THE LIFE

A INANKAL

S IR ISAAC C O F F IN,

BARONET

ENGLISH AND AMERICAN ANCESTORS

THOMAS C. AMORY

BOSTON

CUPPLES , UPHAM AND COMPANY

1 886

P RE FA C E .

THIS memoir, i n i t s original form of a discourse, had i t s l imitat ion s of

t ime and topic. Much else might have been added connected wi th the

subj ec t had the occasionallowed . The several hi storie s of Nantucke t,th e

L ife of Tristram Cofiin,” by Mr. Al len Coffinof “ General John Coffin,

”

by hi s son,Henry Edward ; “ The Arm s o f the Family

,

” by Mr. John

CoffinJone s Brown , are wel l known and acce s sible . O ther source s o f

i nformation exis t in prin t and manuscrip t. Bearing i n mind that many

readers of these page s wil l find them more in struct ive if they have at handwhat wi l l be t ter explain them ,

I have borrowed from the ir pages, under

marks of quotation , i n the larger part by permis sion and wi th grateful a o

knowledgments. I f I have been too bold,I pray the ir forg iveness . Le t

m e a l s o expres s my sense of the k indne s s of the New York Genealogical

and Biographical Socie ty, in permit t ing me to read what port ion s of thi s

memoir their l imit s permit t ed,in their course, and to have these por

t ions , somewhat extended, in ser ted in their January Record .

BO STON, Ma rc"; x, 1886.

1 028 970

CONTENTS .

PAGE

I.—ANCESTRY

II.— ALW INGTON

III.— NEW ENGLAND

IV.— NANTUCKET

V .— TR ISTRAM’

S DEATH AND DESCEND ANTS

VI. — BOSTON AND ISAAC COFF IN

VIL— ISA AC AT SEA

VIII . — CAPTA IN OF A SE VENTY -FOUR

IX .— PEACE OF 178 3

X .-MARR I AGE AND

XL— GEN I AL TEMPERAMENT

XIL — BENEFACT IONS AND DEATH

XIII . — THE COFF IN CO ATS OF ARMS

XIV.—~TUCKETT

’S V I S IT AT IONS OF DEVON

XV .—COFF IN D ATES

XVI.— THE REFORMAT ION

XVII. — ALLEN COFF IN’S CALL OF TR I STRAM ’

S DESCENDANTS TO THE

SECOND CENTENN I AL OF HIS DEATH IN 1 88 1

XVIII .— W ILLS

XIX .— CORRESPONDENCE .

XX .— THE COFF IN SCHOOLS

THE name of Coffin i s so widely spread over our con tinen t, so manythousands of men and women of o ther patronymics take prid e in their descen t from Tri stram ,

i t s firs t American patriarch , that what concern s themall

,any cons iderabl e branch or distinguished i ndividual of the race, seem s

rather history than biography.

Space forbids my repeating here, as I wel l.

might wi sh , al l that has beenrecorded of the ir exi stence i n thenew world

,or that beyond the sea . But

what shed s l ight on S ir I saac and hi s immediate progen i tors i s too germane to my subj ec t to be wholly overlooked . To t race back Tr i s tram toAlwing ton , fol low hi s fortunes from P lympton in old England to the Mer

rima ck in thenew,bring his checkered career to i t s honored close at Nan

tucke t ; to pay due homage to h is son Jame s, th e uprigh t j udge ; to his sonNathaniel

,th e dauntle s s master mariner

,and hi s wife , Damaris Gaye r,

th e eloquen t preacher to their son Wi l liam,the much- loved merchan t of

Boston , sen ior warden of T rin ity ; to hi s son , another Nathaniel , graduat eof Harvard and Yale , King

’ s treasurer, and father of Sir I saac— Six gen eration s with T ris tram Of admirable men , wi th much to prai se and l i t tl eto censure, i s our legi t imate purpose , so far as our l imi ts pre scribed wil lp ermit, before proceeding to our more immediate subj ec t .

Though unl ike incharacter, and of very differen t experiences from hi sancestors , Sir I saac wa s too remarkable a man to pass into Oblivion . Hislong life, commencing in 1 759 in Boston , and ending eighty years late r inCheltenham ,

England , wa s crowded wi th even ts, many of histori c importance. By his native vigor, doughty deeds, and eminen t service s he rose

THE LIFE OF

to d ist ingui shed rank in the Bri t ish navy, became captain of a line-of-battl eship at the a ge Of twenty- two , and wa s created a baron et at the a ge of fortyfour . This no t from large mean s, family influence , or court favor, but thath is character and conduct afloat and ashore en t i tl ed him to such prefermen t . Throngs of heroic Officers wonglory in the same wars that he did ,attracted at tention by more conspicuous achievemen t s ; but his fearle ssdaring, z eal , and abil ity, and what be accompl ished , inscribe s hi s memoryhigh up on the rol l Of honor, if not on the scroll Of fame .How far l ife and character are moulded by circumstances, how far by

heredity,i s a complicated problem

,and the horoscope i s too largely affected

by maternal influence s for these to be disregarded. Though bearing al l themark s of h is paternal stock

,Sir I saac doubtle ss owed something t o th e

blood mingl ing i n his ve in s from other sources, and i t has been my endeavorto discover these infusion s where I can , and one in s tance should be preserved for the critici smof coming genealog is t s— a supposed link that maybe of use .

Nicholas, father Of P e te r and grandfather Of T ri stram,has been re

garded as the irmost remote paternal an ce stor ascertained . According t ot radition , their l ine wa s an offshoot Of Alwing ton , but how,

continued apuzzle . Many years a go I bough t an old edi tion of Coll in s and whiles eeking some other information , my eyes fel l o n th e name of P eter Coffin ,who about 1 5 60 married Mary, fourth daughter of Hugh Boscawen . Hughdied 1 5 59, at the a ge of eigh ty. As the homes of the Bosc awens, Trego thnanand P enkeville, lay n ear Brixton , the home Of Tri stram , thi sawakened curi os i ty, th e more that P eter ’s name wa sno t i n the index, andmight have escaped the notice of previou s genealogi cal i nquirers .Hugh Boscawen , Of one of the mos t affluen t and influen tial famili es of

Cornwall , married P hill ippa Ca rminow,Of l arge posse ssions and royal d e

scent, inher it ing, through P hilip Courtenay, the unfortunate Marquis Of Exe ter, P lympton , and other e state s near P lymouth , part Of which we find theinheritance Of Tri s tram. Hugh had seven son s and seven daughters. The

third son , Nicholas , eigh ty-Six when he died in 1 626,wa s the successor Of

h is paren t s in their estate s . His s ister Mary , who married P e ter Coffin ,musthave been born about 1 5 45 , as there were nin e younger children than hers elf born before 1 5 59, when her father d ied at the a ge of e ighty .

-Her

brass a t P enkeville g ive s her death in 1 622 . Her a ge i s no t very clearlys tated, but apparently as seventy-seven . Her son Ni cholas, if grandfatherOf Tri s tram , would have been of ana ge , in 1 5 8 2, to have been father ofP e ter, who d ied 1 628

,and whose wife Joanna

,mother of Tris tram , died in

Boston , 1 66 1, aged seven ty-seven , having been born in 1 5 8 4 .

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 9

I f thus,or in any o ther way, connected wi th the Coffins , th e house o f

Trego thnani s too historical , and associated wi th too many importan t even t si n our colon ial annal s

,no t to make i t worthy of note. Lord Falmou th

,

under Queen Anne, Edward, the commander of the British flee t i n the second reduct ionof Louisbourg, i n more recen t days, have added to the lustreof a name prol ific in naval heroes and eminen t state smen . The importancewe attach to thi s suppo sed connect ion i s that i t afford s clews to ascertain therelat ion of T ri s tram to Alwing ton , and as P et ronel , the Si s ter of Mrs. P e terCoffin

,married P e te r Mayhowe , a possible explanat ion how Thomas May

hew and Tri s tramCoffin here together plan ted Nantucke t . Tu cke tt’

s

Devon Visi tat ion s,full as to the main male l ine of Alwington , are being

carried back,extended out, and brough t down by Colonel Vivyan , who i s

approaching the Coffins . My sugges t ion s may help hi s re searche s, andthey are given for what they are worth .

B u t who wa s the fath er of P e ter Cofi’in, who married Mary Boscawen? He must have been born about 1 50 0 . I f among the recordedmembers of the family are found individual s whose date s or other knowncircumstance s are inconsisten t w i th the paren ta ge of P e ter, that reduces thefield of investigation . Sceptical mind s rej ec t hypothesis in such re search e s

,

but often hypothesis,fairly te sted

,i s the only path to the truth . At Monk

l ey, about te nmi le s east from P ortlege , one of the homes of it s j un iorbranches , dwel t a t the time James, son of Richard and M i s s Chudleigh ,whose bro ther John married Mary Cary . His wife , Mary Cole , wa s th e nearkin swoman of Wi l l iam

,who married Radigan , daughter of Nicholas Bos

cawen. T ri s tram named hi s sons after hi s ance stor s . Jame s wa s his fourthson . These circumstance s amoun t t o nothing as proof, bu t may lead to i t,or perhap s confirm the conclusio n of Mr. Al le n Coffin , that the connectionwi th Alwing ton , i f any, i s much more remo te . Near the clo se w i l l b efound an article on thi s and o ther kindred topics

,portion s of which by hi s

permis sion I in ser t .I n the sequel w il l be found the vi s itat ion of the Coffins of P ortlege .

I t s examination wil l Show o ther grounds o n which we re s t our faith as t othe paren tage of P e ter . I t wi l l be seen that i n the six th generation JohnCoffinmarried Phil ippa

,daughter and co-heire ss of P hill ip Hingston . His

eldes t son Richard,Sheriff of Devon in 1 5 1 1 (2 Hen . married Wil

mot, daughter of Sir Richard Chudleigh , famous in legal annals as partyin a leading case which bears hi s name . Thi s marriage took place abou t1 5 1 0 . The Sheriff had three son s

,John

,James

,and Edward . The second ,

James, born a s la te as 1 5 1 2, might we l l have been father of P e ter, who ,about 1 5 62, married Mary Boscawen . Their son Nicholas

,i f born in 1 563 ,

10 THE LIFE OF

would have been old enough in 1 5 8 5 to have been father of P eter, who,the father of Tri s tram , died in 1 628 . Wedlock came early when therewere few other di stractions . Under favorable circumstance s l ife wa s oftenprolonged beyond the average l imi t ; bu t wa r, exposure, perhaps inferiormedical skill

,backwardness of med ical science, sufficiently explain why so

many failed to l ive out the ir al lo tted span. As the l ine con sis t s mainlyof eldest son s

,le ss t ime embraced the se several generation s .

The be st known of th e brothers of the Sh eriff, Sir lVilliam, born about1 4 80 , going to Court, s tood high in the es timation of Henry the E igh th .

L ike Raleigh, l ater from the same province, he wonhis way by h is wit andcourage. He wa s selected in 1 5 1 9 by the King as one of the eighteenEngl i sh knight s to take part in the tournamen t before Guin e s, in France ,wi th a l ike number of French gen tl emen , practi sed in arms and re

nowned for prowes s . He wa s Master of Horse at th e coronation of AnneBoleyn

,and appointed one of the gentl emen of the King

’ s P r ivy Chamber,fil led to the monarch ’s sat i sfaction a posi ti on of dist inct ion and influencemuch cove ted at Court . He married Margare t, the daughter of Sir GeorgeDimock

, the champion of Eng land, and from her, after hi s death the wifeof Richard Manners , descended the later Duke s of Rutland . Sir Wil liamtook a prominen t part in the P arl iament, on e eccle siastical abu se beingdone away w ith at h is instance . " At Standon

,a royal manor

,of which he

wa s high steward when he died i n 1 5 38 , standshi s monumen t . He left nochildren

,and by hi s will devised his l and s to his brother Richard’ s son s,

bequeathed his hawks,bound s

,and hunt ing gear to th e King . His

brothers Jame s and Thomas had chi ldren , bu t the date s confirm the viewthat hi s nephew

,James

,and Mary Cole were the paren t s of P e ter, who

married Mary Boscawen .

Doubtle ss there w ere o ther branche s of the name,from among which

we might look for the ancestry of T ris tram . His earl ie s t progen i tors i nEngland came over wi th the Conqueror in 1 066 . Captain Henry Coffin ,i n hi s memoir of General John Coffin

,1 88 0

,say s that several years before

he had visi ted Falai se,i n Normandy

,and near that place lay estate s owned

eight centuri es earl ier by the Coffins, before they crossed over the Channelto the land of promise . The se es tat e s were st il l the property of their descend ants inthe female l ine . Falai se wil l b e remembered as the birthplace o f the Conqueror. I t i s said that the name of Coffinwa s a corru pt ion or translat ion of Colvinu s, signifying a baske t or che s t, and that from

This a c t,limiting the amount ofmortu a ries, the fees of the parish priest for buria l , h a s beencounted one

of three sta tu tesmentioned by the historians a s eccle sia stica l re forms which , fromthe a buses done awa yandthe deba tes they provoked , he lped to bring a bout the Re forma tion.

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . II

charge of the King’s treasure —such employment , l ik e royalty i t self, being

heredi tary— the name attached to the family. The confidence impliedby i t s re sponsible dutie s seems explained by the in tegri ty which hasbeen characteri s t ic of all their succes sive generations. Such virtue wa s i t sownreward, and if too generou s t o be noted for many in stances of a ffluence

,they even i n that regard were prospered as they mul tipl ied and

spread over the earth .

Of the firs t who came over to England l i t tl e se ems known . We stco tetel l s u s that Alwington in 1 0 8 5 , according to Domesday, wa s posse s sedby David De la Bere

,and that th e heire s s of that name brought i t to th e

Coffin s . Ona subj ec t l e ss grave thi s m igh t be su spected for a j es t ,but the authori ty i s p roof. Sir Will iam P ole , page 3 8 6, s tate s th atSir Richard Coffinheld two knight s

’ fee s there from Robert, the King’s

son,in the reign of Henry I I . Whether earl ier than thi s or later

,flourished

branche s of that name at Combe Coflin,now Combe P ine , i n the east ofDevon ; a t Coffin Well , i n the sou th , and at Inga rley in the west, SirHugh, Sir E lias , Sir Geoflry, are mentioned in the records later than thefirs t of a long l ine of Richards who , wi th some breaks in the continuity ofname and kn ighthood , held Alwington and dwel t there . At Coffin’ s Ingarley once stood a nobleman sion , w i th a church near by, surrounded by anextensive deer park . I t s lord , Sir E lias, abou t 1 20 0

, bore g i lded spurs int oken of hi s m il i tary rank

,and Sir Hugh , Of Combe Coflin, hi s con tempo

rary, wa s s imilarly di st ingui shed . They may have been oflshoo ts of Alwington, or that branch of theirs . From among th em migh t possibly haveproceeded our branch in thi s country, but we think no t .I t must no t be forgo tte n that in the pedigree of Coflinin “ th e Devon

Visitat ion s there i s ment ion made of a Nicholas,who

,so far as regard s

d ate s , could no t have been T ri stram’ s grandfather. Richard

,th e sheriff,

1 5 1 1 , wa s born i n al l probabil i ty th irty years at the l east before he wa smade sheriff. His son John

,born abou t 1 5 1 0 , married Mary Cary, and

their s econd son , John , born after 1 569, wa s not of an a ge before 1 5 89 t ob e married . His wife wa s Grace Berry

,daughter of Richard of Berryna r

bor. Their third son , Nicholas, aged seven when the vi si tat ion wa s made ,probably in 1 620 , must have been born in 1 6 1 3 , in which year Nicholas ,fathe r of P e ter, who died in 1 628

,and grandfather of our T ris tram ,

passedaway .

I t i s wel l al so to bear i n mind,i n connect ion with thi s inquiry as t o

the ancestry of T ri stram , that Anna , daughter of Sir Wil l iam Chudleigh ,who died in 1 5 1 5 , married Jame s Coflin, of P ortlege , bro ther of theSheriff. Her n iece Wilmot

,daughter of Sir Richard Chudleigh, who died

1 2 THE LIFE OF

1 5 5 8 , wa s the wife of the Sherifl'

. As the eldes t son of Sir Richard Chudleigh , Chri stopher, wa s thirty years and more at hi s father

’ s death,Wilmot

might seem to have been much younger than her husban’d . St ill

,the ex

pression,

“ thirty years and more ,” in legal documents, at th e period , wa s

very indefini te . I t seemed to leave Open the question whether Jame sC oflinand Anna Chudleigh are among the possibili t ie s for th e paren tageo f P e te r

, great-grandfather of Tri s tram,James

,the Sheriff ’s son

,and Mary

Cole,or o thers ye t to b e d i scovered .

ALWINGTON.

BUT why seek to trace Tristram’s l ineage to Alwington The beautyo f the place

,the character o f it s long l ine of proprie tors through seven

hundred years— one of th e very few i n stances, even i n Engl and , i n which ane state has remained for so great a length of t ime in the same family— whichhas never been sold

,sequestered , or confiscated , or passed except by in

heri tance,wil l, or family sett l ement , wh ich has cont inued no t only the ir

chief but constan t habi tat ion , suggest s a: home so enduring , quali t ie s so

sterling, that in a world changeable as thi s i t i s solacing to every con servat ive el ement i n our nature to bel ieve we too belong to i t.Alwington extends along th e Severn Sea, south of the boundary between

Somerse t and Devon,front ing the broad Atlan tic . The mighty billows rol l

inmaj e st ic force again s t it s cl iffs and crags . The domainnow embrace sthirty-eigh t hundred acre s, part in fert il e farms with substantial s teadingspart inpark and pleasure-grounds, s tudded wi th fores t tree s i n clumps andwoods . I ts area may have expanded in pro sperous days, or been shorndown to provide for j un ior branches but i t s grounds are substantially thesamenow as under the P lantagenet s, or when i t first came to the Coffinswith the he ire ss of the De la Beres .When we call to mind what this beautiful reg ion embrace s from th e

Severn Sea to i t s southern shores,Exmoor and Dartmoor, wh ich Black

more and K ingsley have so brill iantly described, i t s roman tic s treams andma jestic h il l s, wi th their wild subl imity— and who has no t read “ LornaDoon — we can wel l consider i t a privi lege that such association s clusterabout our ownancestral memories, that the Coffins and so many Americansfrom Devon have such good reason to b e proud of their mother-country,feel deeper in tere s t i n their progenitors that they dwel t amid scene s sop icture sque . Our k inswoman , Mrs. John son , wi l l pardon me i f I drawinpart fromher owneloquen t account of P ortlege what wil l convey amore perfect idea of the place .

The approach from Bideford in Somersetshire south to Portlege , themanor-house ofAlwington , extends for four mile s along a shaded road , l ined

La te census.

14 THE LIFE OF

on ei ther side wi th luxurian t hedges, brambled vines, and grasse s . Half amile from the house the road reaches the great gateway, which Open s on

grounds tastefully disposed ; for t ime and taste and mean s effect marvel sabout the old homes of England . Lawns and garden s in a fine state ofcul t ivation spread around

,wi th that d epth of verdure and coloring peculiar

to the proximity to the sea ; for in Devon the grape and peach, if protected ,ripen beside the pear and plum .

The house set s low for shel ter from the blast s, and is not con sp icuous unt i lclo sely approached . The sp i ri t of repose that i t breathes , of the times thathave passed

,of the various V ici ssitudes of sorrow and enj oymen t that have

cheered or tried i t s generat ion s, noted for their cul ture and refinemen t asthey have come and passed from infancy to a ge, cannot e scap e your a tt ent ion in the photograph of the edifice .About the same di stance from the house, along the shore, stre tches a

beach look ing out over the Atlan tic, t o which a shaded walk from thehouse winds among fern s and grove s thick wi th shrubs and rich wi th var ious verdure . Seat s j udiciously disposed afford a rest ing-place for th eenj oyment of the V iew and the breeze. Abou t a mile away stands the Old

church,bosked in mossy fol iage , quie t and secluded, no dwell ing in sigh t,

venerabl e wi th a ge , i f too substa n tial for decay. I ts pews of oak,black

wi th t ime, are richly carved, as often seen in these ancient shrine s. Heremore than twen ty gen erat ion s ha ve brough t thei r children in arms to thefon t

,their dead for sepulchre . Here their blooming maiden s, their ownor

the ir tenants’,have come to be j oined in wedlock . The wall s and floors of

the edifice , as the burial ground around i t, are crowded with slabs and monuments that relate

,wi th the same touching simplici ty, the annal s o f them

all .Wi th in the wall s of the man sion , which are of ston e, wi th coigns and

but tresse s and battlemen ts,windows varied but harmonious , i s a large,

square entrance hal l w i th gallery on the level of the second floor . Thi sand the spacious dining-room are l ined wi th family portrai t s ; men andwomen in antiquated garb , represen ting the blue eye s and characteri sti cfeature s of the race . Carved doors abound of stately d imension s

,and

ceil ings of fa ded grandeur, di splaying i n many colors the emblazonment sand quarterings of the family arm s and Of others of the best , connected wi ththem by marriage . Many are derived from royal and noble progenitorsP omeroys, Beaumonts, Chud leighs, Courtenays , P rideaux, Carys, Cham

pernouns, Cliffords , Basset s, Damerels, of Devon or adj acen t coun t ie s .Imag in ation conj ure s up the throng of the se per sonages, long mouldered,as onfestal occasions they gathered to the banque t or the dance, roamed

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . IS

and wooed by the moonbeams, sho t arrows at the targe, l e t loose the falcon

,or rode after the hounds .The ancien t form s and arrangemen ts of the mansion , modified to mee t

as wel l the requiremen ts of modern tas te and comfort a s to retain what i s oldor quain t

,combine to const itut e Portlege a most a greeabl e home to dwel l

in.I t wa s once famous for i t s precious and exten sive l ibrary, i t s archive s

rich wi th the accumulations of many generation s . Sad to say, about 1 8 0 0 ,in the tran sfer u nder a set tl ement to another branch , the books weremo stlysold and many documen t s d ispersed . There s til l remain vas t coffer s ofmanuscript treasure s

,which in t ime must perish, but which should, before

too late,be arranged , copied, translated in to in tel lig ible language, calen

dared,catalogued, and indexed . Some an tiquary of the family may ye t be

bornt o the fai th that he can devote h is days to no better field of service topo sterity than such a task .

Before taking leave of Alwington , as Tri stram ’ s progeni tor s passed offfrom the ancestral stem

,an enumeration of the succeeding generat ion s

from John and Mary Cary may be of in tere s t . Their second son weddedGrace

,daughter of Richard Berrie, of Berriana rbor ; Richard , th e olde s t,

1 5 69— 1 6 1 7 (forty-eight), El izabeth, 1 5 71

— 1 65 1 (aged eighty) , daughter ofLeonard Loveis, of Cornwall . Wi th the eight sons and seven daugh ters ofRichard

,as they grew in to l ife, P ortlege must have been gay, and as the

daughters , at least, fol lowed in rap id success ion to their nuptial s , not evenwhat wa s di sagreeable in the S tuart monarch s or the con ten tion s of the landcould have cas t a shadow so remote from the court and battle-field . Whenthe mother died

,in 1 65 1 , James, th e fifth son and las t survivor, erected i n

the church of Alwington a monument to th e memory of his paren t s , wi thaninscrIptionwhich tell s in rude rhymes their s tory . The elde s t of the twoson s left two daugh ters, Jane and E l izabeth , and the inheritance pas sed toa second Richard

,1 622— 99,

“Wi thou t an enemy while l iving, and universally lamen ted when dead .

” His wife wa s AnnP rideaux,daughter of Ed

mund,of P adstow

,1 645

— 1 70 5 , who died at the a ge of sixty . He wa smuch este emed

,and in 1 68 6 wa s sheriff of Devon under James I I .

The children of the sheriff and AnnP rideaux were Bridget, John , HO

nora,and Richard. The eldest son married AnnKellond, t ravel led exten

sively over Europe, stood wel l for character and scholarship, but died a tthe a ge of twenty-five in1 70 3 . Honora married Richard Bennet t ; Doro thy, Richard Pyne, from whomcame the Pyne Coffins. Richard

,who

succeeded h i s bro ther John in 1 70 3 , for seventy-three years wa s lord o fAlwington , and died there in 1 776 unmarried. He se t tled the e state s firs to n the Benne t t s

,Robert and Richard, who died wi thou t children and the

16 THE LIFE OF

reversion wen t to the Pynes descended from Honora, who took the nameof Coffin . The present proprie tor, born 1 84 1 , wa s th e grandson of Richard

, great-grandson of the younge s t daughter of the sheriff, who died 1 699,

and AnnP rideaux, who died 1 70 5 . As Mr. Pyne Coflinhas a large family of fine healthy children , there seems no chance of any of the male l ineof th e Coffins ever succeeding to Alwington .

I t i s bel ieved the male represen tation of th e family rest s in some descend ant of P eter Coffin , who about 1 5 60 married Mary Boscawen . A few

words remain to be said about them . P hil l ippa Ca rminow, mother of Mrs.

Mary Coffin, wa s, as already mentioned , co -heire ss of that part of theCourtenay estate s which escaped forfe i ture when the Marqui s of Exeter

,

next to the crown,wa s beheaded . P lympton , near the home of T ri stram ,

formed part of the Courtenay inheri tance which Phill ippa C a rminow carried to Hugh Boscawen , of Trego thnan, 1 469

— 1 5 59, as hi s wife . Theirhome wa s a t P enkevil , no t far up the river fromBrixton , and i s sti l l thehome of the Lords of Falmouth, the ir represen tative s . Evidence i s foundin an inquisi t ion o f Wil l iam and Mary, 1 5 5 8 , of the Coflins, of P ortlege ,holding lands at P lympton , which may have come , through the Boscawen’sby this marriage , or perhaps may have led to i t. At P lympton and BrixtonNicholas , grandfather of T ri stram , and P e ter , his father, re sided and T ri st ram took

,by the will of hi s father, P e ter, subj ec t to hi s mother

’s l ife es

tat e,the se lands

,or a part of them

,which i t would seem l ikely came in thi s

way or through the Hingstons.

Many have searched for the ancestral l ine of Tri s tram among th e records of Devonsh ire . No one has as ye t been able

,as already stated

,to

t race wi th certain ty his pedigree beyond that of hi s grandfather, NicholasCoffyn. Sir I saac

,i n memorializ ing the College of Arms, i n 1 8 04 , for the

grant of a coat for h imself, repre sen ted that he wa s by traditiondescendedfrom the family of Coffin, of the wes t of Eng land, but that he wa s unableto ascertain his de scen t. No doubt seems en ter tained

,however, that the

proper investigation of the mat ter wil l some t ime reveal T ristram’ s true

pedigree extending much further back if not that sugges ted, what i snowunknown wi l l prove as honorable as that which wenow know wi th reasonabl e certain ty .

Tris tram Coffyn, of Butler ’s P ari sh , of Brixton , County of Devon, England

,made hi s wil l November 1 6

,1 60 1 , which wa s proved at Totness, in

the same county,In1 60 2.

He left legacie s to Joan, Anne and John , children of Nicholas Coffyn ; Richard and Joan , children of Lionel C offyn; P hil ip Coffyn, andhi s son T ris tram and appointed Nicholas, sonof Nicholas Coffyn, his

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1 8 THE LIFE OF

NEW ENGLAND .

WHAT motive s induced Tr i s tram , in 1 64 2, to dispose of so pleasant anabode and come to America can be conj ec tured , but are no t po si t ivelyknown . I t has been said that he had been employed a s colone l in command of th e garrison at P lymouth , but th i s i s no t au then ticated, and mayhave referred to hi s uncle T ri s tram but we do know that in i ts defencehis only brother, John , had been slain . T ristram had married

,at the early

period customary intho se primi t ive t imes , Dioni s Steven s, and had alreadyfive children— P e ter, T ri s tram ,

E l izabeth,James

,and John .

As hi s bro ther John wa s kil led at P lymouth For t,i t may be that

T r i s tram wa s inthe figh t . The S tuart s made sorry kings , and the re si s tance they provoked to the ir arbitrary rule seems j ust ified . But Englandwa s see th ing on the verge of twen ty years of con tention , and T ristram , no tover-fond o f e ither party, and imperill ed by the part he had taken, wi thten women and children in his charge, may have been glad to escapeper secut ion for them and h imself in America . Two of hi s four si ster smarried i n Devon . Two , Mary and Eunice

,wi th theirmother, hi s wife,

and five children , accompanied himin 1 64 2, the year King Charle s placedhimself in open array a gain st the parl iamen t .

That he came in that of the four ves sel s— Hector,Griffin

,Job C lemen t

,

and Margare t C lemen t, belonging t o Captain Robert Clement , that cameover in 1 642, which Captain Clement himselfcommanded— i s wel l a u thentic a ted . I t i s known that afte r a brief residence at Sal isbury

,he moved up

the r iver that year to what i snow the next town,Haverhill

,to form that

s e t tl emen t wi th Clement , on land bought from the Sachem P a sconaway.

W i th thi s large and dependen t family Of nine women and children , Tr i stram crossed the sea

,disembarking at the mouth of the Merrimac, where

they so long made their home . The birth s of hi s o ther children born i nAmerica Show the differen t period s he re sided in Sali sbury

,Haverhill , on

the north of the river, and at Newbury, to it s south . We have noknowledge Of his going far from that neighborhood during th e next sixteenyears, t il l he wen t to Nan tucke t, though i t seems reasonable to supposethat he did so .

