigrant, and widow of Henry Somerby, of Newbury. She died December 15, 1705. Children :Judith, born December 4, 1653; Deborah, November 1, 1655; Mary, December 12, 1657; James. April 2, 1659; John, September 8, 1660; Lydia, April 22, 1062; Enoch, January 21, 1664; Stephen, mentioned below; Peter, July 27, 1667; and Nathaniel, March 26, 16G9.

(VI) Stephen, fourth son of Tristram (2) and Judith (Greenleaf) Coffin, was born August 18, 1665, in Newbury, and died in that town, August 31, 1725. He resided in Haverhill from 1686 to 1697, and then returned to Newbury. He married there October 8, 1685, Sarah, daughter of John and Sarah (Mirock) Atkinson, of Newbury, born November 27, 1665, died January 20, 1725. Children: Sarah, born May 16, 1686; Tristram, died young; Tristram, March 6, 1689; Lydia, July 21,1691; Judith, February 23, 1693; John, January 20, 1695; Abigail, September 25, 1696; Stephen. 1698; Daniel, September 19, 1700; Abner. April 29, 1702; Mary, September 26, 1704; Joseph, mentioned below; Benjamin, June 14, 1710.

(VII) Joseph, seventh son of Stephen and Sarah (Atkinson) Coffin, was born December 26, 1706, in Newbury, and resided in that town, where he died November 23, 1758. He married (first) in 1729, Elizabeth Collins, of Salisbury, who died in October, 1749. He married (second) February 13, 1750, Olive Fowler, who married (second) March 1, 1763, Joseph Rowell. Children, born in Newbury: Joseph. March 25, 1730; Elizabeth, November 20, 1731; Tristram, September 5, 1733; John, September 5, 1735; Sarah, January 26, 1737; Abel, September 30, 1741; Mary, September 16, 1743; Eunice, August 23, 1744; Michael. May 10, 1746; Enoch, September 13, 1748; Samuel. January 19, 1751; Olive, June 28. 1752; Henry, April 9, 1754; Lemuel, mentioned below; John, August 12, 1757.

(VIII) Lemuel, eighth son of Joseph Coffin and fourth child of his second wife, Olive Fowler, was born November 20, 1755, in Newbury, and died there June 29, 1837. He was a soldier of the Revolution, serving in several enlistments. He was a private in Captain Moses Newell's company of minute-men, which marched at the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775, and served four days. He was subsequently in Captain Benjamin Parker's company, Colonel Moses Little's (17th) regiment, enlisting May 9, 1775, and serving twelve weeks. The muster roll is dated August 1, 1775, on which his age is given as twenty-one years; and he received an order for a bounty coat or its equivalent in money, dated Prospect Hill, November 14, 1775. His name appears in the return of men made by Major Ralph Cross, sworn to February 16, 1778, in Essex county, among those enlisted for the continental army and the second Essex regiment. He was credited to the town of Newburyport and enlisted for a term of three years. He served on the life guard of General Washington, and appears on the pay account of Lieutenant Colonel William Washington (third) regiment of Light Dragoons, serving from January 1, 1777, to December 13, 1779. He married Catherine Cressal, who died January 24, 1844, having survived her husband six and a half years. Children, born in Newburyport: Eliza, August 18, 1781; John, July 9, 1783; Olive, July 14, 1785; Joseph, March 25, 1788; Rachel, August 9, 1790; Abel, mentioned below; Catherine, January 19, 1795; Sarah, July 29, 1797; Michael, March 17, 1800; Sarah, November 16, 1802.

(IX) Captain Abel, third son of Lemuel and Catherine (Cressal) Coffin, was born October 21, 1792, in Newburyport; died St. Helena, August 28, 1837. He was a sea captain. He married, March 25, 1816, Susan Ames Hale; she died September 30, 1837. Their children were: Abel Hale, see forward, and Susan Hale, born December 25, 1822; became the wife of Ephraim A. Hyde, of Freeport, Maine.

