Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/717

Rh nal's" correspondent during the Prusso-Austrian war of 1806, and at its completion made the cir- cuit of the world, returning part of the way from San Francisco by stage, the Pacific railroad not being completed. During his travels, which lasted two and a half years, Mr. Coffin wrote a weekly letter to the Boston " Journal." He lectured be- fore the Lowell institute, and was for years a popu- lar lyceura lecturer. He also appeared several times before congressional committees, to present arguments on the labor question. He was for some time a resident of Boston, and was a mem- ber of the Massachusetts legislature in 1884 and 1885, serving on important committees. He pub- lished " The Great Commercial Prize," advocating the construction of a railway over the Northern Pacific route (1858) ; " Davs and Nights on the Bat- tle-Field" (Boston, 1804)*; "Following the Flag" and "Winning His.Wav," a storv (1865); "Four Years of Fighting " (1860) ; " Our New Way Round the World " (1809); " The Seat of Empire" (1870) ; " Caleb Krinkle, a Story of American Life " (1875) ; " History of Boscawen " (1877) ; " Boys of '76 " <New York, 1879); "Story of Libertv" (1878); "Old Times in the Colonies" (1880);' "Life of Garfield " (Boston, 1880) ; " Building the Nation " (New York, 1883); and "Drum-Beat of the Nation," the first volume of a series (1887).

COFFIN, John Huntington Crane, mathematician, b. in Wiscasset, Me., 14 Sept., 1815 ; d. in Washington, D. C, 8 Jan., 1890. In the year 1836 he was appointed professor of mathematics in the U. S. navy, and in that capacity served on the " Vandalia " and the " Constellation," in the West India squadron, at Norfolk navy-yard, and on the Florida surveys, until 1843. when he was placed in charge of the mural circle in the U. S. naval observatory in Washington. After 1853 he was intrusted with the department of mathematics, and subsequently that of astronomy and naviga- tion, at the U. S. naval academy. In 1805 he was appointed to the charge of the " American Epheme- ris and Nautical Almanac," then published in Cam- bridge, Mass., but since 1867 in Washington, D. C. In this capacity he remained until 1877, when he was placed on the retired list, having been senior professor of mathematics since 1848. Prof. Coffin was a member of the American academy of sci- ences, Boston, the American philosophical society, Philadelphia, and was one of the original mem- bers of the National academy of sciences. In 1884 he received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Bowdoin. Besides many smaller articles, he pub- lished " Observations with the Mural Circle at the U. S. Naval Observatory, with Explanations, For- mulas, Tables, and Discussions, 1845-9," in the vol- umes of the observatory for those years ; " The €ompass," local deviations (1863); "Navigation and Nautical Astronomy " (New York, 1808), the last two having been prepared for use in the U. S. naval academy ; " The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac," edited (1808 till 1879); also " Personal Errors in Observations of the Declina- tion of Stars " in " Gould's Astronomical Journal " (1850) ; and " Observations of the Total Eclipse of the Sun, August. 1869 " (Washington, 1884).

COFFIN, Joshua, antiquary, b. in Newbury, Mass., 12 Oct., 1793 ; d. there, 24 June. 1864, He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1817, and taught for many years, numbering among his pupils the poet Whittier, who addressed to him a poem enti- tled " To My Old School-Master." 3Ir. Coffin was ardent in the cause of emancipation, and was one of the founders of the New England anti-slavery society in 1832, being its first recording secretary. He published " The History of Ancient Newtury " (Boston, 1845), genealogies of the Woodman, Lit- tle, and Toppan families, and magazine articles.

COFFIN, Levi, philanthropist, b. near New Garden, N.C., 28 Oct., 1798; d. in Avondale, Ohio, 16 Sept., 1877. His ancestors were natives of Nantucket. He assisted on his father's farm and had but little schooling, yet he became a teacher. The cruel treatment of the negroes, and the Quakers principles under which he was reared, enlisted his sympathies in favor of the oppressed race, and at the age of fifteen he began to aid in the escape of slaves. Subsequently, he organized a Sunday-school for negroes, and in 1822 opened his first school. In 1826, he settled in Wayne county, Ind., where he kept a country store. Being prosperous in this undertaking, he soon enlarged his business in various lines, including also the curing of pork. In 1836 he built an oil-mill and began the manufacture of linseed-oil. Meanwhile, his interest in the slaves continued., and he was active in the “underground railroad,” a secret organization, whose purpose was the transportation of slaves from member to member until a place was reached where the negro was free. Thousands of escaping slaves were aided on their way to Canada, including Eliza Harris, who subsequently became known through “Uncle Tom's Cabin.” The question of using only “free-labor goods” had been for some time agitated throughout the United States, and in 1846 a convention was held in Salem, Ind., at which Mr. Coffin was chosen to open such a store in Cincinnati. Accordingly he moved to that city in April, 1847. The undertaking proved successful, and he continued to be so occupied for many years. His relations with the “underground railroad” were also continued, and he became its president. In 1863 he was associated in the establishment of the Freedmen's bureau, and during the following year was sent to Europe as agent for the Western freedmen's aid commission. He held meetings in all the prominent cities in Great Britain, enlisted much sympathy, and secured funds. Again in 1867 he visited Europe in the same capacity. When the colored people of Cincinnati celebrated the adoption of the fifteenth amendment to the United States constitution, he formally resigned his office of president of the “underground railroad,” which he had held for more than thirty years. The story of his life is told in “Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, the Reputed President of the Underground Railroad” (Cincinnati, 1876).

COFFIN, Robert Allen, educator, b. in Will- iamsburg, Mass., 23 Aug., 1801; d. in Conway, Mass., 4 Sept., 1878. He was graduated at Am- herst in 1825, after which he taught in North- ampton, and became principal of academies in New Ipswich, N. H., Warren, R. I., New Bed- ford, Mass., and elsewhere. His last years were spent in Conway, Mass., where he was chiefly em- ployed as an accountant, though giving instruc- tion almost to the last. In 1850-7 he represented Conway in the Massachusetts legislature. Mr. Coffin was an occasional contributor to the relig- ious magazines, and published " Compendium of Natural Philosophy " (Ne\v York, 1844) ; " Town Organization : its Uses and Advantages," a prize essav (Boston, 1845); and "History of Conway" (Northampton, 1807).— His brother, Janies Henry, meteorologist, b. in Williamsburg. Mass., Sept., 1806 ; d. m Easton, Pa., Feb., 1873. He was grad- uated at Amherst in 1828, supporting himself by teaching in a private school in Berkshire county. In 1829 he established the Fellenberg academy in