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 19

The property they brought sufliced to support in comfort the famil ie s ofhis mothe r and hi s own, and to establ ish re spectably i n marriage , as theygrew up , his s is ters and hi s son s . He firs t se t tled himself at Sal isbury

,i n

the three-mile space be tween the Merrimack and the New Hampshireborder

,as fixed by the paten t bu t removed that year to Haverhill , adj oin

ing Sal isbury, up the river, for in 1 64 2, i n November, h i s name is at tachedto an Indian deed there . There Mary, afterward Mrs. Starbuck , wa sborn

,and John the firs t having died , another took his place . I n 1 648

Tristramremoved to Newbury, where hi s younges t son , Stephen , wa s addedto the family group . After res iding there for several years , during whichhe wa s l icen sed to keep an inn and a ferry over the Merrimack

,T ri s tram

re turned to Sal i sbury, where h e became a county magi s trate.Sal i sbury wa s clo se to the border of New Hampshire

,and hi s eldes t son

,

P eter, a merchan t and king’ s coun sellor in Dover, in that province , no t

fa r removed from Sali sbury, married, about 1 65 7, Abigail , daughter o f

Edward Starbuck ; and h is second son , T ri stram, in 1 653 , Jud ith , daugh terof Captain Edmund Greenleaf, widow of Henry Somerby . The descendants of th is marriage of Tri s tram, Jr .

’ s, have ever since occupied th i sfine old man sion which Somerby had left her, or her father, CaptainGreen leaf

,bestowed .

Edward Starbuck had come over from Derbyshire in 1 640 , and e stablished himself at Dover. E lder of the Church and Repre sentat ive , hebecame a Bapti s t

,and soon after a Quaker . Both he and Thomas Macy

are said to have been among the chief promoters of the set tl emen t ofNantucket . " I t wa s no doubt often discussed, and perhaps slowly brought about .Nantucke t

,an i sland fifteen mile s by four

,embracing an a rea of abou t

th irty thousand acre s,lay at th e southern extrem ity of what i snow Massa

chu setts. I t wa s then par t of NewYork and so remained t il l 1 692. Whenthe proj ect wa s ripe, and i t wa s concluded to purchase , T ri stram ,

early in1 659, made a voyage of inquiry and observation to the group of island s ofl

'

the Massachuse t t s coast w i th th i s view. He firs t vi si ted Martha ’s Vin eyard

,wh ither Thomas Mayhew ( 1 591 — 1 68 1 formerly a merchan t i n

Southampton in England , had , in 1 647, removed fromWatertown to preachto and convert the I ndians . The name of hi s firs t wife, Martha P a rku rst,he doubtle s s gave to the vineyard where he so long dwel t gathering soul sfrom the heathen .

Fifteenmiles by e leveninthe widest pa rt, and twentymiles sou th of the peninsula r of Ca pe Cod , 1 20

miles S . S . E . of Boston. La titude 4 1 ° 1 3" to 4 1

°23

’ N . ; longitude 69°56’ to 70

° P opula tion, 1 820 ,

In1 8 24 S ir I sa a c wa s there ; in1 826, 352 vessels enga ged inthe fi sheries, inthe coa stingtra de, entered its port. This wa s before the era of steam. -Lieber’ s Enc. Am.

20 THE LIFE OF

We are incl ined to bel ieve , though we have no conclusive proof, thatthe at tention of Tr i stram wa s firs t called to Nan tucke t by Mayhew,

and thequestion suggests i tself whether i t had no t been from consanguinity thatMayhew proposed or urged the set tlement . He held

,in 1 649, a convey

ance of Nan tucke t, as he did of Martha’ s Vin eyard, from Lord Sterl ing .

Born in 1 591 , P etronel Boscawen , si ster of Mary, may have been hi smother or grandmother . That Mary Boscawen wa s Tri s tram ’ s great-grandmother seems more than probable . Southampton , by sea, i s not far fromP lymou th . I t i s the seaport of Wi l t shire . Mayhew named two town s onthe Vineyard from place s i n that coun ty .

Mayhew and Mayhowe bear the same arms , and are corruption s or variat ions of the same name . If Thomas Mayhew , born 1 591 , wa s son or grandson of that P etronel Boscawen , s i ster of Mrs. P eter Coflin, who marriedP e ter Mayhowe , as mentioned in Coll ins, Mayhew would have been kinsman of T ri stram not remote . Whe ther th is be so or no t, Thomas Mayhew,

having procured for h imself and son , in 1 64 1 , from Lord Sterl ing and SirFerdinando Gorges, conveyance s of both the i slands, Mar tha’ s Vineyardand Nantucke t

,eighteen years later (July 2, 1 659) conveyed Nan tucke t to

T ri s tram Coffinand hi s associate s , re serving about a tenth part for himself.He sen t P eter Folger, grandfather of Ben jamin Franklin , who had comewi th himfrom Water town

,and wa s familiar wi th the Indian langua ge s, with

T ristram to explore . T r is tram ,soon after reaching Nantucke t, purchased

of Po tino t, an Indian sagamore the i sland of Tu ckernu ck , at i ts we sterlyend

,contain ing a thousand acre s .Whe ther James Coffin came wi th his father

,T ristram , at that t ime, or

later in the fall wi th Thomas Macy,Edward S tarbuck , and I saac Colman ,

afte r hi s father’ s re turn to Sal i sbury,i s not clear, bu t James remained through

the win ter on the i sl and as they did . May 1 0,1 660 , the sachems of Nan

tucket conveyed to the associate s for £8 0 a large part of the islandfiP eterFOlger being witne ss .

NANTUCKET .

EARLY in 1 660 , T ristram , wi th hi s family, came to Nan tucke t . P ossiblysome delay took place, a s regarded them ,

i n providing habitat ion s. I t wa s‘not long, however, before enough of the se tt l ers and their familie s had arrived for their security and to plant their crop s . Beside s Tu ckernu ck

,the

Coflins had thus a quarter of the i sland , and much more in the sequel became theirs . Tri s tram took the lead from the firs t among th e set tl ers, andwa s frequently selected to tran sact importan t publ ic bu siness . His le t tersto the colonial government of New York , of which province Nan tucke twa s then a dependency, are preserved in the archive s of the D epartmen tof Stat e a t Albany .

Al though from the earl ie s t se t t lement regarded as the ir l eader and headby his associate s

,h is firs t appointment by the Governor at Albany a s

chief mag i st rate of Nan tucke t wa s as early as 1 671 . Thomas Mayhewheld the like office at the Vineyard . The se Official s, wi th two assi stant sfrom each i sland

,con st i tuted a general court, with appellate j uri sdict ion

over both: This court sat ineach i sland al ternately, i t s chief magi s trat epre siding . I n 1 677 he succeeded Thomas Macy as the chief, and we findon the records of Nantucke t an official oath of hi s, which reads as follows

“ Whereas I , T ris tram CoflinSenior, have rece ived a commission datedthe 1 6th of Sep tember 1 677 i nvest ing me wi th power to be Chief Magi st rate on th e I sland of Nan tucke t and i t s dependencie s for the four yearsensuing, under further order, I , T ri s tram Coffinaforesaid do engagemyself under the penal ty of perj ury to do j ust ice in all causes that come before me according to law, and endeavor to my best understanding, andhereun to I have subscribed

TR I STRAM COFF INSubscribed before Chief Magi s trate .

his son P e ter .Wi l l iam

,John

and Stephenbeing hi s bondsmen.

Exemplary i n hi s ownhabit s T ri stram respected the rights of o ther

22 THE LIFE OF

men to regulate their l ive s according to the dictate s of the ir ownconsciences

,where no t confl ic t ing w ith the law. When in the inn he had es

ta blished by the Merr imack , for the convenience of travellers over th eferry

,complain t wa s made that threepence wa s charged the quart for

beer in stead of two as st ipulated in the l icen se , which required four bushel sof malt to the hogshead, hi s w ife, through the brewer, proving that she puti n six bushels

,i t wa s dismissed . At Nan tucket

,where there were

,accord

ing to tradit ion , two or three thousand Indian s, under their several sagamores

,their procl ivi ty to stronger beverage s degrading and brutalizing , led

to frequen t dispute s among themselve s, and aggre ssions upon the se tt lers ,then a mere handful compared w i th their ownnumbers . The court recordsare largely occup ied with the trial s and sentence s of I ndian s to be whippedfor int emperance , or for offence s growing out of i t . Repress ive laws

,on e

drawn up by T r i stram ,were no t wi thout effec t . Thomas Macy

,i n a le tter

i n 1 776 to Governor Lovelace , at Albany, state s that they had been a t

t ended w ith good resul t s . That same year John Gardner,who se grave

stone i s that o f th e earl ie s t date remaining; complain s to Dudley that hi sownstock had beense ized by Macy, and says that the sachems declarethey wil l figh t if the law i s enforced .

The manife s t improvement in the hab it s bo th of the red man and thewhi te wa s no doub t due i n a large measure to other influences than theseverit ie s of the law . T r i stram , as the weal thie s t of the proprietors, usedhi s mean s generously for the common advanta ge . If mill s to grind thecorn , harrows , or o ther implements of agriculture were n eeded, i t wa s hewho furn ished them . When the I ndians grew re stl e ss and menacing, heheld them in subj ection and peace in such manner as commanded theirrespect . He employed large numbers in hi s farming Operation s, andbuil t them on hi s ownl and improved wigwams. Benj amin Frank l in Fo l

ger, one of the bes t and late s t Of the historians of the island , in speakingof hi s rel at ion s to the I ndians

,says the Chri st ian character which be ex

hibited,and which he pract ically illu strated ina ll the various circumstance s

and cond it ions of the infan t colony,i s analogous to that which subse

quen tly dist inguished the founder of P enn sylvania, so that the spiri t of oneseemed bu t the coun terpar t of the o ther .He had had his trial s , but bore them wi th courage and humility. One

has been remembered , which caused him much annoyance and l oss. I t

grew out of ano fficial act which forced him to sacrifice his property, andwa s one of omission rather than commission . A ship wa s wrecked onNantucket shoals , i n September, 1 678 , loaded Wi th hides, and the chie fmag is trate allowed the inhabitant s to save the wreckage . P ortions of the

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 23

cargo and rigging were embezzled . A Court of Admiral ty held the chie fmag i s trat e re spon sible , and the parti e s who had derived the benefit o fwrecking th e ve s se l refusing to bear any part of the fine , th e burden fel lupon T ri stram Coffynalone . His ownte st imony in the case seems tohave beenal l the evidence again s t him upon which the deci s ion wa s madeup

. No one of hi s descendants wi l l read the story, as officially recorded ,withou t a fee l ing of pride that their great ance s tor, under a mos t dis tre s sing ordeal , i n which both h i s fortune and hi s honor were at stake, savedhi s honor. And the Governor of New York discharged him from theaward of the Admiral ty upon his repre sentation .

Through these documents , pre served formore than two cen turie s, wege t a gl impse Of the spiri t of the time s which our Nan tucke t ancestorsimpressed wi th their ownpersonal i ty . And

,while the fir s t se t tle rs were

no t al l agreed uponthe subj ect s of public pokey which sub sequen tlyentered into the pol i t ical concern s of the island , and whil e the ir di ssension s oftentimes assumed a degree of acrimony and vindict iven es s painfulto reflect upon

,they were very general ly men of s turdy character and

heroic l ive s . Looking back through the d imvi sta of two hundred years,we shall behold a galaxy of names i llumined by high re solve s— name s tha thave no t tarn i shed wi th t ime , nor faded from the world wi th the frict ion ofthe centurie s— name s that were no t born to die . We shall see engrave nhigh up on the worl d

’ s e scutcheon th e names Of Macy,Starbuck , Folger,

Gardner,Swain , Hussey, Coleman , Barnard ; and then , st il l higher up ,

re splenden t wi th innumerable descending rays of ligh t and love and Chri st ian sympathy

,extending throughout the broad un iverse , we shal l see the

name of T ri s tram Coffyn.I n 1 66 1 T ri s tram lost h is mother, Joanna Thember, who died in Bos

ton at the a ge ( 1 5 8 4— 1 66 1 ) of seventy’ seven. His da ughter E lizabe th ,born in England , 1 634 , died at the a ge of forty-four, the wife of StephenGreen leaf.

The very admirabl e Mary Coffin , born at Haverhil l, in 1 644 , marriedsoon after their arrival at Nan tucket

,at the a ge of eighteen , Nathani el , son

of Edward Starbuck . Their daughter Mary wa s the firs t European child bornonthe i sland . T ri stram gave them two hundred acres

,near half h i s owna l

l o tment,at Ca pa umP ond , and there they re sided near h im about twen ty

years,t i l l hi s death . Of noble characte r and di sposi t ion

,superio r powers ,

and extended influence,Mary wa s peerle ss in al l the grace s of woman

hood,and also an eloquen t preacher among the Quakers . Her husband wa s

every way a fitt ing companionfor on e so gi fted and admirabl e . Thei rdaily association s wi th Tri s tram and his wi fe, Dioni s, must have been a

24 THE LIFE OF

mutual advantage and solace to them . She d ied in 1 71 7, at the a ge ofseven ty- two , her husband two years later, at e ighty- three .

As Tristram began to fee l“ the symptoms of a strong man failing, a

phrase used by Sir Wal ter Scot t in reply to an inquiry as to hi s ownhealth,

made in the pre sence of the wri ter, he disposed of hi s e s tate , not by formalt e stamen t

,but by deeds, the con sideration always being hi s regard and

natural affection . He had made large provis ion for h is daughter, MaryStarbuck , and provided homes for those of hi s o ther childre n who neededhis aid ; he now conveyed mos t of what remained to his two younges tsons

,John and Stephen, to take after th e decease of h imself and wife .

I n thi s he followed an ancien t pract ice in England before wil l s were muchin use— di sposing of hi s e stat e while he l ived, re serv ing the use for l ife .

I n the earl ier Engl i sh conveyancing the owner released to the crown,holding the eminen t demesne, a new grant being then issued to the newfeoffee specifying the terms and condition s previously agreed .

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26 THE LIFE OF

a man of inferiormould that sh e gained such prominence, for he wa s aman of good abil i ty ; but because of her pre-eminen t qual ification s tha tshe acquired so good a reputation , whereby her husband

’ s qual ification swere apparen tly les sened . In the language of John Richardson , an e a rlv

preacher,

‘ The i slanders e s teemed her as a j udge among them ,for l i t tl e

of moment wa s done wi thou t her . ’ I n the town meet ings, which she wa saccustomed to at tend, she took an active part i n the deba te s, usually commenc ing her address wi th , ‘ My husband thinks

’ so and so ; or, ‘Myhusband and I

,having considered the subj ec t, think

’ so and so . Fromevery source of information , as al so from tradit ion , there is abundant evidence that she wa s possessed of sound j udgmen t, clear understanding, andan elegan t way of expre ss ing herself, perfectly easy and natural to her.

At the a ge of fifty- six, she became interes ted in the religious faith ofthe Quakers

,or Friends, and took the spiri tual concern s of the whol e

i sland under her special superin tendence . She held meeting s at her ownhouse

,wh ich are often alluded to by visi t ing Friends who have wri t ten con

cerning the island’ s early relig ious his tory wro te the quarterly e pi stle s

,and

preached in a most eloquent and impre ss ive manner ; and , w i thal , wa s asd ist ingui shed in her domest ic economy as she wa s celebrated as a preacher.Of thi s departmen t, John Richardson, who preached at her house , wrot e‘ The order of the house wa s such in a ll the parts thereof as I had no ts eenthe like before ; the large and bright-rubbed room wa s se t with sui table seat s o r chairs fo r a mee ting, so that I d id no t see anything want ingaccording t o place , but something to s tand on, for I wa s not free to set mvfeet upon the fine cane chair, l e s t I should break i t . ’ Enough might bewr i tt en concerning her to mak e an enter taining volume by it self, whichmay some time be a ttempted .

”

Hon . P e te r Coffin , the olde s t child of Tri st ram,born at Brix ton in

1 63 1 , married Abigail, daugh ter of Edward and Catharine Starbuck , ofDover

,N. H . , afterward of Nan tucke t . P e ter wa s one of the orig inal pur

chasers of Nantucket , and tradit ion say s the weal thie st of them , own ingl arge mil l property . He wa s a merchan t at Dover befo re the purchase ,and subsequently l ived at Nantucke t

,but only for a sho rt t ime to be con

sidered as domicile d there . He wa s made freeman in1 666 at Dover, al ieutenan t in 1 675 on service in King Philip

’ s Indian Wa r,a represen ta

t ive in the Legi slat ive branch in 1 672—73 , and again in 1 679. In1 690 he

removed to Exeter, N. H . From 1 692 to 1 71 4 he wa s at d ifferen t timesassociate j ustice and chie f-j us tic e of the Supreme Court of New Hampsh ire

,and a member of the Governor’ s Council . He died at Exeter,

March 2 1,1 71 5 , but mos t of hi s l ife wa s passed at Dover.

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

His second child,called the younger Tri stram ,

wa s born in England i n1 632.

He married in Newbury, Mass . , March 2,1 65 2, Judi th Somerby ,

widow of Henry, and daughter of Edmund and Sarah Greenleaf. She wa sborn in 1 625 , and died in Newbury, December 1 5 , 1 70 5 . He wa s madefreeman April 29, 1 668

,and died in Newbu ry, February 4 , 1 704 , aged sev

enty-two , leaving one hundred and seven ty-seven descendant s . He wa s amerchan t tailor

,and filled many position s of trus t and honor in Newbury.

The early records ofNewbury bear evidence of his iden ti ty wi th the in tere st sof that town . Inthe severe eccle s iastical con te s t concerning Rev. ThomasP arker

,of Newbury, T ri s tram Coffin , Jr. , bore a con spicuous part in the

in tere s t of Mr. P arker, of who se Fi r s t Church of Newbu ry he wa s deaconfor twen ty years .

This T ri stram buil t, abou t 1 654 , according t o the able his torian ofNewbu ry, the old Cofl

fmmansion , which has remained in the family tothe presen t day ; one of the n in th generat ion bornunder it s ampl e roof,M i s s Anna I . Coffin,now occupying i t. I t i s said to have been buil t i n1 649 by Henry Somerby, whose widow, i t wi l l b e remembered, Tr i s tramCoffin , Jr. ,

married . I t i s one of the few old houses left,and i s buil t

around a vast chimney-s tack , wi th spaciou s fire -places , wi th windows largeand small

,Opening in pleasan t surpri se s some on clo se ts and some on

s taircase s,and wi th wall s that, when stripped of their paper ing no t many

years a go for the purpose of repapering, were found to d isplay such elegan tlandscape fre sco s, with art i s t ic design s of figure s and fol iage , as were won tto decorate fine re sidence s inthe days Of the S tuart s . I t i s a matter 0 1tradit ion that T ri s tram Coffyn, Sr . , l ived in thi s mansiona short t ime before hi s final removal t o Nan tucke t.

Two monuments in the graveyard of the first parish of Newbu ry, bearthese several inscript ion s, wi th epitaphs in verse

To the memory of T ri s tram Coffin , Esq . , who having served the Fir s tChurch of Newbury i n the office of a deacon for twen ty years, died February 4 , 1 70 3

—4 , aged seven ty-two years .

”

To the memory of Mrs, Judi th, late virtuous wife o f DeaconT ri st ram Coflin, Esq .

, who having l ived to se e 1 77 of her children , and ch ildren’ s children

,to the third generat ion, died December 1 5 , 1 70 5 , aged

eighty .

”

If sandy and no t very responsive to the plough , Nan tucke t has beenever famous for i t s flock s and herds. I t s most abundan t harvests werenevertheles s from the ocean . Even before T ri s tram passed away, Los tat Sea wa s a frequen t epitaph for it s dauntle ss mariners . They posses sedmany ships of the ir own sail ed many from other place s.

28 THE LIFE OF

I n his well-known burs t of eloquence i n P arl iament,Burke

,i n 1 774 ,

pays j us t tributeLook at the manner inwh ich the New England people carry on the

whale fishery . While we fol low th em among the tumbling moun tain s ofi ce

,and behold them pene trating in to the deepe st frozen recesse s of Hud

son Bay and Davis Strai t,while we are looking for them beneath the

Arctic C ircle, we hear that they have p ierced in to the opposi te reg ion ofpolar cold that they are at the antipode s, and engaged under the frozenserpen t of the Sou th . Falkland I slands, which seem too remote and tooromant ic an Obj ec t for the grasp of national ambition , i s but a s tage andre s t ing-place for the ir victoriou s industry . Nor i s the equinoctial heatmore discourag ing to th em than the accumulated win ter of both the pol es .We l earn that while some of them draw th e l in e or strike the harpoon onthe coas t of Africa, o thers run the longi tude and pursue their gigan tic gamealong the coas t of Brazil . ”

T heir gigantic game has been almost exterminated, as the buffaloes onthe prairie . O ther ports have attracted thei r trade , and the population i snow but one-half of what i t wa s i n i t s palmie s t prosperi ty . But i t s childrenare no t degenerate , though forced to seek other fields for the ir victo riou si ndus try. Everywhere are to be found accompl ished ship-masters of it sfamiliar n ames . Wi l l iam Coflin, who first se t tled inBoston , as hi s fath erNathaniel , who died in Nan tucket ( 1 72 1 ) at the a ge of fifty-five , traversedthe sea in command of ve ssel s . The proximity of their ancestral home inDevon to the shore s may have implan ted in the ir blood tas te s and apt i tudesfor mari time adventure, which gained strength as they found wider employmen t on this side the Atlan tic .Gardners

,Macys, Bunkers , no le ss than the Coffins , thu s showed the

mett l e of the ir pasture . Nor wa s the invigora t ing influence s of it s climate,

t empered as i t wa s by the Gulf S tream , confined to i t s v ikings. Daughtersas wel l as sons of Dorcas and Damari s woneminence in their various pursuit s . N0 more admirabl e examples of womanhood than Mary Coffin andDorcas Starbuck have been transmit ted for emula tion . The Quaker faith,tried by persecution among the Puri tan s, found element s congen ial i n thepure

,sal t air

,a s in the anxie t ie s and bereavement s that at tended l ife on the

sea . Nor did they grow up in ignorance . Refinemen ts from civil izationbeyond the Atlan t ic had become the ir inh eritance through many generat ions . T ri s tram Coflin

,Thomas Mayhew

,John

,his grandson , from the

Vin eyard,the se mothers in I srael themselve s exhorted and prayed . Their

s impl e trust,and the amiable disposit ion which these t enet s fo stered,

frui ted in generous deed and noble trai t . We must all remember wi th in

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 29

our ownexperience men and women , eve n when separated by place andcircumstance s from the fold

,st il l bearing unmistakable impre ss of the i r

in sular home,as also of i t s creed

,i n the beauty of their l ive s and wel l

regulated character.In such a heal thy climate

,surrounded by the ocean , leading l ive s of

puri ty and peace , dauntl e s s afloat , indust r iou s ashore, th e whole globewi th i t s waters al ik e by their voyage s made familiar to their ken , i t i s nomarvel that the ir number s multipl ied

,or that the young grew up i n

physical perfection to tran smit the ir preciou s inheritance of health ands treng th and comelin ess , of character and intellectual power, no t onlythroughout the ir favored island , but over the country of which i t formedso insignifican t a part .I t need s but a glance at the preciou s volume of the Coffins, Ewers,

Folgers, and Gardners , to see how rapidly mul tipl ied the race s of the seearly se t tlers , and how few comparat ively were the prolific posse ssors Of

the earth , our then progen i tors. I t pre sent s for s tudy a somewhat unu sualexample of in termarriage s on so smal l a scal e which have no t deteriorat edthe stock .

Among the se wa s Edward Starbuck , who died there , 1 690 , at the a ge

of e igh ty-six . His son Nathan iel , who married Mary Coffin , sold hisbrother-in-law

,P e ter Coflin, hi s e stat e at Dove r, to accompany hi s fathe r .

W i th h im came his sis ter Dorcas,who married Wi l l iam Gayer ; and thei r

daughter, Dorcas Gayer, i n the course of even t s married their cousin ,Je thro Starbuck ; and her si s te r, Damaris Gayer, Nathanie l Coffin , son ofJame s. The bro ther ofWi ll iam Gayer

,Sir John

,

" who died 1 71 0 , acquireda large fortune i n Bombay , which he divided among h is nephew Wi l liam ,

son ofWi ll iam , and among hi s n i ece s Damaris and Dorcas . Their brotherdied in 1 71 2, i n Kent, inEngl and , afte r marrying hi s cousin E l i sabeth .

He left hi s New England property to h i s si s ters and to each a thousandpounds. P eter Folger, i n 1 663 , moved to Nan tucke t, and hi s younge s tdaughter, Abiah, and Josiah Frankl in were the parent s of Benj amin Franklin

,P eter Fo lger

’s grandchild . P e ter married Judi th

,daughter of Stephen

Coflfm, and the in termarriage s between the descendan t s of the early proprie tors o f the i sland soon made ak in all i t s inhabi tan t s .Among others who came wa s Richa rd Gardner, eldest son of Thomas,

InLondonthere is sa id stil l to exist a cha pe l erected by S ir JohnGa yer, Ma yor in1 649, somewha t historica l fromthe s tand he took intrying times. S ir JohnGa yer, uncle of Mrs . Na thanie l Coffin, left fi fteenthousand pounds for the nurture and educa tionof students for the ministry inLondon, bu t hemust be agenera tionla ter thanthe Mayor. The Mayor wa s fromSou th Devon. Hemay ha ve beenfa ther of th issecond S ir John, and Wil liamthe fa ther of Dorca s and Dama ris, Mrs . Coflin, and Mrs. S ta rbuck , to whomS ir J ohn, of Bomba y, le ft considera ble esta tes.

30 THE LIFE OF

who , i n 1 624 , held Oflice under Conant at Cape Ann. Wil l iam Bunker,

1 650— 1 71 2, carried to Nantucke t by hi s mother, Jane Godfrey (whose firs t

husband,George, wa s d rowned , 1 658 , when she married Richard Swaine),

married,

1 669, Mary, daughter of Thomas Macy . Richard P inkham,

of Dover T homas Colema n , who had come out wi th Sir Richard Sal tonstal l

,1 599

- 1 68 2,and who left four son s ; John Sanborne , of Hampton ,

by marriage , 1 674 , wi th Judith , daughter of the second T ri s tram Coffin, became al so connected wi th the i sland .

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

BOSTON AND I SAAC COFFIN.

FROM T r i stram ’ s third son , James, came Sir I saac . Jame s wa s Judgeof th e CommonP l eas

,and for twelve years of P robate , and when forty

years late r he passed away,at the a ge of e ighty, he wa s generally loved

and re spected. By his wi fe Mary, daughter of John Severance, one of theearl iest se ttlers of Sal i sbury, he had fourteen children wedded wi th sixGardners

,w ith Starbu ck , two Bunkers, wi th Macy, Barnard, Clark , 1 72 1 ,

and Harker . The third son , Nathaniel , 1 666— 1 72 1 , by hi s wife Damaris ,daughter of Will iam Gayer and Dorcas S tarbuck , and niec e of Sir JohnGayer

,had four son s and five daughters. Will iam , the e lde s t son of Na

thaniel,born in 1 691 , i n 1 722 married Ann, daughter of Franci s Holmes, of

Boston and South Carol in a . This even t brough t Wil liam , grandfather of SirI saac

,to Boston

,where he dwel t i n honor and affluence t il l 1 774 , father

and grandfather of that memorabl e family among the refugee loyal i s t s whotook

,some may think

,the wrong side in our struggl e for independence.

When Will iam Coflfin, upon hi s marriage wi th AnnHolmes, t ook up hi sabode in Boston

,th e place had become a cen tre of trade , wi th nearly

twen ty thousand inhabi tan t s . The town s along th e shore and in th e ihterior depended upon i t for garments, and , in part, often for food. I t wa salready me tropol i tan in fashion and in enl ightenment . Wil l iam ’ s mother,Damari s Gayer

,l ived on at Nantucke t t il l 1 764 , reaching th e great a ge

of n ine ty, universal ly beloved . She ha d derived a con siderable e s tate ,as rel ated , from her uncl e , her father, and brother but she had nin e children to provide for. By his ownprudence and good sen se , and from hi swi fe ’s inheri tance , Wil l iam soon acquired a competence . He j oined th eEpiscopal Church , and held the posit ion for several years of seniorwarden of T rinity . His death i n 1 774 , as the wa r broke ou t, saved h imfrom wi tne s sing the exile and w ide spread confiscation that awai ted hi sson s. He had had th irteen children Of hi s own

,s ix of them married , who

were al so pro l ific . His child ren , and children’ s ch ildren

,counted up

about sixty when he died,about the same number as h i s great-grandfather

T ri s tram’ s at his death a cen tury before . But of Wil liam ’ s descendan t sbearing the name of Coflin, all have died ou t i n Massachuse tt s , and no tmany remain in England , Canada, or South Carol ina .

32 THE LIFE OF

Nathaniel, second son of Wi ll iam Coffin, born in 1 727, graduate ofHarvard College , 1 744 , rece ived, i n 1 750 , an honorary degree at Yale .Brought up a merchan t, he wa s early appoin ted King

’ s Cashier of theCustoms

,and acquired considerabl e proper ty . H i s wife wa s E lizabeth

Barnes, whom he married in 1 74 8 . They re sided near the corner of Es sex

S tree t and Ra insford Lane , inBoston, where John and Sir I saac wereborn . The t ide of the inner harbor washed up to the garden-wall s.Near by, i n fron t , s tood the L iberty tree , onthe main stree t

, whichNathaniel , the oldest bro ther of Sir I saac, cut down in 1 774 . John

,born

1 75 5 , after winn ing great honors by hi s courage and conduct on the Briti shside in the American Revolu t ion , in i t s Southern campaign s from 1 780 t othe peace

,died the oldest general in the Brit i sh Army in 1 8 38 . He had

three sons and two daughters, and hi s de scendan t , Captain Henry Coflin,of the Briti sh Navy, publi shed, as we have related, a memoir of him in1 8 80 . One o ther brother of Sir I saac, and the youngest , Jonathan P erry,wa s a barri s ter of reput e in London . His sisters

, E li zabe th and Chri stian ,died in 1 8 26, unmarried .