(X) Abel Hale, son of Captain Abel and Susan Ames (Hale) Coffin, was born August

20, 1820, in Newburyport, died June 21, 1883. He settled in Boston, where he went to sea until age of twenty-eight as supercargo; then for many years wharfinger for Grand Junction Dock & Warehouse Company, which afterwards became property of present Boston & Albany docks. The last ten years of his life he was fuel agent for Eastern railroad before consolidation with B. & M. He was an Episcopalian; ten years senior warden for Christ Church, Boston, always a very staunch church member. He married, May, 1846, Julia Ann Holland, born at Newburyport, December 19, 1826, died at Medford, August 25, 1858. He married (second) November 8, 1859, Mary Ann McKay. Children by first wife: Annie Morrill, died in childhood. John Lambert, see forward, Susan Hyde, died in childhood. Henry, died in childhood. Children of second wife: Abel Augustus, born June 26, 1861; superintendent of the Webster Tannery; resides in Maiden, Massachusetts. Thomas Mair McKay, born January 8, 1864, died October, 1869.

(XI) John Lambert, eldest son of Abel Hale and Julia Ann (Holland) Coffin, was born February 20, 1852, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was educated principally in Boston and Wakefield public schools, then attended Wakefield high school, later Tufts College, class of 1871, receiving degree of A. B. and in 1876 that of A. M.; and subsequently Boston University Medical School, graduating in 1876 with degree of M. D. Engaged in general practice in West Medford until 1896," and then engaged in special practice at Boston on diseases of the skin. Dr. Coffin is a member of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medical Society, Boston Homoeopathic Medical Society, Boston Surgical and Gynaecological Society, honorary member of Maine Homoeopathic Medical Society, professor of dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine, chairman of board of trustees of Westboro State Hospital, and while living in Medford was a member of the school committee and board of health. He is a Mason, being affiliated with Mt. Hermon Lodge, attaining the office of junior warden. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa of Tufts. He married, November 8, 1880, Annie Weeman, daughter of Seth and Louisa (Weeman) Jones, of Maiden. Children: Louise Wendte and Julia May (twins), born 1883. Bartlett, October 5, 1888, died September, 1889. Holland, March 25, 1890. ried Abigail, daughter of Edward and Catherine (Reynolds) Starbuck; died in Exeter, New Hampshire, March 21, 1715. 2. Tristram Jr., 1632, married Judith, daughter of Edward and Sarah Dole, and widow of Henry Somerby; died in Newbury, Massachusetts, February 4, 1704. 3. Elizabeth, 1634, married, in Medbury, Massachusetts, November 13, 1651, Captain Stephens, son of Edmund and Sarah (Dole) Greenleaf, and they had five children. She died November 19, 1678, and her husband in 1690. 4. James, August 12, 1640, died in Nantucket, July 28, 1720. 5. John, died in Haverhill, Massachusetts, October 30, 1642, soon after his birth. 6. Deborah, born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, November 15, 1642, and died there December 8, 1642. 7. Mary, February 20, 1645, married, in 1662, Nathaniel (1638-1719), son of Edward and Catherine (Reynolds) Starbuck, and they had five children. 8. John (q. v.), October 30, 1647. 9. Stephen, born in Newbury, May 11, 1652, died in Nantucket, May 18,

