Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/716

674 was obtained and the island incorporated with the Providence plantations in 1647, when John Cogges- hall became president of the colony, and Codding- ton was chosen assistant from Newport. He was made president in 1648, but did not enter on the duties of the office. At this time, owing to the disturbed state of the colony, he formed the pro- ject of withdrawing the island of Aquidneck fi'ora its rule. In September, with Capt. Partridge, he presented a petition begging that the island might be received into a league with the united New England colonies, which was refused, on the ground that Aquidneck rightfully belonged to Plymouth. Failmg in his designs, Coddington went to England in 1649, and, after a delay of two years, obtained from the council of state a commis- sion to govern the islands of Rhode Island and Conanicut during his life. In the autumn of that year the colonists, including those of Newport and Portsmouth, urged Roger Williams and John Clark to go to England to secure the revocation of Cod- dington's commission. This they succeeded in doing in October, 1652, and Coddington's "usurpa- tion " was at an end. But he refused to give up the records, and it was not until 1655 that he formally submitted to the colony. He united with the Quakers in 1665, and in 1674 was chosen gov- ernor of the colony. He was re-elected in 1675, and again in 1678, just before his death. He pub- lished " Demonstration of True Love unto the Rulers of Massachusetts, by one who was in au- thority with them" (1674). There is an alleged portrait of Gov. Coddington in the council-cham- ber at Newport. Tiie accompanying illustration is a representation of his house at Newport. See " William Coddington in Rhode Island Colonial Affairs " (No. 4 of " Rhode Island Historical Tracts," Providence, 1878).

CODMAN, John, clergyman, b. in Boston, Mass., 8 Aug., 1783 ; d. in Dorchester, 23 Dec, 1847. His father, John, was a Boston merchant and a member of the Massachusetts senate. Young Codman was graduated at Harvard in 1802, and began the study of law; but, in accordance with his father's dying wish, he abandoned it for the- ology. After studying at Cambridge, Mass., he went to Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1805. and spent three years abroad, during the last of which he preached at the Scotch church in Swallow street, London. He returned to the United States in May, 1808, and in December became pastor of the recently organized second church at Dorchester, Mass., where he remained until his death. During the early part of his pastorate he caused dissatis- faction in his congregation by refusing to exchange with clergymen whose orthodoxy was doubtful, and this finally led to the organization of a new church. The excitement produced by his course was so great that he was on one occasion forcibly kept out of his pulpit. In 1834-'5 Dr. Codman was a delegate to the Congregational union of England and Wales, and he again visited Europe in 1845. He inherited wealth from his father, and gave freely. Among his gifts were a large sum of money to Princeton theological seminary, and his library of several thousand volumes to Andover. Dr. Codman published numerous sermons, many of which were afterward collected in a volume (1834), and " A Visit to England " (1836). A memoir by Dr. William Allen, with six select sermons, was published after his death (1853). — His son, John, b. in Dorchester, Mass., 16 Oct., 1814, left Amherst in his junior year, 1833, and finished his education on the sea, becoming a captain in the merchant marine. He has travelled widely, and is known as an advocate of free ships and free-trade. He has contributed to periodicals, and published " Sailors' Life and Sailors' Yarns " (New York, 1846) ; " Ten Months in Brazil" (1872); "The Mormon Country" (1876) ; and " The Round Trip " (1881).

CODY, William Frederick, scout, b. in Scott county, Iowa, 26 Feb., 1845. When he was about seven years old his father removed to Kansas, then an unsettled territory, where he was killed in what was known as the " Border war." When the pony express was established across the plains in the spring of 1860, William became one of the most fearless and daring among its riders. At the be- ginning of the civil war he acted as government scout and guide, being chiefly employed in Arkan- sas and southwestern Missouri. In 1863 he enlist- ed in the 7th Kansas cavalry, was promoted, and served with distinction as scout until the close of the war. In 1867 he entered into a contract with the Kansas Pacific railway in western Kansas, at a monthly compensation of $500, to deliver all the buffalo meat that would be required for food for the army of laborers employed, and in eighteen months he killed 4,280 buffaloes, earning the title of " Buf- falo Bill," by which he was afterward familiarly known. Cody again entered the government ser- vice in 1868 as a scout and guide, and after a series of dangerous rides as bearer of important des- patches through a country infested with hostile Indians, was appointed by Gen. Sheridan chief scout and guide for the 5th cavalry against the Sioux and Cheyennes. He then served with the Canadian river expedition during 1868-'9, and until the autumn of 1872 was with the army on the western border. In 1872 he was elected a member of the Nebraska legislature, but, after serving a short time, resigned, and made a successful appear- ance on the stage in Chicago. At the beginning of the Sioux war in 1876 he discharged his dra- matic company, joined the 5th cavalry, and was engaged in the battle of Indian Creek, where he killed in a hand-to-hand conflict the Cheyenne chief Yellow-Hand, At the close of the campaign he returned to the stage, and in 1883 organized an exhibition called the " Wild West," whose ob- ject was to give a realistic picture of life on the frontier. His actors included actual Indians, Mexicans, and " cowboys," and in 1886 he con- tracted to take his company to Europe during 1887.

COFFIN, Charles Carleton, author, b. in Boscawen, N. II., 26 July, 1823: d. in Brookline, Mass., 2 March, 1896. lie labored on his father's farm till he was of age, and was so desirous to acquire knowledge that he studied at night. He worked as a civil engineer from 1845 till 1848, and then bought a farm, but abandoned it on account of failing health. He then gave his attention to telegraphy, constructed the time line between Har- vard observatory and Boston, in 1849, and, when in charge of the Boston telegraphic fire-alarm, sent out the first signal over the system, 29 April, 1852. After writing for some of the New Hampshire pa- pers, he began contributing to the Boston press in 1851, spending much time upon his articles, some of which he rewrote ten times befoi-e sending them to the printer. From 1855 till 1860 he held vari- ous places on the Boston "Journal," the "Atlas," and the " Traveller." When the civil war began, Mr. Coffin became war-correspondent for the " Journal," writing under the pen-name of " Carle- ton." He witnessed many important battles, and was in almost every engagement from the Wilder- ness to the taking of Richmond, often rendering important service to the military authorities by his knowledge of engineering. Pie was also the " Jour-