Their s i ster, Catherine, firs t married Richard Barwell, of Stansted, di stingu ished i n I ndia, where three of h is son s held po si t ion s Of dign ity andtru s t o n the bench, i n the treasury, and on the counci l board . Hersecond husband wa s Edward M il ler Mundy . Catherin e Coffin had onlyone child by Mr. Mundy, Admiral George, of Holly Bank , Hants , whosedist ingui shed career in the naval service of England in the great wa r wi thNapoleon wa s wi se and brave , and gained him great renown . Annmarried Mr. Ka llbeck .

I saac, the subj ect of thi s memoir, third son of Nathan iel , born in

Boston in 1 759, at eight years of a ge— in1 766— ent ered the Bos ton La tIn

School . He wa s a diligen t studen t ' in a class that embraced numerouscelebri t ies

,and when in P arliamen t he acknowledged himself indeb ted to

the methods and discipl in e of the Bos ton school s for his ap t classical quota tions, then a mode much invogue in that august as semblage . His rapidprogre ss and attainments i n nautical science , which l ikewi se remainrecorded

,may have been in some measure due to the mental training of

Maste r Lovell in o ther branches of learn ing .

His const i tut ion wa s, however, too vigorous, hi s animal spiri t s toobuoyant for scholarship alone to mark his schoolboy days . He led thesport s of the playground, and on the fifth of November, the anniversaryof the gunpowder plot , wa s more than once selected as the leader of theburle sque solemni tie s of the occasion

, which wa s left to the boys of thetown for fit ting commemoration .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

34 THE LIFE OF

warmas they discussed the si tuation wherever men congregated . Theywere al l the more wedded to their ownseveral Opinion s by the heat andtemper such discuss ion engendered . L iberty boys

'

fromthe Green Dragon

,merchant s and offic ial s who addres sed Governor Gage , repre sen ted

the extreme views . But even t s hurried them on . The S tamp Ac t,too

lat e and too grudg ingly repealed , l eft i t s canke r . The burning of Hutchinson’ s costly books and mansion , ci tizen s massacred by Bri t i sh troops,the t ea thrown into the o cean , the Boston P ort Bil l that closed our harbort o navigation , kept at fever-heat th e irri tat ion , t i l l twen ty thou sand of thebone and sinew Of the land , from the ir encampmen t s o n i t s neighboringh ill s

, belea gu red the Brit i sh flee t and garri so n ; who , after another year,were forced by Washington to wi thdraw to Halifax . Three thousand of

the inhabitan t s went with them , preferring exile and impoveri shment tog iving up their all eg iance . A few months later the Declaration of Inde

pendence at P hiladelphia shut wi th an ominous clang the door again s t al lposs ibil i t ie s of reconcil iation .

The Boston Coffins were al l loyal to England . I saac’ s father held themos t lucrative pos t there under the crown . Their acquaintan ce s andfriend s were natural ly more among the Brit i sh oflicers sen t to subj ugate ,than among those conspi ring t o cast off the yoke . They had much to lo sei f they swerved from their feal ty to the mother country . All thi s they sacrificed wi thout he sitat ion for what they considered their obl igat ions . Menact from mingled mot ive s butnow that no obj ec t i s to be answered bydepreciat ing the loyal i s t s , i t seems as unreasonable to condemn them as i twould be Roundhead or Cavalier. I saac wa s too young i n the earl iests tages of the turmoil to real ize what i t meant, but long before he en tered,at the a ge of fourte en , th e Bri ti sh navy, he no doubt had formed opinion s of hi s own. I t wa s doubtles s of advan tage to him ,

quickening hi sfacul tie s and maturing hi s Character, that such even ts were tran spiringabout him at thi s plast ic period . His sen se o f j ust i ce and righ t, and ofwhat freedom signified , proved in hi s subsequen t career that these a dvantages had not been w i thout effect .His u ncle s and their son s were al l of on e mind for the crown . The

daughters of th e house s ided with their husbands, some Of whom remainedneutral or went wi th the patrio t s . They were strong i n numbers and nearneighbors . Along th e princ ipal thoroughfare, i t s several port ion s nowmerged in to Washington Street, dwel t twen ty familie s descended fromW i ll iam Coffin , or their n ear kin sfolk , who l ived in constan t in tercourse .

The patriarch, at fourscore, h i s vigor hardly abated , l ived on the main stree t,near I saac ’ s home . His daughter El izabe th had married her cousin, my own

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

progeni tor andnamesake , who had bought th e house oppo s ite her father ’ s,at the corner of Holli s S tree t , buil t by Governor Belcher for h is ownu seno t long before he wen t to New Jersey as governor of that province . Mrs.

Amory,her ownaunt , and th e w idow of her husband ’ s father, l ived farther

south on th e same stree t . Her tombstone , marked wi th her name, lay s inthe Granary Burial Ground

,near P ark Stree t corn er, the in scrip t ion easily

read through the Open iron fence surmounting the wall .Opposi te the fence, farther north , at the corner of Bromfield ’

s Lane,

wherenow stand s Horticul tural Hall , l ived another aun t of I saac, Mrs.

Gilber t Deblois, who , if somewhat domineering even for a Coflin, l iked tobe hosp itable . Her boys wen t al so to the Latin school near by. Hercake and frui t were no t wasted , but served to rej oice a t lunch their heal thyappeti te s . She wa s l e s s considerate of her pre tty daughter, Bes sie, who ,about the a ge of I saac , early became at tached to one every way worthy,and whos ename in his ownand two subsequen t generation s has been heldinhigh est imat ion . Why th e mother in t erfered , and forbade the bann s inopen church , locked up her daughter, whom she seized upon in the act o feloping wi th herlover, can only be expla in ed by her love of domination .

Ne i ther herself nor Bessi e could have favored the su i t OfArnold,then co

e red wi th laurel s from Saratoga, l ater di shonored, who wa s al so captivatedby her beauty . Bessie remained singl e , watching wi th fil ial tendernes s overthe decl in ing years of her mother, who had thu s cruelly thwarted her ownprospect s of a happy life . She l ived on, for the most par t in the same dwel ling, re taining he r grace and lovel in e ss t i l l sh e died , having l ived to beyondfourscore

,beloved and esteemed by a large circl e of acquain tance s, fri end s .

and kinsfolk .

No t far from the school , on the Main Stree t , near the P rovince House ,l ived hi s Uncle Wi l liam

, whose wife wa s the daughter o f Thomas Aston ,and who had a large family of son s and daught ers . OnState

,th en King

Street , opposi te the scen e of the Boston massacre, re s ided Mr. EdwardP ayne , who , d i s turbed at whi s t by the turmoil , and hastening, with hi scards i n hi s hand

,to the door to see what i t mean t, ha d hi s arm shat tered

by a ball . Onwhat i snow Bowdoin Square , wi th large garden s abou t i t,wa s the re sidence of Mr. Newel l , Chairman of th e Selectmen during thewa r

, who had marri ed a si ster of Mrs. Payne , and they were kin swomen ofI saac. John and Eben , hi s uncle s, had their homes near by h is own,swarming wi th children wi th those be st ble s sings of P rovidence— goodspirit s and temper

,heal th

,and comelin e ss . They l ived near the Common .

These many doors opened gladly to welcome on e so cheery and sp ir i tedas our subj ec t .

36 THE LIFE OF

ISAAC AT SEA.

L I V ING surrounded by th e sea, sai ling on its bays and harbors, andhaunting i t s wharve s and ships , I saac

’ s taste s for marit ime pursui t s early developed . At the a ge of fourteen he en tered the Royal Navy under the au s

pices of Rear-Admiral John Montague . By him he wa s confided to thecare of L ieutenan t Wil liam Hunter, at that period commanding the brigGaspee

,and who thus spoke of his pupil

Of all the young men I ever had the care of, none answered my ex

pec ta tions equal to I saac Coffin . He pleased me so much that I took al lthe pain s in my power to make him a good seaman ; and I succeeded tothe height of my wi she s ; for never d id I know a youngmanacquire somuch naut ical knowledge in so short a time . But when he became of useto me

,the Admiral thought proper to remove him . We parted wi th con

sid era ble regre t .”

Mr. Coffin, after quitt ing the Gaspee , served as m idshipman success ively Onboard the Cap tain , Kingfisher, Fowey, and D iligen t , on theHal ifax Station from the lat ter ve ssel he wa s removed in to the Romney

,

of fifty gun s , bearing the flag of h is patron at Newfoundland , and in thesummer of 1 778 he obtained a l ieutenancy and the command of the Placent ia cutte r. I n the fol lowing spring he served as a volun teer on boardthe Syb il frigate , Captain P asley, and wa s soon after appoin ted to thecommand of Le P incon , an armed Ship. Onthi s vessel

,owing to the

n egligence of the sail ing master who had charge of her, he had themisfort une to be wrecked on the coast of Labrador ; upon which he returned toS t . John’ s , where he wa s tr ied by a court martial and fully acqui tted, hi sconduct being con sidered that Of an able oflicer and seaman wholly fre efrom blame .

By following such trace s as the naval hi storie s of Great Bri ta in affordof these several ships, we can reasonably conj ecture the part Coflintooki n our Revolutionary Wa r. We learn what duties were performed by eachof them

,and we have no reason to doub t, from his rapid promotion , of his

efli ciency and zeal . We know that hi s patron , Admiral Montague, protec ted the rear of H owe’ s re treat from Boston , i n 1 776, that the ship s to

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

which he belonged were often engaged wi th the enemy, and that they captured several valuabl e prize s, i n which action s he part icipated . But intere s t ing as thi s v iew of the wa r of Independence is from the d eck s o fEngl i sh fleet s

,l i t tl e comparatively i s familiar to American studen ts of the ir

hi s tory,or known Of Coflin’s ownexperiences to relate them here as inci

den t s in hi s l ife .In November

,1 779, Coffin ,now l ieutenan t , wen t t o England and wa s

appoin ted to the Adamant,about to be launched at L iverpool . I n June

,

1 78 0 , that ship sailed for P lymouth under j ury mast s ; and in the monthof August foll owing she wa s ordered to

' convoy the trade bound to New

York . His next appointment wa s to the London , of n inety-eigh t gun s, th efla g

-ship of Rear-Admiral Graves , then second in command on the coas tof America

,and from her he removed into the Royal O a k , a th ird-rate ,

under Vice -Admiral Arbuthnot , to whom he acted as signal l ieu tenan t i nthe action o ff Cape Henry, March 1 6, 1 78 1 . As he ro se i n rank and wa sclo thed w i th graver re sponsibil i t ie s, the part he took wa s more c onspicuous

,and we may men tion

,eveni n connection wi th an officer so young as

he wa s, much of what took place.The even t s of the first four years of the wa r, from 1 775 to 1 779, are

sufliciently familiar D’

Esta ing’s repulse at Savannah and P re sco t t ’s eva cnation of Newport in O ctober,

.

1 779 ; i t s reoccupation by Tiernay inJuly

,1 78 0 . The reduc tionof Charle ston

,defeat of Ga te s at Camd en,

defection of Arnold , capture at sea of Henry Lauren s, had followed inquick succession . Congress sen t , in December , 1 780 , John, son of i t scaptured president, who had gained glory in the recen t battle s, to helpextri cate hi s father fromth e Tower, and arrange wi th King Louis, Frankl in

,and Vergennes for the coming campaign . Bri tain

,disappoin ted

,had

sued for peace by arb itrat ion,which France wa s disposed to concede on

condit ion of American ind ependence . Meanwhile the King urged hi s all ie sto make strenuou s exert ion s to be t ter the ir condi t ion , which seemed al sothe Engl i sh pol icy, that they might re spectively treat to bet ter advan tage .

Arnold’ s sack of Virginia, Cornwall i s’ march to Yorktown

,manoeuvred

thi ther by Lafaye tte,Wayne

,and Greene

,were preparing the crisi s . The

King, in Ma rch , ’8 1

,had promised mill ion s of money

,arm s

,and garmen t s .

He provided for the co -operation of De Grasse,wi th a formidabl e fle e t

and several thousand men from the West Indie s,wi th Wash ington and

Rochambeau in the Che sapeake at th e end of Augus t .A French squadron in March , 1 78 1 , had a partial engagement at Cape

Henry w ith Admiral Arbuthno t,under whom Coffin , as men tioned , served

as signal l ieu tenan t . Washington and Rochambeau in July passed round

38 THE LIFE OF

New York , reach ing the Chesapeake as De Grasse with hi s twen ty-four l ineof-bat tle ships made hi s appearance . The English leaders, both on landand along shore , had been on the watch, and Graves , Hood, and Drake ,wi th nineteen ships, hovered near.

' Upon the ir arrival , De Grasse s toodou t to sea

,th e Bri ti sh flee t fol lowing . In the engagemen t of the 5 th of

September that en sued , th e British los t a few hundred men and De Grasseaccomplished his obj ect . De Barres

,who had come down from Newport

,

improved the occasion to enter the bav and the two French flee t s thu shermet ical ly sealed i t again s t the Bri ti sh . Graves hurried back to SandyHook for reinforcements ; but when he re turned with seven thou sandmen,sent by Clinton to rel ieve Cornwal lis

,on the 24 th of October, i t wa s too

l ate,Cornwalli s had already surrendered.How i t chanced that Coffin took no more act ive part in these Oper

a tions may be thus explained . After the battle of March 1 6th , on there turn to New York , the Royal O a k

,after tak ing several valuable prize s,

had grounded and wa s sufliciently inj ured to be hove down at Halifax . I nthe middle of June arrived a vessel from Br istol wi th the remain s of hi sfather, who had died on board the day before of gout . Having held animportant posi tion under government, his obsequies i n New York , onBroadway

,showed due regard to hi s memory. I saac wa s placed soon after

i n command of the Avenger, the advanced post of the Bri tish up theNorth River

,which he held during the autumn , t il l he exchanged wi th

Sir Al exander Cochrane for the Pocahontas and j oined Hood early inJanuary at Barbadoe s .

Lord Hood had been often in Boston . His wife’ s uncle,Captain John

Linzee,had there married the daughter of Ralph Inman , of Cambridge .

Lord Hood wa s pre sent at this marriage, as afterward at that in the sameapartment in the house of Mr. John Rowe, who had also married an Inma n ,of Linzee’s daughter Hannah to my namesake and father ’s brother.Under the same roof Wil l iam H . P re scot t, whose wife wa s th e daughterof Hannah Linzee, wrote his earl ier hi stories . Hood wel l knew Coflin,and i t required very li t tl e solici tation on his part to invi te him to serve onboard the Ba rfleur

,h i s flagship.

Soon after the surrender at York town Hood had sailed for Barbadoes,awai t ing De Grasse . January 1 4 , 1 78 2, soon after Coffin had j oined him ,

he learned that De Grasse had rel inquished his plan of attack ing Barbadoes ,and gone to St . Kitts, where De Bouille had landed eight thousand troops,the Briti sh garrison under Frazer consi st ing of but six hundred men .

Deciding to at tack the Fr ench flee t at anchor to save the place, Hoodembarked P re scot t

,who had twic e been in command at NeWport, wi th the

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 39

few t roops that could be spared fromAntigua, and se t sail . At daybreak hesignalled for battle but the Al fred

,running foul of the Nymph , arre sted the

prosecu tion of the design , i n order to repair damage s . De Grasse put t osea to have more room to manoeuvre , and thu s secure the advantage ofhi s superiority in numbers . At daylight on the 25 th , the Frenchflee t

,twen ty-n in e sai l strong , formed in l in e of battle three leagues to

leeward . Hood,who had but twen ty-two , pushed the enemy stil l farther

to leeward while he took po ssess ion of Basse T erre,th e position Hood

had left . The Count, astonished at the se excel len t operations which cuthim off from his army, made a furious onse t on the Brit i sh rear, commandedby Affleck, who , under an incessan t fire , covered the ship s ti l l they reachedtheir several stations.

The next morn ing th e French admiral a ttacked again the Bri t ish , vanand rear, but wa s repul sed, lo s ing a thousand men . His ownflagsh ip, th eVil le de P aris, pre sen t of that c ity t o the King , all the next day lay uponher heel s covering her sho t-holes . The si ege proceeded wi th variou ss ucce ss

,t i l l De Bouille arrived wi th four thousand fre sh troops, when

Frazer capi tu lated . Hood,on the 1 9th; reached Antigua, and j oined ,

a few days later Lord Rodney,wi th reinforcemen t s from England .

These operation s form an epoch in the annal s of the British Navy.Compelling an enemy of a superior force to qui t h is anchorage, tak inghimself the s i tuation thus left during action , defeat ing every attempt t oforce the posit ion , and cutt ing the enemy off fromhis army . I t wa s al e sson in naval tactic s that wi ll ever b e de servedly regarded wi th admiration ,both for Hood ’s skil l i n these masterly manoeuvres , and for the bravery andprecision w ith which they were executed by those under hi s orders.While at San ta Lucia

,Rodney

,l earning that De Grasse , wi th

men and heavy guns, had pushed for S t . Domingo to reduce i t , overtookhim on April 7th, and the batt le of the 9th and victory of the 1 2th werethe re sult s . The battle on the 1 2th began at seven in the morn ing . I twa s fought in a large basin of water lying among the i sland s of Guadaloupe ,Dominique

,the Saints

,and Marie Galan te. Both on the windward and

leeward of this bay lay dangerous shore s . As day broke , Rodney clo sedup hi s l ine at one cable leng th ins tead of at two , as u sual , each ship as sheranged up to her opponen t g iving and receiving a tremendou s fire . At

noon , with his ownship , the Formidable, and three more , he bore downupon the enemy with in three ship s of the cen tre and broke through . Hisother ship s followed , doubl ing upon the enemy and placing them betweentwo fire s . Rodney then wore and signalled the van to tack they gainedthe windward and comple ted the di sorder and confusion of the Fre nch .

40 THE LIFE OF

The French cont inued the combat , at tempting to reform their brokenl ine by the van breaking away to windward . Meanwhile Hood

,in the

Ba rfleur, earl ier becalmed, rushed down upon the foe . The Canada, 74 ,

took the Hector. Ingrefield i n the Cen taur at tacked the Cesar the captain nailed his color s to th e mast and wa s kil led . When she struck hermast went overboard, and she had not a foot of canvas without a sho t-hole .The Glorieux fought bravely, but wa s forced to yield . The Arden t wa sre taken

,the Diadem, 74 , wen t down by a single broadside att ributed to the

Formidable , Rodney’ s fla g- ship.

Between the French ship , the Vil le de P ari s, and the Canada, a desperate action raged for two hours . De Grasse seemed determined to sinkrather than s trike . The Ba rfleur

,Hood ’s fla g-ship , on which wa s Coffin ,

at sun se t poured in a fire which killed sixtymenoutrigh t, and De Grasses truck to Hood . I t i s said that a t the time She struck but three men werele ft al ive and unhurt on the upper deck , and the Coun t wa s one .Hood, despatched in pursui t of the French vessel s that attempted to

e scape,overtook and captured four . The whol e los s of the French

amounted to eight ve ssel s , one'

of which wa s sunk and another blown up .

Onthe Ville de P aris were thirty-six chest s of money to pay the troops . Shewa s said to have been at that t ime the only first-rate ever carried in to por tby any commander of any nat ion . The French los t men

,the Brit ish

Rodney wa s made a peer of Great Britain , Hood of I reland , Drakeand Affleck barone t s .

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42 THE LIFE OF

Since th e Moni tor, they have e ffectually superannuated the wooden wall sto which nat ions old andnew once trusted for safety and supremacy .

If nol onger ships by thousands part icipate i n the deci s ive batt les of the future ,contending fleet s

,composed of vessel s of great cost , fewer i n number,

hurling their huge missile s ou t of sight to their targe t, wil l change the wholecharacter of naval warfare . I f we have no flee t , to speak of, of our own,we spend mil l ion s in feeding usele ss mouths wi thout benefit to the n ation .

I t behoove s u s to educate our oflicers t o become Nel sons and Coll ingwoods

,P orters and Fa rra gu ts, when c ircumstance s no t to be foreseen or

controlled , forces upon us another Salamis .Unles s we guard our ci tie s wi th the late s t improvement s in defensive

warfare , posse s s flee ts abl e to cope wi th the best, we may be exposed totribute, to aggre ss ion , or insul t— have left no al ternat ive but the last argument of kings and nat ions, th e arb itrament of arms . Sir Arch ibald All ison , thirty years a go , from hi s reading of human hi s tory, that inasmuch asmankind always fought when they could afford i t, predicted that the prec iou s metal s di scovered in such heap s would reopen the gates of Janus .The even t has j ustified hi s prophecy. I t i s to be hoped that the growingi n tel ligence of the race wi ll recognize the ab surdi ty of spending blood andtreasure in such profitless avocation s . Yet

,while the world continue s

ignoran t and stupid , we should be prepared for at tack . We should haveforts

,ships, and captains , who w il l learn from the old strategy and tactics,

on land and sea, what they had of value— accomplished commanders, who

can, besides , devisenew methods t o mee t the modern facil i t ie s of destruot ion , which science , l ik e Cadmus of old , who inven ted the alphabe t, bringsou t of the earth .

P eace soon came . Though Coffinhad gained a permanen t rank in theNavy, there wa s much to discourage himinfinding hi s vocation thu schanged, i f not gone . His family wa s broken up . The remains of hi sfather lay in the ir las t resting-place , as already ment ioned , i n New York .

John , at the a ge of twenty-one , had rai sed a mounted rifle corp s in New

York called the O range Rangers, wh ich , wi th him as their commandant,t ook part inthe bat tl e of Long I sland , August 27, 1 776, and in that ofGermantown

, October 4 , 1 777. Later, he exchanged in to the New YorkVolunteers

,wa s at San Lucie and Brier’ s Creek in 1 779, at Camden in

1 780 , at Holkirk ’ s Hill , near Camden , April 25 th , and at Eutaw Spring sSeptember 8

,1 78 1 . He i s mentioned

,as a brave and successful cavalry

ofli cer, wi th commendation in nearly every other engagement of the South

ern campaign , con stantly in desperate encounters and coming off victorions. Though a purse of ten thousand dollar swa s offered for h is capture,

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 43

he escaped to Charle ston,where h e married , as th e wa r closed, Mi s s

Matthews , and es tabl i shing himself lat er on hi s manor of Alwington , onthe St . John’ s

,i n New Brunswick

,he l ived t ill he wa s e ighty-two in great

honor . That at the clo se of the wa r of Independence , at the a ge of twentyseven

,his rank wa s only that of a maj or

,that he wa s not promoted to a

higher rank, as urged by Howe and Cornwalli s, i s at tributed to enmity a tcourt for tell ing the truth of a favorite . He wa s at the head of the genera ls when he died .

As he has had recen tly ( 1 8 8 0 ) hi s biographer in one of hi s descendants ,Captain Henry Coffin

,of the Royal Navy

,thi s i s no t the place to relat e

more particularly hi s bril lian t achievement s or numberle ss anecdote s wel lremembered . I vividly recall hi s tall commanding figure and marvel lou sbright eyes, in my early home inP ark Stree t, i n Boston , where he wa s afrequen t visi tor of my father

, who had charge of hi s affairs as o f h i sbro ther ’ s . He wa s more sedate than I saac

,but both were brill ian t speci

mens of the race. He wa s beloved and greatly es teemed by hi s numerouscou s in s, and splendid salmonfrom the river near his home were often sen tby him for their enj oyment . He al so

,like his brother

,if no t on so grand

a scale , i n order to promote our s tock, sen t fine horse s to the AgriculturalSocie ty at Brighton .

The brothers , of nearly the same a ge , and the be st of friends , I saacmay wel l have wi shed to have been presen t at John ’s wedding t o M i s sMat thews , which took place toward the clo se of 1 78 2 . Charle ston lay onthe rou te from Antigua, and i t would no t have been strange if, i n the spiri tof mutual con sideration that prevailed in the service

,such an opportuni ty

had been given him . If so, i t doe s not appear.

44 THE LIFE OF

IX .

PEACE OF 1 78 3 .

E ARLY in 1 78 3 , wa r over, and the Shrewsbury paid off, Coffi n exchangedinto the Hydra

,and going home , wa s put ou t of commission . His previous

visi t s to England had been brief and on profe s sional duty . Thi s newexperience to one who

,at the a ge of twenty-two , had gained the rank of

captain,and by hi s valuable service s made hi s mark as one of the bes t

Officers of the Navy,might have turned the head of one le ss sensible .

To be hi s ownmaster,wi th abundance of prize money

,plenty of

companion s, l ike dashing blade s to share i t, must have been repl e t e w i thgratification . Many of his family and friend s from Boston had taken upthe ir abode in London

,and the refugee loyali st s formed there a large circle .

They were al l disposed to l ike I saac,a handsome young fel low with pleas

ant ways , generous and unpre tending , loaded wi th laurel s . If the highe s thonors of the wa r attached to superior rank and more di st inguished command

,he had done enough to be held in estimation among his ownint i

mate s, by the greatnaval ce lebrit ie s, and by the public .

He wa s much inFrance whil e thus on furlough . P aris stil l re tained the

glamour of the Old regime . I f heavy taxes or arbitrary power created w idespread disconten t and disaffection, there were as yet few i ndicat ion s ofthe caldronseething beneath , soon to overwhelm . I t i s much to be w i shedmore of his corre spondence had survived to g ive us hi s ownimpre ssion sof P ari s then . He wro te wel l and wi th the vivaci ty that charac terized hi sconversat ion . P ossibly many more of hi s let ter s may exis t of al l periodsof his l ife, and if so, they should be collec ted .

Sir Guy Carle ton, who could hardly have saved Canada for the crown ,

i n 1 775 , wi thou t the aid of the Coffins, and whose private secretary throughout h i s career wa s I saac’ s cousin

,Sir Thomas Aston Coffin , wa s now, in

1 78 6, appointed Governor of Canada . I t wa s probably at hi s request tha tI saac wa s appointed to the Thisbe

,to tak e himwith hi s family and suite to

Quebec. He had been created Lord Dorche ster, tha t being an old t i tl ei n the Carle ton family . The sh ip arrived at Quebec late in the season ,and , le s t she should be frozen up, Coffin proceeded , two days later, toHalifax for the win ter

,re turning i n the spring to Canada, and remained

there for some months .

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 4 5

At this t ime a circumstance occurred to dis turb hi s serenity, thoughlater he wa s en tirely exonerated from any blame . I t had been long th ecustom in' the Engl i sh naval service, among other abuse s working occasioual in j ustice and demanding reform ,

to re tain on the ship rol l s the name sof young officers while pursuing their studie s ashore ; so that they migh tno t

,while qual ifying themselves for their re sponsible duties, lo se their pre

cedence for promotion . Many years before, in consequence of some unfairadvantage that had been taken of this indulgence , a regulation prohibit ingsuch practice s had been adop ted by the Admiral ty . I t chanced at this veryt ime someone again had been aggrieved, and atten tion been called to theprevalence of what had been prohibi ted . I t wa s ascertained that two suchcas e s were on the roll s of the Thisbe, not placed there wi th the knowl edgeof Coffin, but which i t wa s hi s duty as cap tain to have discovered and struckoff. Upon inquiry and complain t he wa s su spended

,and indignan t at what

h e conce ived unfair t reatment , he proceeded to Flanders, and en tered intothe service of the Braban t patrio t s then in arms a gain s t Austria .

Thi s decree of suspen sion by the boa rd , when appealed from to th etwelve j udge s , wa s by them declared i llegal on the part of the Admiral tyand set aside . Thi s put anend to the suspen sion and restored himto hi ss tanding in the service . Upon the Spani sh armament i n 1 790 , on the NootkaSound di sput e

,he wa s appointed to the Alligator, and in the following

spring, having received the flagw

of Commodore Cosby, wa s ordered toAmerica, whence he re turned home wi th Lord Dorchester and hi s family thefol lowing au tumn .

While thus s tat ioned at Halifax, he v isi ted Quebec on furlough , andremained there a twelvemonth . He naturally found the place attractivesocially a s in other ways . Beside s hi s cousin , Thomas As ton, son of hi suncle Wil liam

,hi s Uncle Johnre sided in that ci ty wi th h i s family

, who

were about his owna ge . John , early after the outbreak of host il i t ie s atBoston

,had takenhis wife

,I sabella Child, and eleven surviving of h i s

fifteen children , six sons and five daughters, in hi s ownship , the Neptun e,t o Quebec. He there purchased land , and when Montgomery andArnold arrived in December, 1 775 , to be siege the city, he remodel led thebuildings he wa s con s tructing for another purpose in to a fortification . Thi she armed wi th guns from a vessel frozen i n for the win ter, and wi th Barnefare

,i t s captain

,s tood ready with a small force to oppose the assailant s .

Wi th the first vol ley he slew Montgomery and hi s two aid s, on the last dayof the year 1 775 , as they attempted to take his fort by assaul t . Thi s

, wi thArnold’ s subsequen t loo t of Mon treal , which disaffected the Canad ian s,saved Canada for the Brit i sh crown .