1734. .,

(lll) John, eighth child of Tristram and Dionis (Stevens) Coffin, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, October 30, 1647. He married Deborah, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Austin, and they had eleven children born in Nantucket Island. He removed with his parents to Nantucket in 1660, and after the death of his father settled, about 1682-83, in Edgartown, and from him all the Martha's Vineyard Coffins descended. He died September 5, 1711. He was a lieutenant in the Edgartown militia, and had previously held minor offices in Nantucket. Children: 1. Lydia, born June 1, 1669, married (first) John Logan, (second) John Draper, and (third) Thomas Thaxter, of Hingham, Massachusetts. 2. Peter, August 5, 1671, died October 27. 1749; married (first) Christian Condy, and (second) Hope, daughter of Joseph and Bethia (Macy) Gardner. 3. John Jr., February 10, 1674. 4. Love, April 23, 1676, died unmarried. 5. Enoch, 1678, was chief justice of Dakes county; married Beulah Eddy about 1700, and they had eleven children, all of whom lived to the ages of seventy-six and upwards, and died 1761. 6. Samuel, married Meriam, daughter of Richard and Mary (Austin) Gardner Jr., in 1705, and died February 22, 1764. 7. Hannah, married Benjamin, son of Richard and Mary (Austin) Gardner Jr., and died January 28, 1768. 8. Tristram (q. v.). 9. Deborah, married, June 18, 1708, Thomas, son of John and Deborah (Gardner) Macy, and died September 23, 1760. 10.

Elizabeth. 11. Benjamin, born August 21, 1682.

(IV) Tristram (2), eighth child of Lieutenant John and Deborah (Austin) Coffin, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He was married February, 1714, to Mary, daughter of William and Mary (Macy) Bunker. He lived in Nantucket all his life and died January 29, 1763. Children: David, born 1718. 2. Samuel, 1720. 3. Tristram, 1722, died 1796. 4. Jonathan, 1725, lost at sea 1755. 5. John, 1727, lost at sea 1755. 6. Richard (q. v.), 1729. 7. Timothy, 1731. 8. Mary, 1733, married Jonathan, son of Robert and Hepzibah Coffin Barnard, and died in November, 1855. 9. Matthew, 1735, lost at sea 1755. The three brothers, Jonathan, John and Matthew, were lost at sea when serving as sailors on the same whale-ship.

(V) Richard, sixth son of Tristram and Mary (Bunker) Coffin, was born in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, in 1729. He was captain in the local militia of Addison, Maine, where he lived after his marriage to Mary Cook, of Martha's Vineyard, and he served as high sheriff of Washington county. He had a large family of children, including John (q. v.).

(VI) John (2), son of Richard and Mary (Cook) Coffin, was born in Addison, Maine, July 29, 1770. He married Phoebe Coffin, of Nantucket, June 22, 1795; children: 1. Sophronia S., born September 24, 1799. 2. Hannah Ward, April 7, 1802. 3. Simeon (q. v.).

(VII) Simeon, third child of John and Phoebe (Coffin) Coffin, was born in Addison, Maine, January 17, 1806. He was an innkeeper and ship-builder, and married Rebecca W., daughter of Uriah and Anna Nash, of Harrington, Maine; children: 1. John W., born March 27, 1828. 2. Mary E., January, 1830, died 1847. 3. Voranus L. (q. v.). 4. Alphonso, October 15, 1833, in Addison, Maine, was a sea captain and farmer, and died at Matanzas, Cuba, while in that port with his ship. Married Mary W. Wilson; children: Ellinor. Annie E., Gertrude W., Alphonso. 5. Sophronia, died aged seventeen years. Rebecca W. (Nash) Coffin, died in 1844. Simeon Coffin married (second) Harriet B. Franklin; two children: Azro ; Leonora, became the wife of Dr. H. Bellamy, of Logansport, Indiana.