46 THE LIFE OF

The son s of John al l reached dis tinguished rank in the Brit ish civi l andmili tary service

,and three of h is daughters were connected with i t by

marriage . I sabella married Colonel McMu rdo, whose son s gained dis

tinction in I ndia ; Susannah , Hon . John Craig ie , provincial treasurer, whoseson

,an admiral

,died in 1 8 72 at Dawl i sh his daughter Ma rgare t, Sir

Roger Haile s Shea fe , born i n Boston , who for h i s vic tory at Queen stownHeights, October 1 3 , 1 8 1 2, wa s made a baronet . One of the son s of John,Francis Holmes , in the navy throughout the wa r wi th France, served withdistinction and died an admiral in 1 83 5 .

While on his way up the river to Quebec in1 786 , the Thisb e wa s becalmed Off the Magdalen I slands in th e St . Lawrence, and st ru ck by the i rappearance

,perhaps the more attract ive fromth e autumnal splendors

,

Coffin requested,probably no t in very serious earne st

,that Lord Dorchester

,

as represen tative of the crown , would bestow them on him . Thi s requests eemed reasonable to the governor . I t wa s not rece ived at firs t wi th favor athome

,but renewed the fol lowing year in more formal manner, wa s eventu

ally gran ted . The le tters-paten t were not expedited until 1 798 , during th e

governorship of Robert P re scott . I n hi s wil l S ir I saac en tai led these i sland son his nephew

,John Townsend Coffin

,and h is son s

,John ’s brother

,Henry

Edward,hi s cousin Wi ll iam , and several o ther branche s of his ownname,

and then on the B a rwells, hi s si ster’ s son s . The son of Sir I saac T ri s tram

,

who died in 1 8 72,now holds them .

After hi s re turn to Europe,while lying at the Nore during a heavy gal e,

a man fel l overboard,and Coflinl eaped after him into the sea and succeeded

i n saving hi s l ife. He sustained by hi s effort s a serious inj ury, which fre

quently afterward reminded him of thi s act of humani ty .

Another heroic act , of somewhat similar character, has been related ofhis promptness i n emergencie s . While at Portsmouth , or some othernaval station

,and

,i t i s believed , st il l a subal tern , his ship, one of the lin e,

caught fire, which being in close proximity to the magazine, sailors andmarine s rushed wi th precipitat ion to the gangway to escape the in stan tlyexpected explo sion . By authori ty

,or example

,he changed the ir purpose ,

and the men going to quarters, saved the ship .

Soon after hi s return the All igator wa s paid off. After vi si tingSweden

,Denmark

,and Russia he returned home upon the trouble s w ith

France,and in charge of the Melampus frigate wa s employed on Channe l

service to the close of 1 794 . Whil e exerting himself on a boi s terou snight, when the frigate wa s in great danger of destruct ion , he sustained as imilar inj ury to that at the Nore

, which compelled him to leave hi s ship ,and for some time he remained a cripple. Nine month s later, however,

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN, BART 47

whil e recovering hi s strength at Le i th on service, he wa s sen t as re siden tcommiss ioner of Corsica, and remained t il l October, 1 796, when the isl andwa s evacuated . FromElba h e wa s removed to Li sbon to take Charge forthe next two years of the naval e stabl i shmen t at that place . He wa s thencedespatched to superintend the arsenal at P ort Mahon when M inorca fellin to the hands of the Engl ish , and from there ordered to Nova Scotia in theVenus frigate . At Halifax, and afterward at Sheerness, as re siden t commissioner, he wa s employed t il l April, 1 8 04 , when appointed rear-admiral hehoisted hi s flag on the Gladiator on duty at P ort smouth, and the followingmonth he wa s created a baron e t. The record reci te s the gran t of theMagdalen I slands in the St . Lawrence, for hi s unremit ting zeal and persevering effort s in the public service . He wa s promoted four years late r tothe grade of v ice-admiral, which ended h i s naval dutie s afloat

,though he

became full admiral i n 1 8 1 4 by regular seniori ty .

This Ske tch of his serv ice s at sea i s very incomplet e . The memoir ofhimi n 1 8 22, by Marshall, in London , when he wa s i n P arl iament, i s brief,and the obi tuary i n Tbe Gentleman’s Ma g a zine when h e died, no t evenas extended . I have no data of his cruise i n the P acific

,along the shor e

of Austral ia, ment ioned by Mr. Al l en Coffin , which has left i t s t race on thechart s in Sir I saac ’s P oin t and Coffin’ s Bay. I t s eems more l ikely to havetakenplace about the clo se of the las t century or the beginn ing of thi s .His prize money in such troubled times had been considerable . Thi s

he entrusted to my father, one of hi s cousin s in hi s native place , favorablycircumstanc ed , t o i nve st i t to advantage, and i t wa s said that the incomefinally equalled the original depo si t s. He made frequen t visi t s to h i s earlyhome in the course of hi s busy life upon the sea

,having made more than

thirty voyage s to and from America.

48 THE LIFE OF

X .

MARRIAGE AND PARLIAMENT .

AFFLUENT and a barone t, hena tura llylonged for a home and incl ined totransmit h is baronetcy to hi s posterity . March, 1 8 1 1

,he married E l izabeth

Browne , the only child ofWil l iam Greenly, of T i tley Court, in Herefordshire . Her family, brought up wi th rig id notions of proprie ty, did no t takekindly to the hearty and j ovial ways which characterized naval Oflicers

,and

the match proved le ss happy than expected .

I t i s said that on on e occasion , re turning to T i tl ey Court on some particu la rly fe stal day, he ordered the sexton , as h e passed through the village ,t o ring a merry peal and send the tenants to the mansion to drink a glas sof ale . Thi s mortally offended the lord of the manor

,who thu s found hi s

prerogative invaded by the husband of his only child . Wi thin a few years,

sat i sfied of the ir ut ter incompatibil i ty of temper,they very amicably

,on

both side s,arranged for independence of each o ther.

Wi thout intending to detract from her meri t, the lady indulged in l i terarytastes of a relig ious tendency. She wa s said to be addicted to wri t ing sermon s at night , to the disturbance of the slu inbers of her roll icking spouse

,

and so,after a space they separated . She remained Lady Greenly and he

re sumed the name of Coflin. The faul t wa s certainly no t hers, who wa s a

clever and exemplary woman , but somewhat eccentric in her ways . I nafter life she wa s wel l known in Bath

,England, remarkable for wearing,

Welsh-woman fashion,a man ’s round hat

,a riding habit cu t short, and for

wie lding a gold-headed cane . She l ived nearly as long as he did , but theyrarely met

,though he made repeated overture s to reconcil iation , some

rather amusing .

When shipwrecked in the Boston,s truck by l ightn ing on her way

from Charle s town to L iverpool in 1 8 29, in the boat for s everal days withl i t tle hope o f re scue

,for the seas were not then as much traversed asnow

,

he expre s sed great affectionfor her, and gave hi s watch to the captain tosend her should he himself not survive their peril s and the captain befortunate enough to e scape . While in the crowded boat, on thi s occasion,wi th no Shelter and l it t le covering , and the scan tie st supply of food andwater

,hi s owncheerfulnes s, i n terest ing conversat ion , and ebull i t ion s of

good humor, kep t hi s companion s in heart and Courage .

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50 THE LIFE OF

con strain t as guest s together, he wa s everywhere an acquisi t ion . Iremember well weeks passed under the same roof wi th him when preparingfor my college examinat ion s. The family were in the coun try

,and he wa s

t ied by the foo t to hi s couch by the gout . But from morning t il l night ,droll storie s , amusing inciden ts, whimsie s and oddit ies of every descrip t ion ,exploded l ike firework s from the aged man

’ s pillow,i n termingl ed wi th

occasional garnish of more savage in ten sity at his anguish .

LADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN

,BART .

GENIAL TEMPERAMENT .

I HA VE st ill a vivid recollect ion of him in hi s undres s un iform as aBriti sh admiral

,at an earl ier period

,in fine heal th and the perfection of

physical maturity,on the wide lawn and in the spaciou s parlors of Belmon t

,

h is cou sin’ s and my uncle’ s home . He wa s then tal l and erec t, w i th r ichcolor in hi s cheek s and merry sparkle in h i s eye

,brimming over wi t h

animal spiri t s,companionabl e

,and wi th fit t ing chat for al l . His funny

words and ways were th e d el ight and dread Of th e children , in to whosefrolics he entered wi th ze s t, bewildering th eir mind s wi th h i s drol lerie s,both they and himself exploding wi th merriment at practical j oke s toogood-natured to offend.If no t quite as prone to loud expre ssion s of mirth and merrimen t in so

cia l intercourse on this side the ocean as on the o ther, one so gay and sobrimful of amusing j okes and storie s wa s perhaps al l the be tte r a ppreci

ated . The many brill iant gentlemen of Boston in profess ional l ife , or amongi t s merchan t princes

,affluen t and convivial , were pl eased to have him as

thei r guest. Loyal ty to the mother-country died ou t slowly and a Boston-born boy, who se numerous kinsfolk had ample means for ho sp i tal i ty,much attent ion wa s paid him . O ften when at my fath er’ s, who re sided inPark Stree t , where now i s the Union Club House , the festal entertainment s extended in to the small hours ; and tho se upon whom i t devolvedt o si t up to rece ive the ro isterers

,would gladly welcome from far off hi s

shout of House ahoy " breaking on the si len t watche s of the night .While at some lordly man sion in England hi s hoste ss had begged him

to have made for her a Boston rock ing-chair . No t wi shing to disoblige herla dyship

,he enli sted the service s Of the village carpen ter, and a few days

after had the contrivance,not then to b e found in fashionable mansion s ou t

of the nursery,placed inth e apartmen t where the company at the castl e

as sembled before dinner. Wi th al l due ceremony he led the amiabl e andmuch-honored lady to the chair

,in which she en sconced hersel f and began

to rock . Unfortunately,th e rockers had no t bee n construc ted on scien

tific principle s, and over i t wen t, w i th many eye s to behold . Too we ll bredto be affronted

, She gathered herself up as best she could and by taking

52 THE LIFE OF

it kindly put the admira l at h i s ease, and contributed to the gayety of therepast . Her husband , whose good service s placed himin P arl iament, didno t aba te them for the casual ty .

One day an American ship sailed in to Port smouth , or P lymouth , beforethe Wa r of 1 8 1 2, when Sir Isaac had charge of the naval flee t. AnEngli shofficer wa s sent on board . The master having gone a

i

shore,th e mate ,

being in Charge , d id no t rece ive the O fficer with the et iquett e required uponsuch occasion s . The officer gave the first salutat ion as he reached the deckby saying What damned kin d of a Yankee lubber has Charge here , whodon’ t know h is duty to properly receive his maj e sty ’ s officer The matesaid no t a word, bu t , se izing his vi si tor by the collar and slack of hi s trousers

,threw him overboard for his owncrew t o pick up . Soon after an armed

boat came alongside to take the mate on board the flag- ship,where he wa s

arraigned before S ir I saac, who soon became aware that the culpri t wa s akinsman

,whose father he had been fami l iar wi th i n boyhood . He tried to

ge t th e mate to acknowl edge that he wa s ignorant

’

of the laws and customs,

that he migh t dismi s s the case wi th a cau tion no t to do so again but th eYankee wa s obdurate . He’d be damned,

” he said,

“ if any man shouldi n sul t h im on hi s owndeck and under the flag of his country .

”The Of

fender wa s remanded to be regularly tried the n ext day . In the meantimethe admiral sen t a messenger to privately assure the mat e that a suitabl eapology would rel ieve him from any further trouble in the mat ter bu t onth e trial the same defian t manner wa s assumed . The admiral drew outsome expre ssion

,however

,which he accep ted as sati sfactory, and dismissed

the offender wi th suitable admoni t ion s .Later in the day, from the shore, th e admiral s en t a message to the

young man , s tating that, as hi s father wa s an O ld friend and relat ive, hewould be happy to mee t the son and enj oy a bot tle of w ine wi th him atthe;inn. But the young man replied that the admiral migh t go to h— l withhis w ine . He’ d see him d — d first , before he

’d drink wi th any d— d Englisher

,e specially one who would approve of an in sul t to an Officer under

h is ownfla g, upon his owndeck .

The admiral u sed to relate the above incident wi th much gusto, as headmired th e spir i t of independence exhib ited by the Yankee mate . We

have re tained the strong garn i sh , as a fair sample of the profan e ways ofa few generation s a go . No t only afloat on the quarter-deck and on th eforecastl e

,but i n the drawing-room and social c ircles

,among those who

should have known be tter,such modes of speech prevailed . They have

long since vani shed from among all clas se s and condition s here and throughout Chris tendom .

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 53

Commodore Hull,of our Navy, wa s one of h i s corresponden ts and

General Wi l son , our honored pre siden t , has been good enough to permi t me to read many le t ters that passed be tween them after the Wa r Of

1 8 1 2,and when the two countrie s were at peace . Thi s corre spondence

displays al ike in both the genial and generous trait s which the Navy i s though tpeculiarly to foste r . I propose to refer to one subj ec t more than oncementioned inthe se le t ters, which , to use the Old phrase , might seem onlya fish story and for the marine s , if no t eviden tly believed by himself. I t i sinre ference to the si ze attain ed i n former days by lobs ters on our coast s .I n the freedom of in tercourse around the table or on the quarter-deck

, whileonce returning t o America, he alleged that lobsters had been foun dweighing n ine ty pounds . Though g iven somewhat to rhodomontade, heseems in this in stance to have believed the fact based on hearsay

,if no t

on sight. My ownfishmonger told me that wi thin hi s experience in the sewaters twenty-five pounds wa s the large s t that had come to hi s knowl edge ,but I have seen i t s tated that lobsters of much larger weight have beenfound down Eas t , where there is more room for expan s ion and imag in ation .

The size at tained by turtl e s and other shel l-fish in neighboring watersrenders such possibil it ie s les s incred ibl e .Apropo s of Hull and S ir I saac , my friend , General Wil son , in a recen t

addre ss on Commodore Hull and th e frigate Consti tut ion , said “When inthe presence of a Bost on-born Briti sh admiral ano thernaval officer indulgedinl audatory and extravagan t comment s on the capture of the Chesapeake and endeavored to underrat e the American naval v ictorie s of th eWa r of 1 8 1 2— 1 4 , and particularly that gained over the Guerriere , he said ,I t wa s a lucky th ing for your friend Broke that he fel l i n wi th the unprepared Chesapeake

,and not wi th Hull and the Constitu t ion . I f he had

,no

Tower gun s would have been heard celebrat ing a Shannon victory.

’Thi s

manly and patriotic s tatemen t wa s made by Sir I saac Coflinat the dinnertabl e ‘

Of the Duke ofWell ington , and wa s related to me by h is eldes t son ,the second Duke , who wa s presen t. Onthe same occasion

,when some

one spoke sneeringly of the American s as soldiers , a general ofmy ownname remarked

,I have been through the P enin sular campaign , and wa s

wi th the duke at Waterloo, but harder fighting I n ever saw than we had atLundy’ s Lane . ’

54 THE LIFE OF

BENEFACT IONS AND DEATH.

SIR I SA AC’S character wa s too racy and various not at t ime s to provokecensure or crit ici sm . He did so much that should no t be forgotten, somuch ent itled to be remembered, that, had the t ime or the occasionallowed , I should ment ion several anecdo te s that have come to my knowledge which show what he wa s from all point s of view. One incident wouldserve to explain how sometimes he created il l ~wil l by yielding too much tohi s impulse s .

These impulse s were quick and generous his disposit ion to be of serviceto his l east fortunate k insfolk be manife sted by frequen t vi si t s and l iberalbenefactions and if occasionally awakening expectations which Change ofimpression or circumstance s d i sappointed, h is imperfection s as wel l a sh is noble trai t s const i tuted a par t of h is character .I have already men tioned that the j udicious investment of hi s pay and

prize-money by one of h i s cousin s had made him rich. I n various wayshe expressed hi s grati tude even to another generat ion . I n a paper al ludedto inhi s wil l h e left bequest s to a long l i s t of hi s kindred, many of whomwere ins traitened circumstance s. O thers be tter Off he did no t forge t,bequeathing five hundred pounds to my father

’ s children .

He took ane special interes t inthe eldes t son of thi s cousin, who had

been the j unior partner Of the house, and been l eft, by th e death of hi sfather

,i n con trol . He had married, and taken in to the firmone of the

best of men,s ince on e of the great house of the B a rings of London .

Losing his health, Mr. Amory wa s advised by hi s physician to go wi th h i swife and children to Europe . When they took their departure

,he left Sir

I saac,then h is gues t , in possession of hi s dwell ing. Sir I saac had left in

the firm, as part of i t s work ing capi tal, to be used in it s transa ct ions

, wi th the as surance that i t should no t be called for while he l ived .

When , owing to some freak Of t emper to which persons tortured by the

gout are l iable, he in si sted upon having the sum thus lent, and a few thousands more then due, instantly repaid, the brothers and sister s were, forthe most part

,under a ge , the paternal property undivided . There existed

then no limited l iabil ity. M il l corporat ions recen t ly e stabl ished,i n which

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 55

hi s father had largely inve sted, and Of some of which he had been presiden tor director

,becoming unproductive , failing , o r lo si ng the ir credit, l eft ex

posed the estate,largely composed Of land, wharves, and dwell ings .

I t wa s a mos t inopportune moment for Sir I saac to reclaim the loanaccepted expre ssly upon the promise , i t should not be cal led for while h el ived

.By sacrificing hi s patrimony in the then depreciated marke t , Sir

I saac wa s repaid with in the year, though the inheritance of hi s credi tor, thu sdisposed of

,has since been worth twen tyfold , at th e least, what i t brought .

Thi s unexpected blow crippled one he had intended to serve, who , wi th alarge family of te n ch ildren , strugg led on bravely as well as he could without capi tal

,sometimes eminen tly succe ssful, always act ive and energetic .

Oblig ing, beloved, and re spected, he made the best of his exi stence ; andif Ofte n too sanguine of re sul ts, would, but for th i s, have been as muchfavored in fortun e as he wa s i n h is amiable dispo si tion and courte sie s .I t i s too Old a story for praise or blame . P robably Sir I saac had forgottenhis promise

,and when he thought his loan imperi lled fel t bound to ex tri

cate i t from danger .Thi s inciden t i s mentioned not for blame , but explanat ion . I t l eft at

the time an impres s ion t o the prej udice of our subj ect , and as the onlyblur upon hi s fame as large-hearted, j us t, and generous , i t should no t b emisunderstood . Before stock s and bonds offered safe investmen t s fortrust s

,money wa s often left wi th merchan ts and bankers upon intere st

,to

be used as part of their capital. When the profit s of t rade j udiciously conducted ranged from twen ty to thir ty per cent . , and wi th l i t tle ri sk, wherethere wa s prudenéé

'

and i

wea l th,house s wel l e stabli shed Oft en found i t o f

advan tage thus to enlarge their working means . In thi s in stance of uniform and long-con tinued success and e stabl ished reliabil ity, hundreds o fthou sands of dollars were held

,some a t fixed rate s of in tere s t

,some re

ceiving a port ion of the profit s . No corporation exi s t ing for the insu rance of marine ri sk s, men of property, of various profe s sion s and pursuit s,vi si ted the office s where such busine ss wa s transacted, and subscribed asunderwri ters o n ships and cargo. Somet imes people no t in trade sharedin the ven ture s Of those that were .

Inthi s way the admiral’ s ownfortune s had rolled up , i n the care of h i scousin

,to very respectabl e dimensions . I t wa s wi th the view of increa s

ing them that he left the loan to be accoun ted for to hi s executors wi thh is son and surviving partner. I t wa s not pre tended that the loan wa s

used,except in th e regular commercial Operat ions of the house . Sudden

death,a large family to div ide the income, i llness that compelled going

abroad,led to some delay in re sponding to the unexpected call for i t ;

56 THE LIFE OF

and thi s,where exactne ss and promptitude had been the unvarying expe

rience, fre t ted the temper o f the admiral . The be st of us occasionally actfrom impulse

,and the con sequence s i n the case could not have been fore

seen . I t i s a caut ion to men not to be precipi tate . I t prej udiced many ofh i s best friends agains t him , and no doubt caused himi n hi s later life muchregre t. Butnow that nearly half a century has passed

,he seems fairly ent i

tled , in the e st imation of all , to h i s place in the calendar fre e from re

proach,so far as thi s incident i s concerned, and the wr i ter knows of no

o ther that i s not greatly to hi s credi t .There i s another explanation which , at th is day when indulgence in

speculat ion as to motives for transactions so remote can do no harm ,may

serve to amuse or caution again s t the possible con sequence s of similarebull i t ion s . The admiral had been the frequent gue st of hi s young friendi n town and country, using his horses and carriage s and when the familywen t to Europe , begged him to use hi s carria ge in London , and gaveorders to that effect . I t so chanced that when about to be pre sented atcourt

,as there were many other Americans be side s to go w i th them

,i t

seemed the right momen t to use the carriage, whose panel s were , of course,emblazoned wi th S ir I saac’ s arm s . He did no t l ike i t , and took i t ratherind udgeon , but in this he of course made a mistake .What bears

,al so, some connection wi th the tran sact ion , if not pa rticu

la rly pert in ent , may in tere s t some Of our readers . Mr. Amory wa s actingat the Isle ofWight, as represen tat ive o f Colonel Hun ter, our Con sul , whohad gone over to France for h i s children , abou t whose safe ty there wa scause for alarm

,whenthe exiled King and hi s family having t aken refuge in

Ame rican ve ssel s , placed him self under th e protection of our Consulateflag at Cowes . There they remained for several week s, while the Engl i shCabine t consul ted as to how be st to receive them . During thi s period thevice-consul

,vi s i ting the King daily on the ship , having the family at hi s

house at Ryde,and occupying their time wi th excursion s about the i sland,

had an intere sting experience . He had earl ier travelled over Europe,known many of i t s celebri t ie s int imately, and wa s always excellent i n conversation

,and thus able to divert their grief. Sir I saac may have thought

th is an extravagance ; or, perhaps, wa s too much Of a L iberal in pol it icsto approve these civi l it ie s to a monarch so arbi trary .

While a gues t at my father’ s summer house at Newton , he found in

the pastor of the church there— P arson Homer— a h excel lent, l earned, bu ts omewhat e cce ntric clergyman , who had been h i s schoolmate at th e BostonLatin School . The parson

,who frequen tly came to dinner, wa s ap t t o be

a l it tl e l ong over h i s grace , to the cool ing of the soup . The renewal of

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58 THE LIFE OF

He wa s warmly at tached to Nan tucke t , where hi s ancestors and theirdescendants had dwe l t for so many generation s . H e visi ted the placeand became acquain ted wi th h i s kin sfolk, and in 1 8 26 appropriated twelvethousand dollars afterward increased t il l now aboutas a fund for a school for the in struction of the pos terity ofT ri stram. Thisinclude s nearly every nat ive-born child of the i sland

,be side s

,perhaps

,

thou sands in every S tate in the Union , who by future re sidence maycome wi thin i t s benefit s . The Academy stil l flouri shes

,though if our

present system of public in struct ion had then reached i t s pre sen t development

,hi s benefact ion s would probably have assumed another form.

Soon after his m ishaps, to which we have already alluded , when burnedout of the co tton ship when near Charl e ston , i n 1 8 29, he came to Boston ,and when some fre sh at tacks of h is painful di sorder induced by the ex

posu re permi t ted, he hastened back to England .

The Duke Of Clarence, Wi l l iam the Fourth, had succeeded hi s brotherGeorge on the throne . His long connection wi th the Navy attached tohim the oflicers who had grown Old wi th h imself. I t wa s said that whenthe King wa s urged to create new peers to carry the Reform Bill throughthe Lords, Sir I saac wa s high up on hi s l i s t as Earl of Magdalen . The

House of Lords gave in and vo ted for the Reform Bil l, and the proposednew peers were not created . Sir I saac did no t long survive hi s royal friend .

The 23d of June, 1 8 39, at the a ge of eighty, he d ied at Cheltenham ,i n

G loucestershire, and there he wa s buried. Lady Coffin preceded him tothe tomb on the 27th of January of that year . His brother

,General John

Coffin,died the year before , . his death having taken place June 1 2, 1 8 38 , in

New Brunswick .

Save when in his owncabin s afloat, or in his Official re sidence s in command of posts

,Sir I saac rarely enj oyed the privilege of a home of hi s own,

unle ss as such may be regarded hi s lodgings in London while i n P arl iamen t. He found a ready we lcome under the roofs of hi s friends and k insfolk . His sis te r, Mrs. Mundy, had a charming abode, Holly Bank , i nHampshire

,of which I caught a g l impse when passing i t s gate s, and

where ano ther brother of mine and hi s wife vi si ted her. He had knownher sons

,the Ba rwe lls, pleasantly in I ndia: He chanced to be presen t,

al so,at the ho tel a t Chel tenham when Sir I saac died . There , and at

Bath,where some of his cou sins re s ided , had been his frequen t re sort, and

there he had come to end hi s days n ear the family sepulchre .But I have already exceeded my limit ; much omit ted may find place in

some fu ture publicat ion . I have not aimed at eulogy or indulged in i llustra tion, but simply reci ted fact s that have come to me from diligen t study

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 59

of the subj ect,many of which had escaped prev ious investigation . The

memory of a Boston boy, who by din t of hi s ownnative energy at tain edthe highest rank in the Brit i sh navy, a generou s ben efactor whose work sst il l bear witn es s to the noble impul se that prompted them ,

thu s re scuedfromoblivion i n your publication s, may find in tere st ed readers no t onlyamong his numberless k insfolk , but even among a larger circl e of readers .

The engraving of S ir I saac which accompanie s thi s memoir i s takenfrom a portrai t by Gilbert Stuart, that formerly belonged to h i s cousin,Thomas C . Amory, on Franklin P lace, Boston , and in my earlie st recollect ion hung i n the parlor of the house of my aun t, Mrs. Amory

,the si ste r

of Admiral S ir Samuel Hood Linzee, cousinof Lords Hood and Bridport.I tnow forms part of the preciou s ance stral gallery of my cousin , Mr. Will iam Amory, of Beacon S tree t , Boston . The portrait i n the CoflinSchoolat Nantucke t of i t s founder, by Sir Wi l l iam Beechey, pre sent s Sir I saacat a later period of l ife .

60 THE LIFE OF

X I I I .

THE COFFIN COATS OF ARMS .

THE Coffins have always claimed coat-armor i n hered itary right. Thatbranch de scended fromNathaniel Coffin , father of Admiral S ir I saac, inheri t the right through the Admiral

’s gran t , and are unquestionably e h

t i tl ed to wear hi s coa t of arms , but thi s d iffers e ssent ially in i t s emblazonment from the more ancient ones .Authorit ie s upon Eng l i sh heraldry give, as belong ing to the Coffins of

Devon shire,a descript io n wh ich, in i t s combinat ion , i s unl ike any o ther

family bearings, and consist s of bezant s and cross-crossl et s .Whil e they differ as to order of arrangement and combination , th e

number of bezan t s i s n ever le ss than three nor more than four,and th e

cross-cros slet s vary from five upward to a senié e which i s an indefin i teconvenien t number.

The bezants are a roundle represent ing the ancien t gold coi n of Byzantium, curren t in England from the tenth cen tury to the t ime of Edward I I I .

,and wa s probably introduced in to coat-armor by the crusaders .

The whi te roundle exhibi ted upon Admiral Sir I saac’ s arms i s of s ilver,

and is u sually called a plate , al though there were silver bezan ts u sed asco in . The cro s s-cro ssl e t s are crosse s crossed on each arm .

The crest s and mot toe s are of quite modern orig in .

The s ix coat s of arms i n the name in “ Burke ’ s General Armory areas follows

1 . Coffin,Magdal en I slands, Gulf of S t. Lawrence , since of T i tl ey

Court,County Hereford , baronet . Azure , semée of crosse s crossle t, or

two baton s in sal tire , encircled wi th laurel branche s, gold, between threeplate s. Crest O r, the s tem of a ship or, a pigeon , wings endorsed , ar

gent, i n the beak a sprig of laurel , vert . Mo t to : “ Extan t recte facti sproemia . The se arms are l imi ted i n the gran t to Sir I saac Coflinand thede scendan ts Of hi s father, Nathaniel .

2 . Coffin , P ine , P ortlege , County Devon , temp . Wil l iam I . The presen t representative Of thi s most ancien t family, as wel l as of th e famil iesP ine of East Downe and P epys of Impington , i s the Rev. John P ine-Coflin,of P ortledge . Azure, semée of cro sse s crossle t, or ; three bezants quar

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

t e ring the arms of P ine , Downe , Kelway, Ilcombe, Win slade, Birt,Hond esmore , Apple ton , Gould , P enfound , and P epys. Cres t s : F irs t, amartlet

,azure

,charged on the breast w i th two bezants , a mulle t for differ

ence second,a pine tree proper. Motto “ I n tempe state floresco .

”

3 . Coffin , P ortland , Coun ty Dorse t . Argen t, a chevron betweenthree mulle t s

,pierced sable .

4 . Coffin , Somersetshire . Gule s,two bars embattled , or .

5 . Coffin , Somerse t shire . Argen t , three bezan ts and five crosse s crossle t

,or.6 . Coffyn. Azure

,four bezan t s with in five crosse s crossle t, or ; crest,

a bird,or

,between two cinque-fo il s, or, s talked and leaved , ver t.

Sir I saac’ s v i si t to Nan tucket,1 8 26, when he founded his school there,

wa s commemorated by a bron ze medal he had struck off onth e occas ion ,bearing an admirable effigy of T ri s tram in full l eng th , and in the graceful

garb of hi s period , on a base bearing the date 1 642. The effigy i s encircledwi th the in scrip t io n T ri stram Coffin , the firs t o f the race that se t tl ed inAmerica on the obverse four hands in fraternal grasp surrounded with theinjunctio n DO honor to h is name— be uni ted .

” At the same t ime hehad prin ted and widely distributed among the de scendant s of T ri s tram ahandsome broadside , relat ing in brief th e principal inciden t s Of h is li fe andof hi s origin as then known .

The broadside presen t s the arms of Tri s tram ,wi th the facsimile Of hi s

signature . Azure,fou r bezant s wi th in five crosse s cros sle t , or ; cres t , a

bird, or, between two cinque -fo il s,argen t , stalked and leaved, ver t .

These are sa id to have been the arm s of Sir Wi l l iam,who died i n 1 638 ,

and whose monument s t il l s tands at Standon,i n E ssex

,of which royal

manor he wa s high s teward . This i s the sixth coat of arms of th e Coflinsdescribed inthe General Armory

,

” and may have been taken from Wea

ver’ s Funeral Monuments,

”who g ive s the in script ion , or from “ The College

o f Arms . "

The arms of Sir I saac, g ran ted in1 80 4 , when created a barone t, also

on the broadside , have already been stated , being the firs t de scribed in the“ General Armory of th e name

,as g ivenabove .

I n T/ze New Eng land H'

z'

rforz’

ea l and Genea log ica l Reg z'

rfer for October, 1 8 8 1

, reprinted separately, i s an art icle en ti t led “ The Name andArmorial s o f the CoffinFamily

,by Mr. John Coffin Jone s Brown . The

article i s repl e te wi th information upon hi s subj ec t . The'

difference betwe en the arms of North Devon

,1 349 to 1 699, and South seems simply

the add it ion Of a fourth bezan t in chie f. Conj ecture s are no t proof,but

the sugge s t ion i s reasonable, that the fourth bezant, which is in the centre

62 THE LIFE OF

Chief, may have been adopted to distingui sh the Brixton branch from thatof P ortledge .

Before me are two memen tos of the second centenn ial o f the deathOf T ris tram ,

i n 1 8 8 1 — a plate and bowl, handsomely decorated in gold ,wi th the coat of arms of the South Devonshire Coffins emblazoned on each

,

with the four bezant s between the five cros ses crossle t , or, wi th this mot toP er tenebra s speramu s lumen de lumine . ” Thi s i s the motto of Hector

Coffin— perhap s adopted by him in some momen t of discouragement atfinding h is que st of the paren tage of T ri s tram

’ s grandfather, Nicholas, ona wrong scen t . I may be equally unfortunate ; but h is efforts and mine ,i f not att ended wi th succes s, may illumin e the path through the darknessto the truth .

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

XIV.

TUCKETT’S VISITATIONS OF DEVON,

P AGE 207.

64 THE LIFE OF

COFFIN DATES .

Richa rd, 1 1 00 ,1 327, county records. John Thoma sia , d . ofHa they.

S ir H ugo, of Combe Coffin, 1 1 89-

99. Wil liam (I. JohnCockementon.Sir Geoffry, Henry III. , 1 2 1 6—72 . Richa rd Al ice , d . of JohnS ambon.

S ir \VilliamPo le , of 386 P ortla g e . Wil liamRicha rd , 2 Knigh t fees of Robert the King’ s son. John E li/ a be th , co-d . ofP hil lippa Hingeston.Rich a rd , 2 Knigh t fees ofHenry Herring. James Ann, (1. of Sir Wm. Chudleigh .Richa rd , 24 E dwa rd I. , 1 296. Thoma s .

John, 8 E dwa rd H . , 1 3 1 5 . Richa rd W ilmo t, d . of Sir Richa rd Chudleigh .D a vid , 19 E dwa rd III.

,1 346. W i l liam, sonof a bove

Micha e l , 40 E dwa rd III. ,1 367. John Ma ry, d . of Rob. Ca ry, of Clove lly.

Wil ham. Richa rd .

OTHER MENT ION OF COFF IN .

Rich a rd , deed 1 254, Henry III.

Wil liam, lord ofAlwenter, 1 272, E dwa rd I.

S ir Richa rd , deed of E dwa rd I.Richa rd 1 3 1 1 .

rJ ohn 1 3 1 8 .

IRoger.

1La wrence.

Rich a rd .D a vid Thoma sia , 32 E dwa rd III.

,1 359.

D a vid, sonand heir ofD a vid,1 376 .

HEROLD’

S V I S ITAT ION OF DE VON, 1 620 , P . 64 .

Rich a rd Wilmot Chudleigh .E dwa rd .James Ma ry Cole .

John Ma ryCa ry.

Ma ry JohnWolla comb , 1 589.

P rudence B errie of B erne .

W ilmot W illiamA ddington Fa rrington,1 590 .

John Gra ce and Richa rd Berrie .

Humphrey, b . 1 605 , w a s ted his esta te .

Giles, b . 1 6 1 0 .

Nicho la s, b . 1 6 1 3 .

Richa rd , 1 5 89 E liza beth Loveis ,

Johnand Thoma sia , wife living, 1 427.

Richard , Sheriff of Devon, 2 Henry V I I I . , 1 5 1 1 .Richa rd , Sherifl'

ofDevon, 36 Cha rles II. , 1 683 .

John.WilliamMa rga re t, d . ofThoma s Gifl'

a rd .

E ldest son.JohnofHyde inNortham.Richa rd Honor, (1. E d . Pridea ux of P a dstow.

James, ofMa rkleigh .

E liza beth, b . 1 5 66, cl . 1 61 3 Wyke of Som.

John E liza be th, (1. HenryHa rding.Jane .

E liza be th .

Richa rd .Leonard .Edwa rd .

James .

Henry.

E dward .Wil liam.S evend a ugh tersJEMa ry, Ibbo t,

Christian, Julian, Ka therine.

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66 THE LIFE OF

XVI.

THE REFORMAT ION.

SIR WILLIAM COFF IN wa s born about 1 4 80 . The Brit i sh realm wa sthen all Cathol ic : bell

,book , and candle, high mass, and confessional s,

were paramount in chapel and church . Convent s and o ther monastic ihstitu tions, with the ir cloistered wall s and hidden ways , posse ssed a largeportion of i t s most fertile soil i t s most picturesque terr itory . Religion , al lthe more sincere and hones t for adversi ty

, grew corrup t wi th a pamperedprie sthood , lo s t the re spec t and confidence of the lai ty . Their love ofdomination and arbi trary exaction s created disaffection

,and paved the way

for a cros s no longer a symbol . The indulgence s sold by Leo the T enthto build S t. P eter’ s , glu t his ownextravagance and the greed of hi s favorite s,aroused Chris tendom to a sense of the universal degeneracy that made afarce of faith .

I f the motive s Of Henry the E igh th were no t of the pure s t, th e powerof the throne and the good sense of the people co-Operated to cast off ayoke become insupportable . England , in sular and enlightened, took al eading part in the Reformat ion . From our present d is tan t view, even t smus t have moved rapidly to con summate so great a revolutioni n so briefa period . Conservat ive minds clung wi th tenaci ty to their old fai th andin s ti tutions

,and there wa s so much in the new repugnant and repul s ive

that i t wa s only brought abou t amid great tr ibulat ion . Still,w ithin t hirty

years England, in 1 530 Cathol ic, became P rote stan t .The presence at court Of Sir Wil l iam Coflin, the intimate relat ion s be

tween him and Henry for twenty years,shown inthe beque st of his imple

ment s of the chase,of which they no doub t shared in the to il s and pleas

ure Often toge ther, the position he held at the coronationof AnnBoleyn ,g ive us reason to bel ieve that h is owntheological opinions coincided wi ththose of the King .

The bloated Bluebeard that occupies his n iche in hi story differs so essentia lly i n appearance and character from that k ingly form and chivalricspiri t

,that intel lectual expres sion and amiable disposition, that d istinguished

Henry when be moun ted the throne,that some apology seems call ed for in

taking any pride that Sir Wi lliamCoffin wa s his friend . Coffin died in1 538 , and the King had hardly entered upOnthat bloody careernow t e

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

garded wi th execration . I n hi s earl ier manhood few monarch s had been somuch beloved and re spected . But, thwart ed in hi s reasonable hopes o fdomestic happiness by a marriage not of hi s ownchoosing , he becamesoured

,arb itrary

,self-i ndulgen t . Still , the law of Engl and , that k ings can

do no wrong, i s apt to blind loyal subj ec t s to nice d is t inctions , so far as t espec ts them ; and the favors conferred on Coflinby the K ing may havemade h im le ss disposed to critici se .

He had married Lady Mannors , of Derbyshi re, for which coun ty, i n1 5 29, he wa s chosen Knigh t of th e Shire to P arl iamen t . Whil e on hi sway t o attend i t s se s s ion s , pass ing by a churchyard, he Observed near th eroad a mul ti tude of peopl e standing idle . I nquiring the cause , he wa s toldthat they had brought a corpse thi ther to be buried , but the prie s t refusedto do h is office unle s s they del ivered him the poorman ’s cow,

th e onlyquick good s he left , for a mortuary . Sir Wi l l iam sent for th e prie st

,and

required him to do hi s Office to the dead, who peremptorily refu sed unle s she had his mortuary firs t . Thereupon he ordered th e prie s t to be put in tothe poor man ’ s grave , and earth to be thrown in upon him ; and, as h est ill pers i s ted inhi s refusal, there wa s S ti l l more earth thrown in, unti l theobstinate prie st wa s e i ther altoge the r, or wel l-nigh , suffocated .

Now,thu s to handle a prie s t intho se days wa s a very audacious pro

ceeding bu t Sir Wi l l iam,with the favor h e had at court and the in tere st

he had in the House,diverted the storm . He so lively represen ted the

mischievous con sequence s of prie s t s’ arbitrarily demanding mortuarie s, thatthe then P arl iamen t, t aking i t in to the ir seriou s con sideration, prohibited

prie s t s fromexact ing more than from three shil l ings to t en , according toth e property left . Thi s act again st excess ive mor tuarie s i s class ed by thehistorians , wi th two more , as bring ing abou t the Reformation and England’ s declaration of independence of the P apa l throne . I t becomes ofsome importance a s an hi storical even t to be remembered . We mentioni t here as recal l ing s imilar incident s in the l ife Of T ri s tram , when he tookupon h imself the sol e re spon sibil i ty of saving the wreckage at Nan tucke tOf I saac, when he fough t with the Bra banders again s t Austria or save d theburning ship by forcing themenback t o their quarters.

68 THE LIFE OF

XVI I .

ALLEN COFFIN’S CALL OF TRISTRAM’S DESCENDANTSTO THE SECOND CENTENNIAL OF H IS DEATH IN

1 8 8 1 .

When I recen tly read the invitat ion of Mr. All e n Coffin,in s e [n

ga if ar , of Nantucket, for December 6 , 1 8 79, to the then proposed gathering of the race at Nan tucke t to commemorate the death of T ri s tram,

in1 68 1 , i t seemed so full of the informat ion the readers of the pre sen t publication might need, that I wrote to reque st him to permit me to in sert i twholly or in part . He generously consen ted . I n the faith that we haveall bu t one motive— to bring wi thin the reach of all of T ri s tram

’ s descendant s what sheds any addit ional light on hi s character and career— it i s herepre sen ted . I find i t difficul t to omit any part of i t

,unle ss what in o ther

forms has a lready found place.

A LEAF FROM THE LIFE OF MY GREAT -GRANDFATHER’S GREAT

GRANDFATHER .

BY ALLEN COFF IN.

WITH th e death of Edward th e Confesso r wa s practically terminatedthe Saxon dynasty of England. Wil liam

,Duke of Normandy

, whom Ed

ward had appointed hi s succes sor, landed at P even sey, on the a 8 th ofSeptember

,1 066 . He met Harold on the field near Hastings, and, after

a long battle , Harold fel l p i erced wi th an arrow, and hi s soldiers fled fromthe field panic ’ s tricken . The Norman conquest wa s thus achieved

,and

Wi ll iam the Conqueror soon afte r crowned king.

Accompanying Wi ll iamwa s an army of sixty thousand men , volun teersfrom adj acen t part s of the continen t

,who crowded to hi s camp at the

mouth of the D ive,eager to share in the vicissi tude s of the campaign . This

wa s a wonderfu l ly romantic a ge , andWi lliam wa s aided by many sovere ignsand prince s

,and a vast body of nobil i ty fromth e differen t kingdoms . Those

who accompanied the Conqueror became the baron s , and knights, ande squire s

,and sergean t s of feudal t ime s, and

,

i n the division s of the riches

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 69

of the conquered domain became proprie tor s of vas t e states, castl e s, a bbeys

,villages, and evenwhole towns .

There wa s one man among Wi l liam's conquering host in whom most o f

thi s large assembly wi l l ever have an abiding in tere s t. He wa s a generalof the army

,and his name wa s Richard Coffyn. From what province he

came,or what ance stry he boasted , or what l ife h e had pursued prior to

his adven turous campaign , are fact s which no friendly hand has ye t l iftedfromt he shrouds of oblivio n . He shared in the spoil s of the conquest

,

became a tenant of th e crown,and his name wa s wri t ten i n the Domesday

Book . All of the followers o fWi l l iam were noble i n right of the ir victoryand foreign birth, and the pari sh of Alwington , in the county of Devon ,appears to have been conferred upon him , wi th the t i tl e of Sir RichardCoffin, Knight, e tc . P ortledge wa s the Cofiinmanor, and , through a periodof more tha n eight centurie s , s treaming downt o the pre sent t ime , an unbroken l in e of inheri tance has been preserved.

I n the his tory’ of the County of Devon , in England , honorable mentioni s made of Sir E ll i s Coffin, Knigh t of C list and Inga rby, in the days ofKing John of Sir Richard Coffin

,of Alwington , i n the time of Henry I I .

of Sir Jeffrey Coffin' and Combe Coffinunder Henry I I I . , and numerouso ther knight ly descendant s during success ive reigns, 12111 the t ime of HenryVI I I . S ir Wi l l iamCoffin

,Sheriff of Devonshire, wa s highly preferred a t

the court of Henry VI I I . , and accompanied the king as one of the eighteenchosen by himona tou rnament inFrance in 1 5 1 9. He wa sMas ter of theHorse at the coronationof Anne Boleyn , and a gen tleman of the P rivyCouncil . He wa s al so High Steward of the Manor and L ibert ie s of S tandon ,County of Hertford . At his death he bequeathed to hi s royal master, KingHenry

,wi th whom he had been in e special grace and favor , all of his hawks,

and his best horse s and car t. As he left no i s sue , be conveyed the Manorof East Higginston, County of Devon, to hi s eldes t brother ’ s son , RichardCofi

’

in,Esq . ,

of P ortledge . Sir Will iam ’ s monument,i n S tandon Church

,

i s mentioned in Weever’ s Funeral Monument s ” (p .

Nicholas Coffin , of Brixton (one accoun t says Butler’ s P ari sh) , i n D ev

onshire , i n hi s wi ll, dated Sep tember 1 2, 1 6 1 3 , and proved November 3 ,1 6 1 3 , men tion s h i s wife Joan and son s P e te r, Nicholas, Tri s tram ,

John,

and daughter Anne . He wa s the grandfather to the emigran t to New England.

P e ter Coffin , of Brixton , i n hi s wi ll , dated December 1,1 627, and

proved March 1 3 , 1 628 , provided that hi s wife, Joan Thember, shal l haveposse ssion of the land during her life , and then the said property shall goto hi s son and heir, T ri s tram, “ who i s to be provided for according to his

70 THE LIFE OF

degre e and call ing .

” His son John i s to have certain property when hebecomes twen ty years of a ge . He mentions h is daughters Joan , Deborah

,Eunice , and Mary, and refers to his tenemen t in Butler

’ s P arishcalled Silferhay. He wa s th e fa ther of the emigrant .John Coffin, of Brixton , anuncle of the emigran t, who died w ithou t

i ssue,i n his wil l

,dated January 4 , 1 628

, and proved April 3 , 1 628 , a p

point s hi s nephew,Tris tramCoffin , hi s executor, and g ives legacie s to al l

of T ri stram ’ s si sters,al l under twe lve years of a ge .

I have been l ed to seek the cause of T ri s t ram ’ s removal to America,

but upon that subj ect the o rac le s are silen t and tongue s dumb . Wa s i tthat he might enj oy a larger re ligious l iberty , o r to escape persecut ion , orwa s i t the same love of adven ture that induced hi s ancestor, Sir RichardCoffin , to embark wi th the Duke of Normandy six centurie s before ? Le t

u s look at the contemporaneous h is tory of Engl and . We shal l find thatthe t ime which covers T r i s tram ’ s mature l ife in Engl and, about fifteenyears

,marks a mos t eventful period the momen t when intel lectual free

domwa s claimed unconditionally by Engl i shmen as an inal ienabl e righ t ,and wheneccle s ias t ical forms were no t spared by the revolut ion of thet imes .James I. , whose reign had beenadorned by Shakespeare and Bacon ,

died in 1 625 , when Tri s tramwa s twen ty years o ld . Charl e s I . had bee nupon the thron e but two years when Tris tram’ s father d ied. The P e tit ionof Right , in1 628 , sought to l imit the powers of the Crown , and the Kingsoon after aboli shed the P arl iament and e stabli shed the Sta r Chamber .P uritan ismwa s making rapid stride s , and large numbers of P u ri tan s werel eaving England. So great wa s the exodus that the King prohibi ted thei rdeparture

,and Hampden

,Pym, and Cromwel l were preven ted from leav

ing. About this t ime the Duke of Buckingham wa s assassinated . I n1 638 the Sco ts, to main tain their eccle sias t ical rights , took up arms again s tthe King, having formed the celebrated Solemn League and Covenan t,and sus tained the P arl iamen t in i t s opposi t io n to Charle s . The Earl ofStrafford and Archbishop of Can terbury, as chief advi se rs of the King, wereimpeached and beheaded (the former in 1 64 1 , and the lat ter inThe P re sbyterian s , who werenow a maj ori ty inthe Commons, procured theexclusion of Bishops from the House of Lords

,i n 1 64 1 , which wa s fol lowed

by an act in 1 643 en tire ly abol ishing Epi scopacy, so Charle s began to re

al ize that wi thou t Bishops there would be no King . Under th ese circumstance s the Lord P arl iament convened .

The irrepre ssible con fl ict be tween Charle s and th e P arl iament came toa cri si s i n 1 64 2, and in August of that year the royal standard wa s rai sed

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN ,BART . 71

at Nottingham . The King wa s generally supported by the nob il i ty, thel anded gentry, the High Church party, and the Cathol ic s and the P arl iamen t wa s sustain ed by the mercanti le andmidd le class e s , and the lower order of the great towns . Onwhich side of this confl ic t would T ri s tramCofl

‘inmost natural ly have gone P He wa s of the landed gen try, and, Ithink

,a High Churchman . Conformably to his father ’ s wil l, he wa s to be

provid ed for“ according to hi s degree and calling .

” He must therefore havehad a calling— a profession -he may have taken holy orders . He wa s unquest ionably a royal is t and a Cavalier, and the very year of the appeal toarms

,1 64 2, afte r the confl ict had been waged, Tri s tram Coffin , at the a ge

of thirty-seven,left all of hi s comfortabl e es tat e s in O ld England and em

barked for America, bringing wi th h im his wife and five small children , hi smother

,then aged fifty-e ight, and two unmarried si sters, and none of them

ever re turned . I believe that, having embraced the royal cause , he wa scompelled to leave England, and took wi th him all of h i s n ear relative sthat hi s valuabl e e state s at Dorse tsh ire and at Brixton , the tenemen ts i nButler’ s P arish

,men tioned in hi s father ’s and uncle's wi ll s, were seques

tra ted . That he wa s a leading spiri t i n the time of Charle s I. ,and proved

his loyal ty by unmistakable ac ts which rendered him obnoxious to theRoundheads and P arl iamen t fanatics, I have unshaken confidence .He wa s rich in England— he wa s otherwi se when landed in America .

He married Dion i s Steven s,of Brixton , County of Devon . He firs t settled

at Sal i sbury, Mass. , and the same year removed to Haverhi ll , where hi sname appears as a witne ss to an Indian deed of that place , dated November 1 5 , 1 64 2 . Three more children were born to them in Haverhill , andone at Newbury. Of their n ine children

,the las t born in'

England and thefirst born i n America died in infancy. All of the others married and hadchildren . He wa s l icensed to keep an inn at Newbury

,and a ferry acros s

the Merrimac River. He subsequently returned to Sal isbury and becamea county magi s trate .He came to Nan tucke t in 1 659 on a prospecting voyage , having ob

ta ined P eter Folger from Martha ’ s Vineyard as an interpre te r of the Indianlanguage . The company which purchased the i sland wa s formed at Sal i sbury after his re turn . His son, James Coffin, who came inthe boat withthe family of Thomas Macy

,which voyage Whi ttie r has immortal ized in

h is poem of The Exile s,

” had doub tle s s accompanied his fa ther on theformer voyage . All of the early deed s convey ing land in Nantucke t tothi s company recite firs t the name of Tri s tramCoflinas a gran tee . Heand

’

his sons at one time owned about one -fourth part of Nan tucke t,and

the whole of Tuckernuck .

THE LIFE OF

I do no t think that personal rel ig ious persecu tions had anything to dowi th his removal t o Nan tucke t, although he doubtle s s despi sed the intoleran t spiri t of E ssex Coun ty, which prompted the fl ights of RogerWill iams and Thomas Macy, no twi thstanding he wa s at the time a countymagi s trate .His place of re sidence inNantucke t i s described in a deed as being at

North amor Coppome t Harbor (Ca pa umP ond being probably open to thesea) , near the old shear-pen gate . He doubtle s s had other houses in thisv ic inity

, where a vil lage grew up around him,and a monument has re

cently been placed uponthe spo t suppo sed to have been hi s homestead .

He wa s th e first Chief Mag i s trate of the i sland, having been commissioned by Lord Lovelace , on the 29th of June, 1 671 ; and, toge therwith Thomas

'

Mayhew, who wa s the first Chief Mag i strate of Martha’ sVineyard

,and two associate s from each i sland

,const i tut ing a General

Court for the two i slands, enacted the first prohibitory liquor law of whichthe world has any record— a marvel of legal precisene ss and acumen .

He died in Nan tucke t, on the third day of October, A. D . 1 68 1,at the

age of seventy-six, and probably sleep s in the ancient burial-ground on thehill

,just ea st of Ma x cy

’s P ond .

The ea rliest ray of the goldend ayOntha t ha llowed spot is ca st

And the e vening suna s he lea ves the worldLooks k ind ly ontha t spo t la st . ”

One year from next October wil l occur th e second cen tenary of thedeath of T ri s tram Coffin . The mul ti tude of de scendant s al l over th eworld who claim him wi th pride as their common ance stor may desire torear a su i table monumen t to hi s memory in the land where he died

,and

where his l iberal , high-minded , and Chri st ian character,not in appropriatelycompared by Benj amin Franklin Folger w ith that ofWil l iam P enn

,found

such pract ical opportuni ty of expres sion in. his relat ions with the Indian s .I feel that I echo the sentiment s of the descendants in Nantucke t whenI invite all the other descendan ts to a grand reunion of the Coflinfamilyi n Nan tucke t

,in O ctober, 1 8 8 1 , to participate inexercise s commemorative

of a noble l i fe— the life of our common ancestor,T r istram Coffin

,the first

of his name in America .

PREPARATIONS IN 1 88 1 .

THE CLAN.-The CoflinReunion i s now so near at hand that we are

enabled to make some statements of fact concerning the same. The New

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE LIFE OF

names of it s publ i shers, famillia r a quarter of a century a go, has come tous

,bring ing a more defini te word . Al though over twenty years have

passed since I could claimto be a c itizen of your i sland, in tere s t inNant ucke t

,especially the Nan tucke t of th irty or forty years a go , has suffered

no diminu tion . Most peopl e have but one home,and le t them go where

they may,inthe faires t of lands even , in their hours of quie t reflection,

and especially when the shadows of their l ife beg in to leng then , th e sunseems to shine wi th greater brightne s s on the spo t where they passed theirch ildhood . So i t i s with our home on the I sle of the Sea .

"And the se

rumors of the Coffingathering have revived the old association s, andpeopled your homes and s treet s w i th those who once fil l ed them . Everyspot

,from Siascon se t to Ma dd a ket, and down to the Sou th Shore, has been

gone over

,and anecdo te , tradit ion , and legend have come up, perhap s to

be to ld to some l i tt l e company who were no t so f a vored as to be born onthe i sland

,bu t who never tire of hearing about i t.

By the way, your humble corre sponden t wa s asked a year of two a go tocontribute one of a course of lec tures g iven here for some local chari ty.

Havingoften spoken to the larger par t of the probable audience , and be

ing too much occupied to wr i te anythingnew, I tried to beg off . Can ’ tyou j ust talk about Nantucke t, as you have done in company P Why,the people here don’ t care about that . But youmust do something.

”

“ Well, i f you wi l l take the re sponsibil i ty, I wi l l g ive such a talk .

” Andso I did

.Jus t brushed up my his tory, you know, e specially of Revolu

tiona ry t ime s, t ell ing the people that no town contr ibuted more , negatively,byit s lo sse s and sufferings, to the cause of National freedomthan Nan

tucke t. Then I talked about the whale-fishery and sea - l ife . You see i f I

made mistake s there,or embellis/zea ’ a l ittle wlzere it wa smamma ry,

noone of my audience of lands-people knew i t. Then I told abou t she epshearin

g,and the good old Socie ty of Friend s, the mother church , and a

good one as we could find before the seeds of s trife came in and quenchedthe simple charit ie s of the beautifu l i sland life . Then I drew por traits, andto ld anecdote s of the no tables , Keziah Coffin and her country house ;Cousin E li zabe th Black, wi th her wondrous speech Franklin Fo lger, andothers

,ending wi th a quotat ion from VVhittier

’

s swee t ballad, The Exil e s ,so dear to a Nan tucke ter . The audience paid the tribute (not to the

speaker,but to the i sland and i ts people ) of profound a ttention , wi th mingled

seriousne ss and laughter, for an hour, and the expression i s st il l occasionally

given that the even ing on Nan tucke t wa s one of most enj oyable intere s t .

Thus i t i s everywhere . There seems to have been something intheorigi nal s tock

,or the environments, i n the bus iness, the social and religious

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

atmosphere,or the pure sea breeze s of the i sland

,which made i t a place

that every wanderer soon learns to be proud of ; and that you who are le ftto sustain the honors of th e old town may wel l think of wi th sati sfaction .

How well and nobly the town's declin e wa s striven again s t, especially after

the great fire . I s it not recorded in some book of light, t o the credi t ofmany

,both of those who have passed on and you who are left P And i t

almost seemed,when I read of the inaugurat io n of the rail road , that your

crowning had come . I confe ss to a laten t wi sh no t to have th e old- t imecustom s too much lo st i n the moderni sm s of a fashionabl e water ing-place .We can ge t these somewhere el se at Nantucket we want Nantucket . To

go to the South Shore in a car t-bodied wagon somehow seem smost natural . But that perhaps i s sentimen t only, and people can

’ t l ive on sent iment so I am glad to learn of improvemen t, and hOpe that you all whohave nobly striven for i t and tried to keep things up wil l r eap a reward .

Whether a clos ely occupied l ife wi l l allow me to be at your gathering i sye t uncertain . I shal l try for i t , anyway. I wanted to make sure

,through

your column s,if you wil l al low i t to an old friend of expressing in tere s t

in the reunion; and wi l l you pardon a suggest ion , which may be superflufluou s. At the cen tennial celebrations at Concord and Lexington , I n ot iced that those le s s familiar wi th the spot s of i n tere s t than we who l ivenear

,found great sat i sfaction i n looking at the placards which marked hi s

toric places and houses . To the Coffinfamily especially there are manysuch place s at Nantucket . Mary Starbuck, the “

great woman ,” daughter

of Tri stram Coffin , and wife of Nathaniel S tarbuck , wil l b e though t of withmuch in tere s t. Where her house stood i s generally known . I t may notbe so wel l known that th e house, moved down , i s s t il l s tanding and retaining much of i t s original form. The house of Wil l iam Rotch

,S r .

,i s also

standing, moved up from lower.

Main s tre e t,and in shape i s unchanged.