(VIII) Captain Voranus L., second son of Simeon and Rebecca W. (Nash) Coffin, was born in Addison, Maine, October 3, 1831. He received his primary school training in the public schools of his native place and at Harrington, Maine, and was prepared for college at Waterville Academy, taking a three-years preparatory course. He then taught school at Addison, Harrington and Milbridge, and in 1863 enlisted in the Thirty-first Maine Infantry, and was with the regiment of the Army of the Potomac during the remainder of the war. He was taken prisoner while on picket duty near Cold Harbor, Virginia, a few days after the battle, June 1-3, 1864, in which he participated, and while the opposing armies were idle, except the sharpshooters, who were picking off many men on both sides. He was carried to Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, where he was in slave confinement for a number of weeks, when he was removed with others to Camp Oglethorpe, Georgia, where he remained July, August and September, 1864. His next prison was at Savannah, Georgia, and his fourth at Charleston, South Carolina, where he was among the prisoners placed under fire of the Union guns then besieging the city. His fifth prison was Camp Sorghum, South Carolina, where he was until Christmas, 1864, when he was removed to the prison stockades in front of the Insane Asylum at Charleston. While in the stockade he connived, with H. L. Bixby, of Maine, a fellow prisoner, to effect their escape, but he was recaptured sixty miles outside the city, and one of his captors was a lieutenant and he was recognized as a brother Mason, and received from him many favors, including a gift of $50 in Confederate money, a liberal supply of rice and flour and many personal favors. This lieutenant was from Grove Station, North Carolina, but after the war no communication was established between them. He was next sent to the military prison at Raleigh, North Carolina, then to Goldsboro, in the same state, and then to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he was paroled. After being allowed a vacation home of thirty days, he was ordered to rejoin his regiment before Petersburg, and while on his way heard of the fall of the city and the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox. He marched in the final grand review at Washington, D. C, and was mustered out at Bangor, Maine, in 1865. He had enlisted as a private, but before leaving, Augusta, Maine, was commissioned second lieutenant, and on June 11, 1864, first lieutenant, his promotion being a reward for his action at Cold Harbor before his capture. He was acting captain of Company B, Thirty-first Maine Regiment, most of the time while with his regiment, and was in command of his company on their return trip from Washington to Bangor.

The war over, he engaged in trade and shipbuilding at Harrington, Maine, where he launched a large number of schooners, barks and brigs, the shipyards being owned by Ramsdell, Rumball & Coffin. He subsequently purchased the interests of his partners and conducted the shipbuilding business as V. L. Coffm for about eight years, 1876-84. In 1884 the firm became V. L. Coffin & Son, his partner being his son, Charles A. Coffin. Captain Coffin retired from active business in 1906, his son assuming the active management of the same. His home in Harrington is one of the pleasantest sites in that sightly place, and the hospitality there dispensed is proverbial for its entire freedom from formality or restraint. Captain Coffin holds a high position in the Masonic fraternity. He is a member of Narragansett Lodge, of Cherryfield, member of the St. Elmo Commandery, No. 18, Machias Royal Arch Chapter; Bangor Council, Royal and Select Masters; Delta Lodge of Perfection; Scottish Rite, Princes of Jerusalem, at Machias, and Rose Croix Consistory, in Portland, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree. His service as a soldier in the civil war gained him comradeship to Hiram Burnham Post, No. 50, Grand Army of the Republic, of Cherryville, Maine, and he served the post as commander for three years, and the state of Maine as past senior vice-commander, and the National body by a place on the staff of General Walker, commander-in-chief. His military service also was recognized by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, of which he was a companion, by his being accorded a place on the staff of the state commandery. He represented the fifteenth district in the state senate from 1881 to 1885; member of the executive council of state of Maine in 1897-98, under Governor Llewellen Powers, and for thirty-five years was treasurer of the town of Harrington; he has also filled most of the local offices of his town. His political position in the Republican party is shown by his appointment as a delegate to the National convention at Chicago which nominated Theodore Roosevelt as the Republican candidate for president in 1904. He held the important financial position of treasurer of Washington county, Maine, 1900-04, and his interest in the cause of education was recognized by the trustees of the University of the State of Maine by electing him a member of their body in 1899, for a term of eight years. In matters of religious observance Captain Coffin remained independent.

(For preceding generations see Tristram Coffin 1).

(VI) Nathaniel, youngest child COFFIN of Tristram (2) and Judith (Greenleaf) Coffin, was born March 26, 1669, in Newbury, and died there February 20, 1749. He resided in the house erected by his father, which was still standing within a few years, and served as deacon of the church; town clerk, representative to the general court, and was a member of the governor's council in 1730. He married, March 29, 1693, Sarah, widow of Henry Dole, of Newbury, and daughter of Samuel and Hannah Brocklebank, of Rowley. She was born