I have the authority of Frankl in Folger for these s tatemen t s . If you careto identify these p laces, and some o thers, and some islander canno t readilydo i t for you

,I shall be happy to write to you further . Won ’ t you wan t to

de signate the spo t“u p we st,

”which wa s th e birthplace of Dr. Frankl in’ s

mother and the first Friend s ’ burying-ground , whe re Mary Starbuck wa sburied ; and the house in town where Lucret ia Mo t t wa s born , and livedunti l she wa s twelve years old ; and the si te of Keziah (Miriam) Coflin’shouse , where, in the Revolution , she sold smuggl ed goods to the distres sedi slanders and the site of the old Friends ’ meet ing-house, corner o fMa inand P leasan t S tree t s— anunsightly s truc ture, guil tl e s s of paint or a rchitectural design , bu t to many of u s a‘ sacred spo t i n memory

,e specially at

“ quarterly mee ting t ime,

”when the immense building wa s crowded in

THE LIFE OF

every part wi th hushed and reveren t worshippers , and the sweet tones ofsome gifted messenger of the gospel (perhaps Eli zabeth Robinson , fromEngland) breath ed around the old oaken brace s and t imbers, holding uschildren in reverent awe P Shall we ever hear the like again P No butsome thing el se, and in some respect s something better, has come to takei t s place . Won ’ t you wan t to wri te large the old doggere l we used to repeat

,even if i t does depreciate the Husseys, one l ine of which i s,

The Coffins,no isy, fra ctiou s, lou d ,

no t omitt ing the las t s tanza, of which I only heard wi thi n the year, thatends

The Pinkh ams b ea t the d e vil.How they beat him ,

my esteemed friend B . , who sen t me the stanza, didno t inform me . And so we might go on , from North Shore to Newtown.I f I can do anything to promote the in teres t or enjoyment of your reunionit wi l l g ive me g reat pleasure .I n meeting here and there wi th ex-Nantucke ters who are in t ere s ted in

the i sland,even if t h ey g ive le s s sign of inte re s t than some others, i t has

seemed to u s that there i s a dearth of circulars or something t o tel l u s whatto do . I f i t b e no t much

,i t wil l have the meri t of a hearty regard for old

and new Nantucket . Do save us a copy of the albertype of Tri stramCoflin’s house, at Newbury. A friend of ours this way has a friend whohas been in the house in old Engl and from which the Coflin’s came . I t i snow about eight hundred years old, and is s t il l occupied and well pre served .

Thi s lady,who i s herself a de scendant of the Coffins

,has a view of the

house,which I hope to see . Can’ t you get copie s for your gathering ?

Hoping with some of my family to ride over the rail road , and in a cartbodied wagon,

” too,next month , and to take the hands of many whom I

u sed tomee t in o ther days,and stil l hold inma c/t esteem

,I am

Your s,

C. C . HUSSEY .

B ILLER ICA,July 28 , 1 88 1 .

[We are pleased to hear fromour former schoolfellow of over half acen tury a go ,

whom we had supposed had long since been gathered to hisfathers . Al though we were on e of the small boys, and he one of the bigone s at the opening of the Coffin School in 1 8 27, we wel l remember himas the a cknowled leader of the Chookie s in our snow-ball battle s wi ththe “ Newtowners

,

”which were carried on wi th such relentle ss fury in

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 77

those t imes. We would inform himthat there are sti l l qui te a number ofthe “ C l io boys ” l iving , and suppo se

‘

many of them would be wil ling toopen a corre spondence wi th him . Benj amin F. Coffin and Franklin Fo l

ger still reside on Nan tucke t Robert G . Coffin in San Francisco DavidP . Eldridge in Milford, Mass . ; Frederick A. Hussey i n Brookline, Mass. ,and Andrew J . Mortonin Boston . The re s t of th e boys are dead

,only

two of whom died at home, one fromsickne ss, and one— Edward Worthdrowned at Bran t P oin t .— EDS . ]

When the t ime arrived for the celebration , hundred s of the d escendant sof Tristram flocked to Nan tucke t from all over the con tinen t . They werecordial ly gree ted and warmly welcomed by their k indred belonging to theI sland . The weather did no t prove altogether propi tious. The winds blewcold and the rain fel l in torren t s. O ccasional in terval s of sun shine gavehope of permanen t clearing , but several of the promised repet i t ions of thefes tal ways of the earlie s t t imes were g iven up . Enough,

“however,of th e

p leasures prepared remained practicable, to render the event one long to beremembered .

WILLS .

WILL OF SIR ISA AC COFF IN.

(E x tra cted f romfire P rincipa l Reg istry of the P roba te, D ivorce, and Art

mira lty D ivisionof tlze H ig/zCou rt of j ustice, int/ze P rerog a tive Courtof Canterbury. )

THIS i s my las t Wi l l and Te s tament, hereby revoking all o thers I mayhave heretofore made . Having dispo sed of all my property in Englandthat I had in the funds to my neares t r elat ions

,named in a Deed of T ru st ,

I bequeath the Magdalen I slands, in the Gulf of S t . Lawrence, t o mynephew

,John Townsend Coffin , during the term of hi s natural l ife, then ,

a t hi s demise, to his son I saac T ri s tram Coflin, and hi s i ssue male . Shouldthe said I saac T ri stram Coffinleave no issue male

,then to hi s brothers in

succession and their male heirs fai l ing in male heirs i n that family I th enleave the said Magdalen I slands to my nephew Henry Edward Coflinandhi s male i ssue he fail ing to have issue male I then bequeath the said i sla nds to the sons of my late Cousin , Will iam Coffin , in succession , andthei r male he irs fai l ing i n male heirs of said Wi l l iam Coffin, then the islands to become the property of the son s of my Cousin Thomas Coffin , o fThree Rivers

,Lower Canada, in succession should they d ie and leave no

i ssue male,I then g ive the said Magdalen I slands to my Godson I saac

Campbel l Coffin,now an oflic er i n the East I ndia Company ’ s Service , and

his sons i n succession fail ing i n i ssue male from the said I saac Coffin , I

give the said I slands to hi s brother Sebrigh t Coffin should al l the se aboveenumerated Coflins die without i ssue male , then I leave the said I slandsto my nephew,

Commander Wi ll iam Barwel l and his i s sue male faili ng t ohave male heirs

,I then leave the said Magdalen I slands to the perso n whomay prove to be my Heir-a t-Law. As the I slan d s were granted to me formy service s during the American Wa r, 1 775

— 1 783 , and in Canada duringLord Dorchester

’s t ime

,I request they may remainas an Heir-Loom in

the family, and that whoever succeeds to them may assume and bear theArms of Coffin . My property a t Boston , N. America, under the care of

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

WilliamFoster O ti s, Esq .

,amounting by the las t account to El even thou

sand five hundred pounds, I desire may be left under hi s con trol until itamounts to Twen ty Thousand pounds, then the in tere st to be paid to JohnTownsend Coffin and the principal to I saac Tr is tram Coffin , he having nochildren

,then to his b rothers in success ion , on the demise of the Father

John Townsend Coffin fail ing in male i ssue, the Family of the said JohnTownsend Coffin . Then the Twen ty thou sand pounds to be d ivideda mong any female children the said John Townsend Coffinmay leave . Iname Charle s Earl e, Esq .

,Wil liam Earle, Esq .

,Hardman Earle , Esq . ,

Richard Earle , Esq . , Barriste r, and Wil l iam Fo ster O ti s, Esq . , of the C ityof Boston

,N. America, as my T rus tee s and Executors, request ing as an

o ld friend of their famil ie s they wil l forgive the troubl e I g ive them .

ISA AC COFF IN, Admiral .

Signed, sealed , and delivered in the presenceo f us

,the 1 sth day of March , 1 8 39.

JNO . S. CARDEN,Real Adm’l, Chel tenham .

S. MART IN COLQU ITT, R . N DO. Cheltenham .

Thi s i s a Codic il to my Wi ll. Unable to make a distributiono f my property among my relat ion s, from the difficul ty at tending my obtaining a rel ease from the Trustee s of the late Lady Coffin, I hereby leave to myT rustee s, named in my Wil l, wi th al l my funded property in the Three pr.Cent Consol s and reduced annui t ie s, the int ere s t, amounting to Seven hundred and thirty-eight pounds, to be paid to my nephew, John Town sendCoffin , at his death, the said intere s t to be paid to I saac T ri stram Coffinand his heirs lawfully begotten .

ISAAC COFFIN, Admiral.L . S .

Signed, sealed, and del ivered in the presenceof u s, the subscribing trus tee s .THOMA S ROE , Maj or H . E . 1 . CS

. S. ,

GEORGE D IXON, Vicar of Helmsley, Yorkshire .

Appeared personal ly, Samuel Mart in Colquit t, of the P ari sh of Che lt enham

,in the County of Glouces ter, Esquire, made oath that he i s on e

.Of the subscribed wi tne sse s to the las t Wil l and Te stamen t of S ir I saacCoffin

,late of Chel tenham , in th e County of Gloucester, Barone t, de

ceased, who died on the twen ty-third day of July las t, the said wil l bearing date the fifteenth day OfMarch , one thousand eight hundred and thirtynine . And he further made oath tha t he wa s pre sent at the execut ionof

THE LIFE OF

the said Will by the said deceased, and that the said Wil l wa s s igned atthe foo t or the end thereof in manner, asnow appears by the said Te sta tor,in the pre sence of thi s deponent and of John Surram Ga rden

,the other

wi tne s s there to subscribed , pre sen t at the same time, who se t and subscribed the ir names a s wit ne sses to the said wi ll in the pre sence of the saidTestator. S. MART IN COLQUITT, R.N.

Onthe 24 th day of December, 1 839, the said Samuel Mart in Colquit t,E squire, wa s duly sworn to the truth of the above Affidavi t before me,

FRANCIS CLOSE ,P erpetual Curate Of Chel tenham

,Commissioner.

Appeared personally Thomas Roe, of Chel tenham,i n th e County

of Glouces ter, E squire, and made oath that he is one of the subscribedwi tnesse s to the Codici l to the last wil l and Te stament of Sir I saacCoflin, late of Chel tenham , in the Coun ty of Gloucester, Barone t, deceased

,who died onthe twenty- th ird day of July las t, th e said Wi l l bear

ing dat e the F ifteenth day ofMarch , one thou sand eigh t hundred and thirtyn ine , and the said Codicil be ing wi thou t date . And he further made oaththat he wa s presen t at the execut ion of the said Codic il by the said deceased

,on o r about the Fifte en th or Twen tie th day of May las t , and he

further made oath that the said Codicil wa s signed at the end or foo tthereof in manner asnow appears by the said T es tator in the presen ce ofthis d eponent and of th e Reverend George D ixon , Clerk , the other subscribed wi tnes s thereto

,both pre sen t a t the same time

,who

’ se t and subscribed their name s as wi tne sses to the said Codici l in the presence o f thesaid T es tator . THOMA S ROE .

Onthe thirte en th day of January , 1 840 , the said Thomas Roe, Esq. ,

wa s duly swornto the truth of the aforesaid Affidavit before me,FRANC I S CLOSE,

P erpetual Curate of Chel tenham,Glouce stersh ire, Commrs.

P roved at London (wi th a Codicil) , 1 5 January, 1 840 , before the Judgeby the oath of Wil liamEarl e

,Esq .

,one of the Executors to whom admon

wa s granted, having been firs t sworn by Commissioner, duly to admin ister.P ower re served of making the l ike grant to Charle s Earle , HardmanEarle

,and Richard Earle, E squire s, and Wi lliam Foster O tis , the o ther

Executors when they shall apply for the same. Effect s under £2

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THE LIFE OF

SIR JOHN GAYER’

S WILL.

[j olt /z Gayer , of Bombay, Knight, in perfect heal th do make this mylas t Wi l l and T e stamen t . My Body to be In terred at the D iscretion ofmy hereafter named Executrix, and if I die in I ndia, in the tomb of myformer Wife . Debts discharged I give as followeth : Unto my Bro therWi ll iam Gayer, Of the I sland of Nan tucke t, One Hundred P ounds Sterl ing . Unto hi s son , Wi l l iam Gayer, my nephew,

now in the East Indie s,

E ight T housand P ounds Sterling . Unto the children Of Eldes t S i ster JaneLee , F ive Hundreds P ound Sterl ing, to be Equally d evided amongs tthem

,and in case of any of their Mortali ty, before Marriage, their part to

the Survivor. Unto the children of my Sister, Joan Hooper, Seven Hundred P ounds Sterling, to be Equally D ivided amongs t them, and in Case ofE i ther of their Mortal ity before Marriage their part to the Survivor . Unt o the children of my Sister, E l izabe th Matthews, Two Hundred P oundsSterling, t o b e Equally Devid ed amongs t them , e tc . Unto my Nie ceE lizabeth Gayer, Two Thousand P ounds Sterling to be kept in the handsof my Ex ec tu rix and Improved by her for her maintenance while she l ive sa S ingle l ife ; bu t if she Marry, at the Day of her Marriage , the P r incipaland what i s gained thereby, excep t so much as Defrays the Charge of herMain tenance before , i s al l to be paid her , but in Case of her Decease before Marriage, then that sumof Two Thou sand P ounds

, with what i sGained the reby I give to my Above Men tioned Nephew, Wi ll iam Gayer, t ob e forthwi th paid him , be sides the sum Of E ight Thousand P ounds beforeMen t ioned . Unto the chi ldren Of Robert Harper, my Deceased wife’ sBrother

,Three Hundred P ounds Sterl ing , to be Equally d evided amongs t

th em etc . Unto Joseph Harper, my Deceased wife’ s Brother

,if he be

al ive at the t ime of my Decease, One Hundred P ounds Sterl ing . Untothe children of my Cous in

,Mercy T hrogmorton, Four Hundred P ounds

S terling e tc . Unto th e children of my Cousin John Rither,deceased ,

Two Thousand P ounds Sterl ing etc . Unto my cousin,James Car,

Two Hundred P ounds Sterl ing , i n case he survive s me. Unto myCousin , E lizabeth Thrip , TenP ounds Sterling . Unto the children ofSis ter-in-Law

,Judith Batt in

,Two Hundred P ounds S terl ing, to be Equally

d evided Amongst them e tc . Unto my Cousin,Lucy hole

,fifty P ounds

S terl ing . Unto my Cousin, Rachel Dale, i f she be al ive at the t ime of myDecease

,TenP ounds S terl ing . Unto my loving Fr iend

,Mr. Thomas

Wooley, Secretary of the East India Company, Fifty P ounds Sterling.

Unto my loving Frie nd, Mr. Barnard Wiche,of Surrat, Fifty P ounds S ter

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 83

l ing .Unto Mr. Robert Luynfer, of Surrat , Fifty P ounds S terl ing , i f he be

al ive at the t ime of my Decease. I Dedicate and Devote to God,for the

Service of h i s Church , F ive Thousand Pounds Sterl ing, to be disposed ofby the person s hereafter ment ioned, t o young Student s for the Mini s tryand to such as are Newly En tered into the Sacred Office , to furn ish themw i th What [may be] Needful to make them most u seful i n the di schargeof that g reat t rus t for which they are devoted to God and i t

’s my Earnes tdesire that tho se persons amongst whomthi s sumshal l b e d i s tributed ,may be men Of Sober, Moderat e principle s, not incl ined to Dominat ion ,nor to unnece ssary Sepera tion, and to Express my mind more fully, Isay unto men of such P r inciple s as the late Reverend and truly WorthyMr. Richard Baxter wa s, i n whomthe P rimi t ive Spiri t Of holiness , Love ,and Moderat iondid brightly shine , from whose works I g ive God thanksI have rece ived great benefit. Now, the person s I most earnestly reques tinConj unction w ith my wife and Nephew Wil l iamGayer to undertake theD istributing of I have so solemnly devoted, are the Righ t Worshipfu ll

HenryAshurs t, Bant, and Mr. T homas Wooley, before ment ioned . I dofurther request that they wi l l al l b e as si sting to my Beloved Wi fe inth ewhol e management o f her affairs .I f my E state amounts to le ss than what i s i n my presen t books

,Ending

the last Of July,1 71 0 , when i t arrive s in England , amounting what i s in

Rupees at two shillings and Six pence to a Rupee , then I order that EveryLegacy here inment ioned shal l b e so much le s s in proportionas the whol eof my Es tate at the time of all i t s arr ival inEngland fall s Short of what i ti s i n Said bboks. The res t of my E stat e , whe ther Money , P lat e, Gold orSilver

,Jewel s

,Goods, Household Furniture

,wearing Appare l , Books,

Debts, Lands, and whatsoever, both Real and P ersonal,I Shall be pos

se ssed of at my decease,I give unto my wife , Dame Mary Gayer, whom I

make Sole Executrix of th is, my las t wil l and T estamen t . I n wi tne s sWhereof I have hereunto se t my hand and Seal inBombay Castle

, sth Of

October, 1 71 0 . JOHN GAYER.

In presence of u s,whe re no stampt paper i s procurable &c . , &c &c . ,

WILLIAM AISLABIE,W ILL I AM BARNES, ABRAHAM BARNOT, R ICHARD

WILMER, JOHN H ILL .

A true copy from the orig inal .Wi tnes se s, JOHN EATON DODSWORTH, JAMES OSBORNE

,W ILL I AM

GAYER, RICHARD BULL.

THE LIFE OF

W ILL OF WILLIAM GAYER, JUNR.

9th Nov.

, 1 71 2.

1 , WilliamGayer , Gentleman of y° P ari sh of Beckenham in Kent, being s ick , but of sound and dispo sing mind and memory, do make my las tw ill . P ayment of al l deb t s. To my elder s i ster

,Damari s Coffin

,one

half part . To my younger si ster, Dorcas Starbuck , y° o ther half of what

belong s to me inNew England . To my two s is ters afore said, two thou

sand pounds s terl ing, that i s, to each one thousand pounds . To myaun t

,Jane Lee , of P lymouth , Aunt E l izabeth Mat thews , Mr. Epiphamius

Holland [each] 1 00 . To Mr. George Musol e, £25 . T0 Mrs. MarthaDeacon

,Mrs. Abigail Fi tch [each] £ 1 0 0 . Remainder of my es tate to

my wife , E l izabeth Gayer, whomIza ppoint sole Executrix of th is my las tWi ll . WILLIAM GAYER.

I n y° presence of

SUSANNA HOLLAND, W ILLIAM NORMAN, ANDREW STODDART.

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

X IX .

CORRESPONDENCE.

WILLIAM GAYER, Esq . , came to this country from Devon shi re, England .

" He married Dorcas Starbuck, daughter of E lder Edward Starbuck ,by hi s wife, Katherine Reynolds, Of Wale s . He wa s an early se t tler ofNantucke t probably had been a ship-carpenter ; wa s a farmer and a Just ice of the P eace . I find by the records in th e office of our Secre tary ofStat e, that Captain John Gardner and Mr. Wil l iamGayer were repre sentatives to the General Court from Nantucke t onthe 8 th of June

,1 692, being

the first repre sentat ive s fromthat i sland after i t s t ran sfer from the ColonyOf New York to the P rovince of Massachuse tt s Bay. Will iam Gayer

,

Esq ., wa s one of five j udge s appointed by the Governor of Massachuse tt s,

in 1 704 , to try an Indian of Nantucke t , named Sabo, for the crime ofmurder.He lived ina double house, one and a half s torie s inheight, on Church

Stree t,in Nan tucke t

,occupied long s ince my firs t remembrance by de scend

ant s Ofhis daughter, Damari s Coffin. Th is house for a long t ime wa s considered the Olde s t o n the i sland, and I think wa s buil t in 1 68 2

,of sol id oa k

t imber,the growth of the i sland, and s trengthen ed wi th oak knee s, l ike a

ship , and very firmly. I t passed in to the hands of s trangers about 1 8 39 o r1 840 , and wa s takendown to g ive place to a modern dwelling hou se . A

bureau wi th a sort of book-case or cupboard on top— wh ich wa s made inO l iver Cromwel l ’ s t ime, and brought over by Wi l liamGayer, probably inCharles the Second ’s reign, belonged to my grandmother, a great-granddaughter OfWi l l iamGayer, Esq . I t wa s made in part of Engl i sh oak, colored a dark red , and ornamented wi th turned piece s of maple, paintedblack and nailed on and the top part

,or cupboard

,wa s i n part supported

by two maple urns, or short pillars, painted black . I t wa s altoge ther anunique but u seful piece of furn iture . Afte r the death of both of my grandparents

,it wa s placed inthe cabine t of curio sitie s of the Nantucke t Athe

neum,but wa s burned up in the great fire of 1 8 46, when that building , wi th

N. E . Gen. and Hist. Register, vol. xxx i. , pa ge 297.

THE LIFE OF

i t s fine coll ect ion s of books, South Sea she ll s, wa r weapons, etc . , wa s destroyed .

The following le tter i s from Jane Gayer, mother OfWil liam Gayer, Sr. ,from P lymouth , England , to her son , Wi ll iam Gayer, at Nan tucke t

Son,my deare st love to you and your wife , and to my grandch ildren ,

hoping that these few l ine s wil l find you in good heal th , as through mercy Ienj oy at this pre sen t wri t ing . I have sen t you two let ters by Mr. Blag, ofNew York , and I have sen t several l e t ters by other mean s, bu t I never rec eived none from you s ince the 1

St of O ctober, 1 692, bearing thi s date .Dear son

,I should reque st you that I might hear from you . Your brother

Sir John sailed from the down s the las t OfMay, wa s a 1 2 month gone, andal l h i s family wi th h im. A month after he wen t away he put in for theMadeira . I rece ived a l e t ter from himout of the Madeira ’s

,since I have

not heard from him,for there has not a ship come home from that place

s ince . I d id no t know whether there wa s a New Eng land man here or nobefore your uncle ’ s land come to me to know how to direc t a le t ter to youand that i s concerning Cousin Jane Bray

’ s busine ss . I shall be like a fool todouble my request to you that I might hear from you, and that I mightknow how to direc t my le t ters to you , for I do fear that they dono t comet o your hand. Your brother Hooper and hi s wife

,and your si s ter Marcy

,

desired to be remembered to you and yours. Your uncle s and aun tdoth the same my kind re spect s to Cousin Jan e Bray and her family no te l se at presen t but my prayers con stantly to the Lord for you

,remain

your loving mother, JANE GAYER.

From P lymouth , this 1 1 Jun e, 1 694 .

These for Mr. Wil liam Gayer .Liv ing on the I sland of Nan tu cket, New England .

NOTE .— I heard during the pre sent month , February, 1 8 77, from a

l ady,a descendan t of Wi l l iam Gayer, Esq .

, t hat when her mother wa svery young, some seventy years a go probably, news came to Nantucketthat a very large property in Eng land had been left for descendant s of theGayer family . Thomas Starbuck of Nantucke t wa s des irou s hi s son Joseph , a very smart busine s s man, should go to England to investigate thematter ; but he fel t he could not spare the time i t would require , so he,with h is older bro thers, Simeon and Levi , sen t over an agen t to Great Bri tain , who returned and reported he had not carried out sufficient documentsand there the case ended, as far as Nantucke t in teres t wa s concerned .

WILLIAM C . FOLGER.

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

(WilliamGayer, S en. , to ltis a’a ug/tter D ama ris Cofiin, wife of Capt.

Na tnaniel Caj in. )DAUGHTER DAMAR IS,

These may serve to inform you we are all we ll . When I wro te you yourmother Coffinwa s de signed to Boston by Land . I find I wa s mistaken .

She te ll s me since her in ten t wa s only to the main . Christ ian i s now ather grand ffa ther Coflins. Mr. Folger came home from Boston ye ste rdayand informs me that John Sowters bro ther came from England lately, andSays he spoke with your brother Wi l l iam G . i n the Eas t I ndie s Eighteenmonths since . If you have a convenien t opportun i ty I wi sh you wouldspeak wi th himand inquire what you can about Wil l iam . I hope you wil ll e t me hear from you as often as you have Opportuni ty for I tak e greatDelight to hear of your welfare so wi th my love to yourse lf and Childrenwith al l o ther friend s I remain your fath er

WILLIAM GAYER NANTUCKET Septr : 9 : 1 709.

Mr Nathaniel Coffin in l Cha rls Towne .

I n a le t ter from Thomas and James Hooper to Wil l iam Gayer, Nantucke t

,dated Stone house , near P lymouth, the 1 sth of February, 1 699

they say, “Mo ther de s ire s to be remembered un to all . His wife had beensick abou t s ix months . They had heard by hi s sonWi ll iam from their brotherWill iam, of Nantucke t ,no thing el se importan t .

(Mrs. D ama ris Goj in, wife of Capta inNa thaniel Cofiinancl a’a ugfiter of

PVil/iamGayer , E sq.,of Nantu cket, to iter uncle, S ir f onnGayer, t/zen

int/ze E a st Ind ies. )

BOSTON,N. E . 1 0 th Jan y

°1 71 1— 1 2.

MOST HOND UNCLE

I nclo sed i s a Copy of what my husband wro te you in hi s las t,advising

you of the death of my hond father y°lr brother Wi l liam Gayer Of the Dis

posit ion we had made of our son Wi ll iam&c to which refer you .

I have now before me the hon‘ of your kind le t ter of the 5mJan’ry1 709

— 1 0 . Directed to my deceased father.The Good Character and Hopeful State of my brother wi th you i s very

reviving and the more Comfortable seeing you Express an Incl inat ion tosend him for Brittain , and in hope s you wi l l soonfo llow himyourself. For

THE LIFE OF

which Blessing I daily E levate my P rayers to my God , That he wouldBless prosper and pro tect you both and send you to the height of yourde sire s there in i n heal th and safe ty .

My son goe s on hopefully wi th his book . I am in hopes that God wi l lbles s you and send you Safe to yo ’ nat ive Coun try

,and wi l l prepare my

boy to wai t on you t o your conten t and Sati sfact ion , whenever you pleaseto pu t your Commands on him So to do . My Good Husband hath metw ith hard Fortune in hi s las t voyage fromLi sbo a being taken and Carriedin to France, where he hath been a P ri soner a long t ime and wa s not released in last bu t wa s in hopes to procure hi s L iberty in a short timeand go for London from whence probably you may hear from him . He hasbeen from homenow for months and whenhe wi l l be se t free which i s uncertain . God direc t him and us for the best . I must conclude wi th myDuty to you my true re spect s to my brother if with you 81 am most sincerely Hond Uncle

Your mos t afl'

ec

NIECE .

(S ir Isa a c Coj into f ona Amory of B oston. )CHARLESTON, 1 2th M ay, 1 8 1 7.

MY DE AR COUS IN

Le t ters fromEngl and , received ye s terday, oblige me to leave this country much soone r than wa s expected

,for I fully in tended at least to pas s

a week wi th you, prior tomy departure . Inclo se to you the Secre t ofthe accumulation in the American Funds and beg your kind attention asfar as i s convenien t to my Magdalen I sland concerns .

The inclosed for Mes srs . T . Belcher and Wright will explain to youwhat my inten t ion s are , and the remi ttance s you may expect from thatQuarter .I t wi l l be n eces sary you should by some careful person remi t the cer

tifica tes of the s tock s to me under cover to Messrs. Thos . Wm. Earle sCo . ,

L iverpool, taking the proper precaut ion by notarial copie s or otherwi se as you may j udge best , and you may con tinue to draw on Messr. Thos .Coutts Co . , Strand, London , until th e interes t i n the 7 and 6 yrs . Cent s,amount s to three hundred sterl ing, a dd ing to i t any remittance you mayreceive from Mes sr s . Belcher and Wright, and the in tere st s of the Stockalready invested as i t becomes payable

,unt il further order .

The ro th Of January and ro th of July,one hundred and twen ty-five

pounds,are at each period , paid in to my bankers

' hands . The ro th of

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THE LIFE OF

LONDON, 3rd June, 1 8 1 8 .

My DEAR SIR

I n looking over some old charts, I found one of Boston Harbour which,though of an ancien t date , may stil l be correc t . I t shows the stat e of theTown , when the troops of Great Bri tain were shut up in i t, and mos t ofthe surrounding Fort s, Dorchester excepted .

I beg your acceptance of i t, and when placed in your office i t wi llserve to remind you of one who holds you in high estimation .

O ffer to your spouse and her lovely si ster my bes t wishes, and believeme alwa ys

,yours very truly,

ISAAC COFFIN.

CAPT. HULL.

LONDON, 1 6th April,1 8 1 9.

My DEAR SIR

My reputat ion wil l sink to the lowe st ebb, unless your effort s arecrowned wi th success relating to the Lobster. Should you fail to cros s theOceanagain , I long to try my luck by travel l ing in the Bay between CapeCod and Cape Ann. I lamen t the si tuation I hold prevent s me payingyou a vi si t th is Spring, as my Spiri t s were never be t ter, and the Gou tnotwit/tinita il .Remember me k indly to your spouse and all my relat ion s .

T ruly yours,

ISAAC COFFIN.

CAPTAIN HULL, Boston .

LONDON,May 20 th, 1 8 1 9.

My DE AR SIR ‘

Al low me to offer for your acceptance the T elegraph .

Wi th my new occupation l i t tle t ime i s left me to look into a SignalBook . Beside s

,there i s l i t tl e chance of ever be ing employed again , and

certainly none infighting agains t that coun try that gave me birth . If atyour l e isure moment s you can pick ou t anything that may be useful orornamental

,I shall be gratified .

Should one of those huge lobsters be forthcoming , remember that youdo not forget me . Inlooking over some papers the o ther day, I found

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

some chart s of Old Massachusett s, which may on e Of the se days find theirway to you .

Kind remembrance s to all friends.Always Yours Truly,

ISAAC COFFIN.

CAPTA IN I . HULL.

LONDON, 1 3 th July, 1 8 19.

MY DE AR SIR

The lobster you commit ted to the care Of Cap tain T racy arrived i n

good condit ion . I t i s con sidered a marvellous one here. Sti ll,my friend

,

Sir Joseph Banks,longs for one of n inety pounds, which your let ter speak s

of,so that you must be on the lookout s till for me ; and should you be

successful in procuring ano ther of uncommon Si ze, you must have the

goodness to forward i t, t aking care first to boil i t in strong pickle or brin ethen i t wi ll become dry i n the interior very soon , and bear being movedabout wi th greater facil i ty . 1 have been offered by some showmen alarge sum,

but I decl in e part ing wi th him , in tending i t for a Lady’ sMuseum . A Hodge-P odge , as you wi ll perceive i n the S ignal l ine, wa smonths since deposi ted wi th C01. Aspinwall ; but no opportunity hasoffered of sending i t before Captai n T racy

’ s arrival . I am too Old to pryinto moderncuriositie s,neve r mean ing to serve again again st friend or foe,but do as much good as I can for the ri s ing generation , who may, when Iam under ground , fight i t out in any way most convenien t to the part ies.I have thi s w i nter fired a sho tnow and then , avoiding close action , as

I soon observed,l ike our Dr. Sewel l ’ s Mee ting-House in Summer, many

members fast asleep during long and tediou s harangue s in the House ofCommons. I though t at first the sound of my ownvoice would havea larmed me before such an audience . Having had occasion oft en to a d

dre ssmy sh ip's company gave a facili ty at fir s t se t t ing Off, so that whenblowing hard I did no t broach to or get becalmed while del ive ring mysent imen t s to the House . Nothing wi ll g ive me moreplEa S

'

IIre than'

oncemore meeting my Old friends at Boston, a town I shal l eve r r egard as longa s my heart i s left to beat .K ind remembrance s to your spouse, Na t Amory, and al l the other

worthie s . Believe me alwaysVery Faithful lyYours,

ISAAC COFFIN.

CAPT. I . HULL.

THE LIFE OF

LONDON, 26 Jan . , 1 8 19.

MY D EAR SIR

There i s an old sea song I used to sing when creeping in Boston Bayduring the Revolutiona ry Wa r, i n the mon th s of January and February,What cannot be cured must be endured .

”

Many thanks for kind exertions . Send the Lobster when'

you can .My reputat ion wil l b e saved , though my money i s gone consign i t to thecare of your Con sul to whom I have wri t ten on the subj ect, and rememberin re turn if you do not command my service s ina way that I can be usefulto you i t wi ll b e your ownfaul t . Any i n tell igence you can afford me wil lb e most intere sting, especially on nautical or agricul tural subj ect s . I havet aken my seat in the House of Commons, and may one of these days bei nstigated to speak , but at pre sen t play the part of O rator Mum. ”Remember me kindly to your spouse, Na t Amory, and all friends inBoston

,bel ieving me always, my dear Captain ,

Very truly yours,

ISAAC COFFIN .

CAPTAIN ISA AC HULL, Naval Commissioner, Boston .

(To Genera l D ea rborn. )LEININGTON SPA

,23d July, 1 8 27.

MY DEAR SIR

P lease to accep t my thank s for your kind recollection of my wi she s.The T errapin you had the goodness to sendme i s in the safe custody of myfriend Wi ll iam Earle at L iverpool . As many more as you can pick up i nyour garden , except the small speckled ones and snappers, wil l be acceptable . The latte r are such de termined deserters tha t no bounty or kindt reatmen t wil l keep them loyal . I n early l ife I have seen a large sort wi tha rough bark resembl ing those brought by your whalers from the Ga llipa gosI slands . I beg you to presen t my kind regards to all my Bos tonfriends.Sink or swim I n ever can forge t the place of my nativity or cease to wi shprosperity to i t .

Ever my dear Sir truly yours,ISA AC COFFIN.

GENERAL DEARBORN .

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

(Genera l j olznCoj in, to S tep/zenD e B lois,of B oston. )

ST. JOHN ’

S, N. B .

,Feb . 1 0

,1 8 30 .

My DE AR STEPHEN

You arenow from variou s unforeseen and melancholy change s that havetaken place i n your circl e of very dear friends, left as almo st the sol e survivor. T ime and chance se t s al l adrift . I truly condol e wi th you andthem in the lo ss of so many excelle nt and worthy characters . Boston wi l ln ever be to me what i t has been— not that my affec tions has i n any degreeabated for those remain ing . Such however be ing the wil l of P rovidence ,we must submit wi th becoming pat ience and fort i tude, looking forward t othe time when it wil l be our turn to follow. I am passing the w int er inth is frozen reg ion , and what wi th good friends and good cheer, I am ,

thank P rovidence,enabled to carry a weather helm

,and maintain a tol er

able share of heal th . I hope th is may find you and Mrs. Deblo is andfamily enj oying heal th and comfort, and that al l my fri ends and relat ion sare doing the same . I hardly dare ask for our old and respectabl e friends

,

D r. and Mrs. Dexter ; to them and my frie nd Tomand wife wi th thei rbranches

,remember me in the k indes t terms al so to Mr. and Mrs. Davis

,

Mrs. Smith , and good li t tl e Maynard .

Does Mrs. T . C . Amory continue t o be your neighbor P To her andcharming family, w ith Mrs. Jona and their family, my kin d love and a ffec

t ion s .There i s al so Mr. John Amory, the worthy D octors of O ld T rin i ty

,

Gardiner Greene,wi th many other s that I love in my heart

,and i t give s

me pleasure to name them , and le t them know that I dono t forge t themand the comfort and grat ification I have enj oyed in a long and early a cquain tance and friendship . I am fond of th i s plain Old fash ion ed way ofkeeping al ive those che ering recoll ec t ion s of the pa s t happy days , and theabsen t . I am wi th them as far as the most kindly feel ings towards themcan be al lowed to exi s t . Have you any late account s from our worthycousin Na t and wi fe

,Capt . and Mrs. Derby, friends and associate s rare to

be me t wi th i n thi s or any o ther hemisphere . Are they al lowed to holdtheir appointment s under yournew P re siden t, whose vacil lat ing conducthas, I unders tand , changed the po sit ion o f many in pol it ic s . I nevermeddle wi th but I must say this much , I do no t envy your con sti tut ion and

government .Aside and between ourselve s

,what has induced Sir I saac to de sert the

country that has conferred on himthe rank and consequence henow en

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j oys P Were the American peopl e any way behind those of Great Britaini n nautical tactics, he might gain some applause . But I am sure everywe ll th ink ing man wi th you must condemn himfor de sert ing the countrythat has conferred on him even more thanhe had any right to expect orlook for. I amafraid hi s fair fame and Character wil l be much cloudedon the other side of the water from which he wil l n ever recover. I shouldno t b e surprised to hear hi s Maj es ty had struck hi s name out of the l i s t o fAdmiral s. The inj ury wi l l unfortunate ly extend to eve ry branch of hi sfamily connected wi th th e service in which we are al l engaged . I cannotbut say I amdeeply wounded at th is no t to say more incon siderate conduct . He must have taken leave of his senses . I t i s, however, too painfula subj ec t to dwel l on , and I shall conclude my dear cousin , wi th the kinde st regards to all the De Blo i s, and remainyour very at tached,

JOHN COFF IN.

JUNE , 1 719.

DEAR Coz

Yours I rece ived,w i th the half crown and am sorry you‘ should have

t roubled yourself about so small a mat ter that or any command shouldhave beenObserved wi thou t such punctuali ti e s . I ask a thousand pardonsfor my long silence ; my lady Duchess having been for some time indi sposed that I could no t gain th is opportun ity sooner. I have taken thefollowing accompts , fromthe worthie s of Devonshire, out of our officeand

,for those of Hants, they shew the exact arms of the seal O f my

formers , which wa s my father’ s , given by himto one Mr. James Coffin , ofChri s t Church

,Hants

,in whose posse ssioni t i s . I observe tho se Of Hants

spel l wi th the le t ter (y) , tho se of Devonshire, as you see . My shortness oft ime wi l l no t al low of any regard to s tops, and scarcely orthography, sobeg your excuse for al l faul ts , as wel l as a l ine j us t to sati sfy m e of yourrece ip t of this. Thi s day

,se ’nnight, or to-morrow,

hi s Grace in tend s forNot tingham,

Lancashire, and York ; so that if you have any commandst o communicate

,I shall be proud to bear them and am with al l re spect

(my mother and sister’ s service s at tending you) ,Madam

,Your mos t humble servan t,

R ICHARD COFFYN.

For MRS . MARY COFFIN,at RamsdonHeath , i n Ess ex .

[ARMS .] ,

FLOR. ,AD . 1 533 .

R . R. HEN. 8 .

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

These l et ters afford some part ial gl impse of the wr i ters, and the t ime sin which they l ived . They are pre sen ted in connection wi th the memoirs ofSir I saac

,that hi s kinsfolk or col lectors of autographs who posse s s any l et ter s

of hi s own, or which may shed ligh t onhi s career, may be dispo sed to sendthe orig inals or copie s to some central and acce ssible repos itory, wherethey can be kept together for the benefit of o ther generations. The fire

proof vaul t s o f the New England Genealogical and H istorical Socie ty, 1 8

Somerse t S tree t, in Boston , where he wa s born , are sugge sted as a fitt ingP lace .

THE COFFIN SCHOOLS .

The l e t ter to h is cousin , p . 8 8 , shows that Sir I saac ha d determined to establish in Massachuset t s a system of nautical schools— one for Boston , onefor Newburyport, and ano ther lat er at Nantucke t . Having had occasion tolearn

,when in our ci ty council and on our school board, how very general

an impression then exi sted of the importan ce of thu s building up our commercia l marin e , i t seemed due to the memory of Sir I saac to compri se inthi s memoir th e ske tch of what he in tended his school s should be . Mr.

Folger, who posse s ses what seem s a copy of the original draught of a wi l lof h i s

,i n wh ich he had himself se t forth his plan , permit s me to use i t.

The admiral , from hi s ownexperience as a mid shipman and forty years i nservice, more or le ss act ive i n the navy, had an experience which g ive svalue to his ideas of nautical educat ion .

The C l io wa s bought, equipped , and used some years, and no doubt educa ted many excelle nt seamen . His kin sman , Hector, of th e Newburyportbranch of the Coffins, wa s i nmany ways wel l fit t ed to take charge. I twi l l be seen that tenyears after the inception of the plan , the Clio wa s s ti l lemployed in the task . I t involved more co st than wa s con templated , andwa s g iven up about the t ime Sir I saac founded the Coffin school at Nantucke t

, which , wi th mean s largely accumulated , i s in a full career of usefuln es s, though somewhat modified in i ts methods and scope from what thefounder contemplated .

The plan for the nautical school s i s thu s se t forth i n the wi ll, revoked,if i t s til l existed , when he made hi s last wi l l the year that h e died .

THIS IS THE LA ST W ILL AND TE STAMENT OF ME, SIR ISA AC COFF IN,

BARONET, an Admiral i n the service of hi s Maj esty George the Fourth ,King of the United Kingdom of Great Britianand Irel and.

I direct al l my just debts and funeral expenses,and the cost s and Charge s

o f proving thi s my wil l, to b e paid . And holding i n grateful remembrancethe manifold bl e ssing s I have derived from the principle s in st ill ed into mewhile at Boston

,i n the State of Massachuse tt s

,th e place of my nat ivity,

and feeling that the success I have experienced in thi s l ife i s mainly to be

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who shal l inth e opinion of the visi t ors become incapable or unfit byreason Of a ge, infirmity, or any other cause to discharge the dutie s of hi so ffice .

ItemI do order and request my Executors hereinafter named,as soon

as may be after my decease , to pay over, del iver, assign , and t ran sfer tothe said T rustee s all my said personal e state here in above bequeathed tothe said T rustee s, to be held by them upon the trus ts and for the purpose sfollowing that i s to say all that part of my said e stat e which may at thet ime of my decease be inve sted in the Briti sh funds to be kep t to a c cumul ate by invest ing t he in tere s t from the t ime in the l ike s tock , and addingi t to the principal

,for sixty years after my decease, if the rule s Of law or

equity wil l allow i t o therwi se , for any le ss time than sixty years that shal lbe allowabl e ; and if from any cause i t should become impracticable or

greatly disadvan tageous to the said e s tabli shment to keep the last-mentioned part of my estat e inve sted as afore said i n the Briti sh funds, thenI authorise the said Trustee s, wi th the consen t and approbation of the saidvi si tors

,t o withdraw the whol e of said monie s from the Briti sh funds

,and

inve st th e same in other stocks or funds, or inreal e s tate , o r put the sameout at inte re st to be accumulated as afore said, as they shall think bes t forthe e s tabl ishment ; and in e ither case, when the said fund shall cease tob e accumulated as aforesaid

,whether by force of the above-wri t ten l imita

t ion or o f the rule s of law, i t shal l be appropriated , toge ther wi th the otherproperty here in bequeathed to the said Trustee s, to the maintenance Of th esaid school s

,as here inafter provided ; and as to the re sidue of my said

estate,bequeathed as aforesaid (as al so the part thereof las t above men

tioned , when the said trust for accumulation Shall cease) , the said T rustee sShal l from t ime to time invest the same in any stock s or funds , or in reale s tate

,or put the same out at in tere st, as Shal l be warranted and allowed

by law,and shall appear to be secure and mos t for the advan tage Of the

said es tabli shment and if i t shal l hereafter appear to the said Visitors andT rustee s that the property herein given to the said T rus tee s can be bettermanaged and secured and the purpose s .of thi s my wi ll be bet ter at tained ,by an incorporation of the said Trustee s and Visi tors, or e i ther Of them, Ido hereby

,so far as in me lies

,assent to such incorporation , and do request

that the same may be granted accordingly by the competen t authori ty ofthe said State of Massachuse t ts on the appl ication of the said Visitors andT rustees . And the said T rustee s shal l have the care and immediate oversight Of th e said school s, and may make all n ecessary and proper rule s andregulation s for the discipl ine and in struct ion and the general governmentthereof

,provided they be no t inconsis tent with the regulations in that be

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 99

half con tained in thi s my will , and al l such rule s and regulation s shal l beinful l force and operat ion unt il repealed by the said Visi tors .

Item: I w il l and direc t that each Of such school s shal l be on the following plan and Foundat ion, viz . : Each to be called “ Sir I saac Coflin’s School .”One of such school s, being the school to be firs t e stabl i shed, t o be at Bo ston

,insuch a si tuation that the scholars may be near the water-s ide and

have ready acces s to the Harbour . The school t o consi s t of twen ty- fourscholars ; twelve of them ,

if so many may be found,are to be the male de

scend ants, deriving their descen t through male s of the said Tris tram Coffin,and of said P eter Coffin , re spect ively, or one of them , and to bear, or beforeen trance in to the school, to take and assume the name of Coflin. If malerelations

,deriving their pedigre e through males, should no t be found , then

’

descendan t s by the female line may be chosen,and they to assume and

bear and writ e the name Of Coffin before they en ter in to th e school . AndI direct that such twelve scholar s Of each school shal l be fed , clo thed, andlodged ou t of the income of the funds of th e establ ishmen t . And I direc tthat three masters be appoin ted for each school, viz. a Master of a Ship

,

a Mathematical Mas ter, and a Drawing Maste r, each to be of good Moral sand reputat ionand wel l qual ified for h is departmen t . Such three person swil l , i n my humble j udgmen t, be sufficien t t o prepare the boy s for the professionthey are designed to follow. And I direc t that the remainingtwelve boys of the school at Boston shall be selec ted from the son s of hones t and industr ious inhabitan t s of Boston who may be desirou s of breedingup their sons for a naut ical l ife . And i t i s further my wi ll that the son s ofthe poorest Ci t i z en s shal l be preferred, and that no boy Shal l be eligibl ewho shal l have any bodily deformity, or who shall no t be of a sound constitu tion

,or who shall no t have had the small-pox, or have been vaccinated .

I t i s further my wil l that no boy shal l b e admitted un til he shall have a tta ined the a ge of fourteen years, and that each boy should be able to read,and al so to wri te a leg ible hand , and have a competant knowl edge OfArithmetic, and be of Christ ian persuasion, and if a clas sical scholar, he i s onthat account to be ent itl ed ca eteris pa ribus to preference . Each boy shalll eave the school at the a ge Of eighteen . And I direct that the Ship Mas ter

,

Mathemat ical Master,and Drawing Mast er should re spect ively be native

ci ti zen s of Mas sachuse tt s .Item: As my said property may not be su flicient to found the three

school s to commence at the same time,I d irec t the school at Boston to be

first e stablished, and as the funds accumula t e , t o form the second of suche stabli shmen ts at Newbu ry P ort . And , as future funds accumulat e, t oform the third and last of such establishme nts at Nan tucke t . And I direct

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that each of such school s shal l be conducted on similar plans,and each

school to be l imited to the number of twen ty-four boys, and al l the boysbeyond the twe lve of the Coffin family to be chosen by the T rustee s ou tof the re spect ive Towns in which such schools are to be e stabl ished andon failure of that number

,then to be selected from any other part of the

State of Massachuset ts . But this shall no t prevent the T rustees from a d

mitting addit ional scholars o n payment of such sums for their tuit ion asthe T rustee s shal l pre scribe , when i t can be done wi thout inj ury to thee stabl i shmen t . And

,whereas the branches of the family of the said Tri stram

Coffin and P eter Coffin are spread over the Continen t of North Americaand Europe, and are my relations, I direct that any of them ,

and of whatever country they may be nat ives, shall forever be eligible to be placedin each of the said school s, the number of twelve such relation s beingalways en ti tl ed to the preference to be scholars on each of such found at ion s when of a proper a ge , and if such relat ion s can be traced and thesaid T rustees shall have the exclu sive right and power of cert ifying -th efact of descent and right of el igib il i ty . And I direct that for the admis sionof each boy

,-anappl icat ion shal l be made to the said Trustee s three calen

dar month s before he can be admi t ted upon any vacancy ; and that theday of admi ss ion shall be the sixteen th of May in every year (being theann iversary of my birthday). And I direc t that no candidate shall beadmi tted unle s s a phys ic ian and surgeon , to be appointed by the said Tru ste es, shall cert ify to them , after due examination , that such candidate i s,as to bodily heal th

,fit for the l ife of a Sailor. And I direc t that

,as between

differen t appl icant s for admission , the saidTrus te e s, or the maj or part of them ,

Shall ha ve the selectio n and choice , and that proximity of blood among person s o f the sirname, or being de scendants from the said Tristram Coffin andP eter Coffin , re spectively , shal l no t confer any right of preference . AndI d irect that , adj acent to each school , a house should, i f i t be d eemedexpedien t

,be obtained by purchase or hiring on lease , and furnished for

the re sidence of the Ship-Mas te r of each school . And I direct that th eShip-Master for each School shall have the direction , care, and su perintendence of the said boys on that foundation to which he shal l be at tached

,

and of their board and lodg ing, and his board and lodging grat is in th esame house . And I direct that h is accounts of expenditure for boardand lodging shal l be submitted to the annual in spection of the Trustee sand that the T rustee s (should there be occasion ) may, wi th the as sen tof the Visitors

,remove any of the said Masters for misconduct or wan t

of qual ificat ion.Item: For promoting the welfare of the said establi shmen t, I direct

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THE LIFE OF

exertion wi th pleasure . And I direct that each of the scholars shall l earnto swim ,

and each acquire a knowledge of the following t rades or call ingsthat i s to say : Ship -building, caulking, rope-making, block-making, mastmaking, boat-build ing, Coopering, house-carpenter

’ s and j oiner’ s work,

baking, blacksmith’s work

,cutting andmaking clothes , knit t ing, making

net s of al l kinds, mixing paint s and pain ting, the art Of cooking i n al l i t sbranche s, the art of slaughtering an imal s wi th due economy, al so of preserving meat by pickl ing, sal ting, or smoking . I also direc t that muske t sbe provided and kep t up, t o belong t o each school , that the boys of th efirst clas s may be exerci sed by the Ship-Master, a t such time as he maythink mos t convenient , i n firing at a mark , and such gun s always to b ecleaned and put by by the scholars Of the said class. And I direc t tha tthe scholars be taugh t the use of the backsword, the art of gunnery, and firelock exercise , and be at l iberty to amuse themselve s at proper times wi thathle tic games , such as cricke t, foo t-ball, wre s tl ing , at the discre tion of th eShip-Master and Mathematical Master , one of whom i s always to be in a tt endance onthe scholars as their charge . And I wi l l and direct that eachboy shall be at hi s studie s at five o’clock in the morning in th e summer,and at s ix O ’ clock in the morning in the winter . The scholars to b e a tbreakfast a t seven o’clock in the summer

,and at eigh t o

’ clock in thew in ter ; and w in ter i s to b e reckoned to commence from the first day ofNovember and to end on the thirtieth day of April . The boys to dine atone O

’clock i n the summer, and to be allowed one hour and a half for th einterval between schoo l ; to d ine i n win ter at on e o

’clock,and to be

allowed one hour be tween school,and to have two half-hol idays in each

week , commencing fromone o’clock ; th e boys on the foundat ion whoshall n ot have any relat ion s in town , t o b e regulated as to their absence bythe Ship-Master and all the boys to sup in win ter and summer at eigh to’ clock and be inbed bynine . The i r food to consis t of r ice, Indian meal ,and bread

,wi th milk and molasse s or sugar, for breakfast ; mutton , beef,

pork,and fish , w i th po tatoes an d other vege tables and soups, according t o

th e j udgment of the Ship-Master . for dinn er, and in such proportion s asmaybe equal to the several want s Of th e boys , avoiding waste and profusion .

The boys to have for supper the same kind of food as for breakfast .ItemI wil l and direct that the said T ruste e s shall visi t and examin e

the said school in Boston at least four t imes a year, and Oftener if theythink proper and I do request that the said Visitors j oi n in such examinat ion at leas t once a year ; and I further au thorize and request th e said Visitors to depute and appoin t th e re spective School Committees , or Selectmen

,for the time being, of the said towns of Nantucke t and Newbury

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART .

P ort,or such o ther person s as the Visitors shall nominate, t o make a l ik e

visi tationand examination of the school s in those towns re spectively,and

to report their observation s to the said Vis itors, i n order that al l defect s inthe course of discipl ine and in s truc tion i n the said three school s may bediscovered and correc ted , and that such improvemen ts may be madethere in

,by the said T rustees and Visitors , as they shall j udge proper, and

no t inconsisten t wi th the general obj ec t and plan of the school s as expre ssedin this my Wi ll . And in case Of the misconduct of any scholar which canno t b e sufficiently pun ished or repre ssed by the ordinary di scipl in e of theschool

,the T rus tee s may, on complain t by the Mathematical Master or

Ship-Master, inquire into the same , and , if they th ink proper, admonish th escholar ; and on a second complain t, they may sentence himto a short sol itary confinemen t and if thi s should prove inefficien t, such boymay be expe lled or any boy may be expel led in the first instance for any aggravatedoffence tha t shows him to be wholly unworthy of enj oying the benefit s o fthe school and no boy once expel l ed shal l ever be rein stated .

Item: As'

the Lancasterian or Bel l system of education has,i n most

coun trie s. been found very beneficial , I should wi sh the school s to be regulated as nearly as po ssible on that plan , or any improvement thereon . AndI direc t that in each school there may be four classe s, and the boy mostconspicuou s for talen t s and proficiency in each class to be placed at thehead of that class a s a monitor. Each boy of the sen io r to have a boy ofthe second clas s to in struct , and each boy of the second class to have oneof the boys of the th ird clas s to in struc t, and each boy of the third clas s toh ave a boy of the fourth clas s to in struct . By these regulat ion s knowledgewil l be rapid ly diffused , and the education of the young men sooner com

p le ted . I wi sh the boys to be in every respect as well qualified in mathema tica l and astronomical knowl edge as the scholars at the Naval Col legeat P ortsmouth , in England, are qual ified , and to complete th e l ike plan as i sob served in that academy. And I wil l and direct that each MathematicalMaster

,in addit ion to hi s o ther qual ificat ions

,should be competen t to give

lecture s on the several heads of natural philo sophy,namely

,pneumatics

,

hydraul ic s , opt ic s , mechan ics, e lectrici ty, astronomy, geology, geographywith the use of the globes and that a phil osoph ical apparatus should beprovided at the expense o f each e stabli shmen t . And 1 d irect that eachschool should be provided wi th Ree ’ s Encyclopaedia , prin ted and publi shedin America

,and a competen t number of books which treat or may treat on

professional matte rs . I direc t also that model s of a ship,brig, snow

schooner, and sloop be provided in each school , and that the boy s may bepracti sed in rigg ing and unrigging the same during the win ter. And I

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recommend that Shops be buil tnear the school wherein th e differen t trade senumerated for the boys to l earn may be taught . I al so direc t tha tArrOwsmith ’s Mercator

’ s chart of the world , and spherical chart , t ogether wi thmaps of the four quarters of the globe , should be hung up on springs in eachschool

,so that ready acce ss can be had to the maps ; and tha t a pai r of

globe s should be provided for each school . And I d irec t that, when ei ther

of the said school s should be complete, and the boys of the senior classbe about to leave i t, an examinat ion should take place touching thei rabil i tie s, when all the Selectmen and Ma g i strates, Captain s and O fficers ofthe United State s Navy re siding at Boston , Newbury P ort, or Nan tucket ,and respectable Masters of ship s should , by public advert i sement, be invitedto at tend . And after such examination I d irec t that each boy

,on leaving

th e school,should , if meri ted , have a mark of approbation , i. e.

,the firs t

boy a silver medal , and I direc t that the si lver medal shall have engravedon one side a ship compl et ely rigged wi th a motto, I aspire t o command

,

” and on the other side God ismy Guide, ” w ith a wreath of laureland a sextan t the second boy a sextant ; the third boy a quadran t thefourth boy a case of mathematical in strument s ; the fifth boy a treati se onNavigation th e sixth boy the book called

“ A Coasting P ilo t ,” or the best

subst itu te for i t and if there be any more , th e seventh boy a fishing-l in eof sixty fathoms with lead and six cod-hooks ; th e eighth boy a ches t for h i sclothe s ; the n inth boy a Gunter

’ s scale and a pair of compas se s,and each

of the others a j ack -knife each boy al so to have a Bible,and a cert ificate ,

signed by th e Ship-Ma st er and the Mathemat ical Master,that he wa s edu

c a ted at Sir I saa c Coffin’s School . And I direc t that a proper book bekept by each Ship-Master by way of regi stry of the names of a ll the scholars ,stating the ir ages and their re spect ive proficiency in the sciences taught ateach school such book , together wi th the plan s and drawings of the boyswho may excel , to be preserved in the library of the school . And i t i s mydirection that the Ship-Mas ter of each school shal l b e th irty years of a gebefore he shall be qual ified to conduct the affairs of th e e stabl i shment

,and

shall not be elig ibl e after the a ge of forty-five years and that hemay, i f h ethink fit

,or be required by the T ruste e s to , ret ire at any time after the a ge

of sixty,wi th an annuity for h is l ife of fifty pounds s terl ing per annum. And

that the Mathemat ical Master shall not be admitted after the a ge of thirtyyears

,and may retire at any time after six ty years

,if he should so desire , or

be required as aforesaid,w i th an annuity of fifty pounds for hi s l ife . The

Drawing-Master to be admitted at any a ge be tween twen ty-one and fortyfive years, and may re tire at any time after sixty, if he should so desire o rb e so required, wi th an annui ty for his life of forty pounds per annum .

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THE LIFE OF

BOSTON, 1 6 th Sept,1 8 29.

MY DE AR SIR

NO even t of my life has ever afforded me more pleasure than my latevisi t t o Nantu cke t— and as you have, from the commencemen t of my effort sto form the e stabl ishmen t for our young relation s , mainly contributedthere to , I beg once more to offer you my bes t thanks.But for you , probably, we shouldnever have wi tne ssed the affecting and

grat ifying exhibit ion of the Children at the seminary .

You wil l hear I have taken much intere st in the equipmen t of the Brig,g iving the boys pl en ty o f pumpkins , squashes, apple s, and good advice .They go to their work wi th a ltea rty good w ill. I pray God they may make

good men . They cl ear ou t thi s day, and sai l to-morrow. L i t t le or no gouts ince we parted . I s tar t for

,

New York to-morrow. Early. in November

go t o Norfolk , thence to South Carol ina . Kind regards to your family,the T rustee s, your son , and the children , and a ll relat ions .

Ever sincerely yours,

WM. COFF IN,ESQ. (Signed ) ISA AC COFFIN.

The nautical school s involving too large an expenditure, and having, ash i s bro ther John wri te s h is cousin Stephen Deblois, provoked cri t ic ism athome

,Sir I saac directed hi s at ten tion to establi shing a school at Nan tucke t.

Thi s st il l exist s, well endowed . I t s pupils, once two or three hundred , arenotnow confined to the de scendants ofT r istram . I t i s said of this school thati t co st Sir I saac an earl dom , bu t the remark applie s wi th more l ikel ihoodto the nautical school s for the education of seamen . The fol lowing le t terto th e trustee s of the Nan tucke t school from Mr. Folger, who sends methe above in tended wi ll, i s appended, wi th his con sen t .

CAMBR IDGEP ORT, June 30 , 1 8 8 1 .

CHARLES G . COFF IN, ESQ P resident B oa rd of Trustees,

Admira l S ir Isa a c Cofin’s Scfiool , [Vantu cketMY DEAR AND HONORED FR IEND— Some few years a go , in looking

over old records in the Town ’s Building, so called , at Nantucke t, I cameacros s a candle-box about half fil led with loo se papers. Onexaminat ionI found among them several orig inal le tters and memorandum-books con

ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN,BART . 107

nected wi th the e stabl ishment of the CoffinSchool . By permission I tookthem for the purpo se of ma king Copie s t ending to their pre servation .

Iinfer that they were saved when all the o ther records of the School werede stroyed by the fire of 1 846 , conveyed from the counting-room of th eSecretary

,Gorham Coffin , Esq .

, to h i s re sidence , and a t hi s death carriedove r to the Town ’ s Building . But thi s , being my ownexplanation

,

may not be the correct one . The papers con sis t of two books of a ccounts

,showing th e purchase and fit t ing the School House on Fair

S tree t, and the general expend iture s from September, 1 8 26,to May,

1 8 3 5 ; four memorandum books con taining the names of scholars, mal eand female

,commencing wi th the firs t quarte r of the second year , June ,

1 8 28 , and continuing to March , 1 8 34 , and sundry documents numberedby the Secretary, Gorham Coffin , Esq . , 1 to 8 1— Of which 22 were missing— and there are 9 not numbered . They con si s t o f orig inal le t te rsfromAdmiral Coffin and hi s relat ive , Hector Coflin, to Wi l l iamCoffin ,P re siden t of the Board o f T rust ee s ; copie s of le t ter s to the Admiral , andCopie s of papers connected with the gift by Union Lodge of F . A.

Masons,under certain condit ions

,of the ir Lodge Building standing on

Main stree t . These documents I have carefully Copied into a record book,

and,in connect iontherewi th

,o ther information connected wi th the e stab

lishment of the school , showing some of the influence s leading there to, to

gether wi th such biographical no tice s ofAdmiral Coffin as have come undermy observation . I t appears that on the ro th of September, 1 8 26, AdmiralCoffinvisited Nantucke t a second time

,after an interval of about twen ty

years. He vfound the inhabitant s very much exercised in relat ion to thee stabli shmen t of public school s . The only school s of thi s nature then existing were charity school s, supported by the Town from an appropriationof per year

, wi th an expenditure of about $800 in a population ofsome persons . The Schoo l Committe e of 1 8 25 had reported “ thatthey had no t recommended a large sum of money , because it i s pre sumedthat no individual who i s competen t to support the education of his chi ldren , wi l l at this period of embarrassmen t be induced to place them underthe direc tion and con trol of the School Commit tee .

”

The names of those part icipat ing in the appropriat ion were required tobe published by the Committe e . At the March Town Meet ing, 1 8 26

,th e

School Commit te e reported,

“ that immediately after their appoin tmen tthey gave public no tice that they would be in se ssion to rece ive applicat ion s for admi ssion into the publ ic school s. They sat several evenings fo rthe purpose

,and unti l appl ication s had ceased . Having ascer tained by

this course the number of children for which they had to provide school s,

THE LIFE OF

they proceeded to ins t itu te schools , and locate them indifferen t parts ofthe town for the a ccommod a tionof the inhabitan t s one under the directionof a master

,and four under the direction of mistre sse s. These school s

have embraced, on anaverage , about 1 8 0 scholars . Beside s these fiveschool s

,provi sion has been made for a few scholars infour private school s

,

i n such a manner that i t has been advan tageous to the scholars themselves,and economical to the town . The Commit tee have frequently vi si ted th eschool s in order to take cognizance of any exi sting difficul ty, as wel l as toascertain the advancement of the school s i n their several s tudie s

,and to

thi s end have examined every individual scholar . The condi tion of verymany Of the scholars ,

” say the commit tee , “ wa s indeed deplorable at thet ime they were received , and al though their advancement has generallyequalled the most sanguine expectation s of your committee , ye t very muchremains for the town to do, that the education , which , i n many in stan ces,received it s beg inn ing th e presen t year, may be continued , fill an Obj ec tfraught wi th the most beneficial effects shall b e fully accomplished . Oneof the above female schools i s composed of colored children

,who se a d

vancemen t in educationhas afforded sati sfaction to the Commi tte e, when

they have visi ted the school s . They have expended and havedrawn $650 , and there i s due to the treasurer They recommendthe l ike appropriat ion o f l ast year, w i th liber ty to hire $ 500 moreif ne cessary . And i n conc lusion

,recommend th e t iwu so far to recon

s ider a vote of las t year as to dispen se wi th publi sh ing the name s of eachi ndividual who has part icipated the las t year inthe appropriation .

” In themeantime the columns of the Nantucke t Ingu irer were teeming wi th powerfully-wri t ten article s, showing th e necessi ty and expre s s duty of the townto adop t a public school system . Th e able and talented editor

,the la

mented Samuel Hayne s Jenks,in sharp and incon trovert ible statement s

showed that the school s supported by the town were strict ly and onlychari ty ” school s fo r the desti tu te

,and not inany sen se public school s ;

that al though the Commonweal th had passed laws more than thirty-fiveyears previous for the gen eral education of youth , ye t no provi sion i naccordance had ever been made by the town of Nantucke t

,and that n o

l egal public school then existed in the place .

At the se ss ion of the General Court held in 1 8 26 additional laws werepassed in relat ion to public educat ion and the e stabli shment Of school s forthi s purpose by the several towns. At the same session an act wa s passed ,app roved March 2

,1 8 26

,e stablishing se ssions of the Supreme Judicial

Court i n the county of Nantucke t,and at i t s firs t sess ion the inhabitan t s

of the town were indic ted for neglec t of schools, whereupon notice wa s

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THE LIFE OF ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN, BART .

populat ion of nearly eight thou sand, there were, two years since,no seminarie s for the publ ic in struction of youth and that upon the e stablishmen tof the in s tit ut ion Inquestion

,designed for the benefit of a numerous clas s

of the communi ty,the town i tsel f

,provoked and ashamed, as i t were, by th i s

magnanimous example, wa s in cited to the erectionof three similar school s,what thanks wil l not be awarded by the future inhabi tant s of that islandwhat magnificen t re sul ts to coming gen erations may not be justly an ticipated. Thi s i s the way to in sure immortal fame " Thi s i s the j udic iou sand generou s mode which Admiral Coffin has adopted for the tran smissionto after age s of the remembrance and the benefit s of hi s bounty, in s tead o fvainly providing for the erection of marble monument s or bestowing hi sweal th for the propagat ion of sectarian doctrines .

”

My connection wi th th e school wa s as a pupil at th e second quarteri n the second year

,and I had the honor of receiving a first medal i n the

boys ’ schoo l at the end of the fourth quarter. I wa s a pupi l when theschool wa s visited by Admiral Coffin in 1 8 29, and recollect being playfully taken upon hi s knee at vi si t s he made at my grandfather

’ s at thatt ime . I wa s al so a member of the Board of T rustee s several years

,Where

we had always the pleasure of your company and the benefit of your a dvice and co -operat ion

,which you have so freely and generously g iven

through the en tire exi sten ce of the school, having been one of the orig inalBoard of T ruste es appointed by the Admiral

,and for many years the only

surviving member thus appointed, and distan t i s the day, all mus t j oin i nwi sh ing, when your connection therewi th shal l cease . The great obligat ion I feel to the school of my early days

,through which I s tumbled w ith

weak and fal tering s teps, but to which dis tan ce lends a swe et enchan tmen t ,has led me to ask the acceptance by the Tru stee s of thi s b ook of recordswhich I take the l iberty to forward to you wi th the orig inal paper s beforementioned . I al so ask their acceptance of one of the original medal s,s truck off by direction of Admiral Coffini n memory of T ri stram Coffin

,

th e firs t of h i s race that se t tl ed in America,and copie s of which he sen t

to the members of the firs t Board of T rustee s . Thi s medal wa s given tome by the late P aul Mi tchell

,Esq .

,an acquain tance and near relat ive to

the great Admiral .Wi th my best wishe s for the cont inued prosperi ty of the school

,and as

surance of my high regard and est eem to yourse lf and the o ther T rustee sI am

,very re spectfully

,

Your friend and ob’ t servant,GEORGE H . FOLGER.

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CONTENTS OF GLEANINGS .

PAGE .

JOHN

T URB OT

HA VERH ILL

NANT UCKET DEE D S

P AP ERS CONNECTED W ITH GO VE RNMENT NANT UCKE T

TR I S TRAM ’

S DE ED S To HIS CH ILDREN

NUMB ER OF TR I STR AM ’

S DE SCENDANT S

OB IT UARY . OF ADM IRAL SIR I SA AC COFF IN

L I ST OF VE S SEL S TO WH ICH ADM IRAL COFF IN WAS ATT ACHED

CONCLU S I ON

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GLEANINGS .

t ru st , who i n s o many w ay s contr ibuted to h i s owncomfo rt , i ntel l igentand re spectfu l , yet compan ionable , and w ho had rendered h im such excellent se rvice on the occa s i on to w h ich w e have a l l uded

,occupied a

h ig h p lace i n h i s regard to the i r mutual adva ntag e .

Hi s Spec ial c harg e , w hen , at th i s sugges t ion of my fr iend , th e substant ia l p re sence o f John stalked s turd i ly ba ck i nto my ownc o nsciousness

,

w a s t he stabl e at B righ ton , near the hal l on the h il l - top , t hen standingi n lonely dig ni ty a gai n st the sky but long s i nce removed , of the Mas sach u setts Ag ri cu l tural Society . In i t s spaciou s stab le s

,befitti ng thei r an

tecedents , th e victor s of Ep som and Ascot and of othe r w e l l -know ncourses , imported by S i r I saac to imp rove our breed s , reposed upon the i rlau rel s , or t ran sm i tted them to othe r g enera t ion s . In bui ld ing s roundabout frol icked the i r p rogeny of fri sky and comely foal s . John , w el l -versedi n ho rse-flesh , an adm i rabl e ve ter i nary su rgeon, w atched w i th parenta lsol i c i tude ove r these p rec iou s animal s comm itted to h i s ca re , ambi t iou s tobr ing them up i n the w ay they should go .

Th e Society i n w hose keep ing th e horse s had been p laced , and underw hose sanct io n and ausp ice s the benevolen t pu rposes of the adm i ral w ereca r ri ed ou t , th en re igned i n sol i tary sup rem a cy . The numerou s countyorg a ni z a t ion s w ere not i n ex i s tence . I ts annual fai r s att racted crow d sfrom al l over New E ng land . I t s m embers w ere from among th emostem inen t o f the S tate . S t il l remembered w el l the day w hen S ir I sa ac , whow a s thenre s iding not far aw a y , at B elmont , then my uncle

’ s, w here w e

a l so had o u r dw el l ing , attended a s th ei r gue st . H i s p re sence there , andtha t o f the se fine steed s confided by h im to t hei r care , w a s an event , andJo hn , a s m a s te r-Of-ho rse , i n h i s g lOry.

Na tu ra l ly genero us , and ever thoug htfu l of the w ants of w hoever hadany claimupo n h im , the a dmi ra l p u rch a sed a farmOf many acres nearthe s table s at B r ighton , and gave i t to John . T here , w i th h i s buxom w i feand heal thy ch i ldren , s t i l l c l i ng i ng to the w ays and cu stom s of E ng land ,he l ived onlong past m a tu ri ty , i f not to a g rea t O ld a g e . H i s ch ief pridea s long as they rem a ined here , for they eventua l ly w ent b a ck to Eng la nd ,w e re the horse s , and w i th them he Sh a red the rega rd o f hi s neig hbo r s ,m a ny of w hom had p rofited by the opportuni ty and posse s sed themselve s o f sc ion s of suc h i llu str iou s s i re s . Tw o sp lend id colt s of B arefoot ’ sw e re k i l led by l ightn ing w hen pastu red on an i sland inthe h a rbo r .Mo rgan and othe r b reed s , better a da pted to h a rd W o rk and t he inten s i ti e sof hea t and cold , superseded B a refoo t

’ s ; bu t do ubtle ss s ti l l may be tracedon the famo u s B rightonroad near by , h i s fleetness and elegance o fform g ra fted on more stu rdy stock .

GLEANINGS .

Ou r cl imate , w i th such extremes of tempera tu re o ften a brup t , i s bet te rsu i ted for w hee l o r runner s than fo r the saddle . P opu l a t ion crow dingalong shore ha s w el l-nig h ex te rm ina ted the fox and dee r , and the ch a sew i tho u t u sefu l pu rpose lo st much Of i t s fa sc inat ion. Even ra cing i s becom ing confined to t rott ing i n h a rne s s . B u t w h en S i r I saac sen t o ve rBarefoot and Serab to improve our sto ck , New E ng la nd , l i ke the O ld , h a d

not lo st i t s ta ste fo r run ning . T here w e re other cha mpion s o f the turf tobe remembered bes ides W i n slow B lu e . Foxe s , too , a bounded u p to thesuburb s of ou r la rger mun icipal i t ie s . W e l l-mounted cl ub s Of t he be stand w ea l th ie st , for the i r exte rm i nat ion , i n trad it io nal sp le ndo r o f apparel ,l ea ped the st iff s tone w al l s that bounded the fie ld s , a s much for t he i rownenjoyment a s for th e benefit o f th e farmers . Even a t t h i s d ay, a tNew port and B eve rly , men and w omen gather i n la rge number s to th emeet , w i th w el l - t ra ined hun ter s and dog s of h igh deg ree , tho ug h Reyn a rdrarely puts i n an a ppeara nce , and a b a g of aniseseed i n a cart p rove s asorry subst i tu te .

O u r la te c iv i l w a r qu ickened the ta ste for equ i tat ion . Spaciou s p a rk s

g i rd round ou r ci t i e s or compose la rg e po rti on s o f th e i r extended area s .At t ra ctive drive s , w el l -Shaded , by the sea o r th rou g h the fo re s t abou tou r summer re sort s , tend to p romote a taste once more commo n a b roa dtha n here . What w e st i l l n eed are bette r horse s fo r the sa ddle , fromstock s w i th heredi ta ry a pti tude s , w e l l-t ra i ned ti l l t rai n i ng becomes secondnature . The best w i l l th en become more a bunda nt , and be le s s costly.

O ther pub l i c benefa ctor s w i l l i n t roduce from abroa d , o r o the r p a rt s o f ou rownland , cho ice b reeds for the pu rpose , a cc l i mat i z e th em here , teach themt he i r pace s , and to app rehend in s t i nct ively th e in ten t o f the ride r .Then the B o ston boy, w ho d id so much hal f a cen tu ry a go i n t hi s sa medi rection , w i l l be a pp rec ia ted and held i n g ratefu l remembrance by a ll ,

w ho e sti mate a right the hea l thy exh i la rat ion of sp eed ing th roug h the a iron a pe rfect mou n t .

TURBOT .

P . 57.

I t i s a cur iou s fa ct that deep -w a te r fish , sole s and tu rbo t , ch a ngeg radually th roug h the i r g enera t ion s , ch a ng e not only the i r accu stomedhab it s and h a b i ta t s , bu t thei r formand colo r , to accommodate th em selvesto the i r new condi tion s and per i l s . Onth e d ifferen t s ides o f a b ro a dch a nnel , O f the broa d ocean betw een E u ro pe and America , th e m o uth o pen s

GLEANINGS .

sometim es on one si de and somet imes on the othe r , a ccordi ng to the slopeo f the sho re . O u r American tu rbot , i f not equal i n flavor o r del icacy toi t s E ng l i sh congene r , i s very s imi lar i n genera l a ppearance

,bu t w i th

s uffic ient mod ifica t ion s of fo rm not to be m i staken for i t . S i r I saac hadbeen so cons ta n tly fromearly ch ildhood in con s tan t p rox im i ty to the seai n cl imate s so various , that h e w a s conversan t w i th a ll th e i nnumerablet ribes of t he ocea n , and , real i z i ng how much bette r th e E ng l i sh tu rbotw a s t han ou r s he b rough t over , on one of h i s voyages , i n cra ils bothturbot and sole , i n the hop e they m igh t i n t ime become a ccl imati z edand multiply i n ou r w ater s . O u r ownfishermen say t hat the E ng l i s hturbo t h a s occas ional ly , thoug h rarely , been ca ugh t here retaini ng i nlarg e mea su re the del ica cy and other characteri st ics of the race . P oss iblyw i t h t im e they w i l l g ra dual ly , by select ionof b reed , and for sel f-p reservat io n , co nform mo re to o u r

’

type , yet be a bett er fish . Ou r ch icken hal ibu t , and t he large r var i ety , good and abundant , l eave , how ever , l i tt l emore to be W i s hed .

HAVERHILL .

“ I t appears th at T r i stram did not affect a permanen t se ttl ement a tSa l i sbury , but removed the same yea r to the new set tlement o f P entucket , soon afterw a rd cal l ed Haverh i ll . T h i s se tt lement w a s commenced i n 1 640 , Chr i stop her Hus sey being among th e fir s t settl ers , bu tno deed from the Ind ian s w a s obtai ned unt i l 1 642 , w hen the name o fT r i s tram Coffynappears as one of the w i tne s se s thereto . I t w a s firs trecorded i n the county reco rds of Norfo lk ( l ib . 2 , p . 209) and , i n 1 832 ,

t he or ig i nal deed w a s said to be i n the pos se s s i on o f Charle sW h i te , E sq .

AS i t i s the firs t appea rance Of the na me of T ri s tra m Co ffynupon anydocumen t i n America , I ma ke a copy of i t from the Hi sto ry of Haverh i l l ,

’ by B . L . M i r i ck . T he mark s made by the Indian sa chem s w e rerep re sen ta t ion s of the bow and arrowKnow a ll men by these p re sent s th a t w e , P a ssa qu o and S a gg a hew ,

w i th the consen t Of P a s saconaw a y , have sold unto the i nhabi tant s o fP entu cket a ll the lands w e h a ve i n P entu cke t , that i s , e igh t m i le s inl eng t h from the l i ttle r ive r i n P entu cket w e stw a rd ; Six m ile s i n leng thfrom the a fore sa id r ive r nor thw ard , and Six m ile s i n leng t h from thea fo re sa i d r ive r eastw a rd , w i t h the i s land and th e rive r ; th a t the islands ta nd ina s far i n leng th a s th e land l ies by a s fo rmerly exp re s sed , that i s ,fourteen m i le s i n l eng t h . And w e , the sa id P a ssa q uo and S a gg a hew ,

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GLEANINGS

D eeds f romyances Ff orrett to T/zoma s M ay/zet a and S on.

[Deeds , i , 71 i i i , 64 , and i i i , 76 , Secreta ry ’ s O ffice , Alba'ny . ]T hese p re sent s do w i tne s s , T hat I , J a mes Fforrett , gentleman , w ho

w a s sent over i nto the se p a r t s o f America , by th e Ho nora ble LordS terl i ng , w i th a comm is sion for th e o rdering and di spos ing of a ll th ei s la nds tha t l i e betw ee n Ca pe Cod and Hu dson r iver , and have h i thertoc onti nued h i s ag en t w i thou t any con trad ict ion , do hereby g ra n t untoT homa s i

Mayh ew a t W a tertown , merchan t , and to T hom a s Ma yhewh is son , free l iberty and fu l l pow e r to th em , the i r h e i r s and a s sign s , top la nt and inhabi t upon Na ntucke t , and two smal l i sland s a djacent , andto enjoy the sai d i sland s to them , the i r hei rs and a s sig ns fo rever . P ro

v id ed , that T homas Ma yhew , and T hom a s Ma yhew h i s son , o r e i therof them o r th e i r a s s igns , do rende r and pay yearly unto th e Hono rabl eth e Lo rd S te rl i ng , h i s he i rs and as s igns , such anacknow ledgment a sshal l be though t fit by Jo hnW i n th rop , E sq . , th e elde r , o r any tw o

ma g i s t ra te s in the Ma s sa chu sett s B ay, being Cho sen for that end and pu rpo se by th e Hon . t h e Lo rd S te rl ing , o r h i s depu ty ; and by the saidT homas Mayhew and Thomas Mayhew h i s son , or the i r a ss ig ns .It i s a g reed , that the go ve rnment t hat the said T hom a s Mayhew , and

T homas Ma yhew h i s sonand the i r a s s igns sh a l l s et u p , Shal l be sucha s i snow e stab l i shed inth e Massachu sett s a fore sai d , and that the sa idT homa s Mayhew , and T hom a s Ma yhew h i s son , and the i r a s s igns sh a l lhave as much p rivi leg e tou ch ing th e i r p lant ing . inhabi t ing , and enj oyi ngof a ll and every pa rt of th e p rem i se s , a s by the p a tent to the patentee s o fth e Ma s sa chuset t s afo re sa id , and th e i r a ssocia te s . Inw i tne s s he reo f, I ,th e sa i d Jame s Ffo rrett , ha ve he reun to set my hand and sea l th i s 13 thday of October , 1 64 1 .

J AME S FFORRE T T . ( Sea l )W i tne s se s PH IL I P WAT S ON , Clerk .

RO B E RT CORANE ,

N ICHOL A S D A V I SON ,

R I CHARD ST ILLM AN .

A D eedma d e to Mr . M ay/zet a oy R ic/za rd Vines .

[Deed s , iii, 66 , Secreta ry’ s O ffice ]

I, Ric hard V ine s , of Saco , g entlem a n , s tew ard -

general for S i r Ferd in a nd Georg es , Knigh t , Lo rd P ropri e to r o f th e p rovi nce o f mainla ndand the i sland s o f Ca pa rrock and Nantican, do , by these p resents , g ive

GLEANINGS . 1 2 1

ful l pow e r and author i ty unto T homas Mayhew , g entleman , h i s he i r sand a s so ciate s , to p la nt and inhab i t upon the i s land s o f Capa rrock , a l ia sMar tha ’ s V ineyard , w i th al l r ig hts and p riv i lege s thereun to belong ing ,

to enjoy th e p rem i se s unto h i m sel f,h i s he i r s , and a s sociate s forever ,

y ie ld ing and pay ing unto the sai d S i r Fe rd ina nd Go rge s , h i s he i rs an das sig n s , forever annual ly , a s two gentl emen , i nd ifferently by each of themchosen , sha l l judg e to be meet by w ay of a cknow l edgment .G iven under my hand th i s 25 th day of O ctober , 1 64 1 .

R I CH ARD V INE S .

W i tne s sTHOM A S PAGEROBERT LONG .

D eed of Nantu cket to tenP u rcfia sers .

[Deeds , i i i , 56 , Secretary’ s O ffice ]

Recorded for Mr. Cofiinand Mr. Macy aforesaid the day and yea ra fo re sai d .

Be i t know n u nto a ll men by the se p re sen t s,that I , T hom a s Mayhew ,

o fMa rtha ’ s V ineyard , merchant , d o he reby acknow ledg e that I havesold u nto T r i s t ra m Coffin , T homas Macy, Chri s tophe r Hus sey , RichardSw a yne , T homas Bernard , P ete r Coffin , S tephen Greenlea fe , JohnSwayne , and W i l l i am P ike , that r ight and i nte res t I have i n the land o fNan tucke t , by paten t ; th e w h ich righ t I bough t o f James Fforrett ,g entleman , and s teward to the Lo rd S te rl i ng , and of Richard V ine s ,somet imes of Saco , g entleman , s tew a rd -g ene ral u nto S i r Gorge s ,kn ig h t , a s by conveyance s , under thei r hand s and sea l s , do appear , fo rthem the a fore sa id to enjoy , and the i r he i r s and as s igns forever , w i th a l l

th e p riv i leg e s thereunto belong ing , for and i n con s idera t ion of th e sumofth i rty pounds of cu rren t pay , unto w hom soeve r I , the sa id T homa sMay

h ew ,my hei rs o r a s s igns , sh a l l a ppo i n t . And al so tw o beave r hat s , one

for mysel f and one for my w ife . And fur the r , t h i s i s to declare that I ,the sa i d T homa s Mayhew , h a ve re se rved to mysel f that neck u pon Nantuck et cal l ed Ma squ etu ck , or that neck of la nd ca l l ed Na sh ayte , th e neck

( but one) northe rly of Ma sq u etu ck , th e afo resa i d sa l e ina nyw i se notw i t h sta nding . And fu rthe r , I , th e said T homas Ma yhew , amto bear mypa r t o f the charg e o f the s a i d p u rch a se abovenamed , and to hol d onetwenti e th part of a ll l and s pu rcha sed a l rea dy , o r sh a l l be he rea fte r p u rchased

,upon the sai d i sla nd by the afore sa id pu rcha se r s or hei r s and

GLEANINGS .

a ss igns foreve r . B ri efly , i t i s thu s : T hat I real ly so l d al l my paten t toth e a foresa id n ine men , and they a re to pay me , o r w homsoever I shal la ppoin t them , the sum o f th i rty pounds i n g ood merchantabl e pay i n th eMas sa chu set t s , under w h ich government they now i nhab i t

,and two

beave r h a t s , and I amto bear a tw ent ie th part of th e charg e of the p urchase , and to ha ve a tw en tieth p a r t o f a ll lands and p ri vi leg e s ; and tohave w h ich of the neck s a foresaid that I w i l lmyse l f, p a y ing for i t ; onlythe purchase rs are to pay w hat the sachemi s to have for Ma squ etu ck ,

a l t hough I have the other neck .

And inW i tne s s hereo f, I have he reunto set my hand and seal th i ssecond day of July , s i xteen hundred and fifty-n ine

P er me , THOMAS MAYHEw .

W i tn e s sJOHN SMYTH ,

EDWARD SCALE .

D eed of Tu cé anu cé et Island .

[Deed s , i i i , 57, Secretary’ s Office ]

Recorded for Mr . Coffin and Mr. Macy aforesa id , t he day and yearafore w r i tten .

The tenth day of O ctober , one thou sand s ix hund red fifty-n ine : T he sep re sent s w i tnes s , that I , T homas Mayhew , of Mart i n

’

s Vineya rd,mer

chan t,do g i ve , g ra nt , bargai n , and sel l a l l my rig h t and inte re s t i n

T u ckanu ck I sland , a l ia s T u ckanu cket , wh ich I have had or ought toh ave , by V i r tue of patent r ig h t pu rcha sed of the Lord S te rl i ng

’ s a gen t ,and of Mr. Richard V ines , a gent u nto S i r Fe rd i nand Gorge s , Kn igh t ,unto T r i st ramCoffin, S r . , P ete r Coffin , T ri s tra m Coffin , Jr.

, and Jame sCoffin , to them and the i r he ir s foreve r , for and i n con s ide rationof theju st sum Of s i x pounds i n h a nd pai d , and by me , T homas Mayhew ,

rece ived infu l l sat i sfa ction o f the afo resa id paten t r ig ht o f the a foresai di s land .

And i n w i tne s s hereof I have se t my hand and seal .P er me , THOM A S MAYHEW .

W i tne s s he reuntoROGER WHEELER ,

GE ORGE WHE ELER .

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GLEANINGS .

of la nd purchased ; and l ikew i se th e u se of the other h al f of the meadow sand marshes , as long as th e a foresai d E ng l i s h , th ei r hei rs and ass ign s , l iveon the i sland ; and l ikew i se I , the a fore saidW ana ckmama ck

,do sel l u nto

the Eng l i sh aforement ioned , the p rop riety of the res t o f the i sla nd belonging u nto me , for, and i n co ns iderat ion o f forty pound s al rea dy rece ivedby me , o r o ther by my consent o r order . To have and to hold , th e a foresaid t racts of land , w i th the p rop r iety , roya l t ie s , immuni t ie s , p rivi l ege sand al l appurtenance s thereun to belong i ng to them , t he a fore said pu rchasers , th ei r heirs and ass igns fo reve r .I n w i tne s s w hereof, I , the aforesaid W ana ckmama ck , have hereu nto

set my hand and seal , t he day and year above w r i t ten .

The s ign of WANACKMAMACK .

S igned , sealed , and del ivered i n the p re sence o fP E T ER FOULGER ,

ELEAZER FOULGER ,

DORCAS STARBUCK .

Ind ianReceipt f or [and R eceipt of Wana ckmama ck .

[Nantucke t Records , O ld B ook , pag e

Rece ived of T r i s t ram Coffin , of Nantucket , th e jus t sum of five poundsw h ich i s part of the seven pounds th a t w a s unpaid of the tw enty poundpu rchase of la nd that w a s purch a sed o fW ana ckmama ck and Neckanoose ,th a t i s to say , from Monomoy to W a qu etta qu a ge pond , Nana huma ckneck , and a ll from W esco w estward to the we s t end of Nantucke t , I say ,rece ived by m e , W ana ckmama k , of T r i s t ramCoffin, five pound s sterl ing ,th e 1 8 th of the eleventh month , 1 671 .

The X ma rk o fW i tne ss hereu n to WANACKMAMACK .

R ICH ARD G ARDNER ,

ELE ZER FOLGER .

Twe L e tters or Certifica tes f romt/ze Jnlza éitants of Nantu cket .[Deed s , i i i , 58 , Secreta ry

’ s Office , Albany . ]Recorded for the a fore saidMr. Coffin and Mr. Macy , two l ives on cert i

fica tes , from the i nhab i tant s of Nan tucket , a s fol low s , v i z .

W herea s , the Ho norab le Colonel Lovelace , Governor o f New York ,gave forth h i s summons for the i nhab i tan t s of the i sle of Nantucke t to

GLEANINGS . 125

make the i r a ppearance before H i s Hono r at New York , e i the r i n th e i rownperso n or by the i r ag en t , to show t hei r cla im s inresp ect to the i rsta nd ing o r claim of inte res t on the aforesai d i s land . Now w e , w hosenames are u nde rw r i tten , hav ing i n trus ted ou r father , T r i s t ramCoffin , tomake an sw er for u s , w e do empow e r ou r father , T r i s t ram Coffin , to actand d o for u s w i th the hono red Gove rnor Lovelace , so far as i s ju st andrea son a ble , w i t h regard to ou r i n tere s t onth e i s l e of Nan tucke t andTu ckanu ckett .W i tne s s ou r hands the second day of the fou rth month , s ix teen hundredand seven ty-one

J AME S COFF IN ,

NATH AN I EL ST ARBUCK ,

JOHN COFF IN ,

STE PHEN COFF IN .

T h i s i s to signi fy that the i nhab i tant s o f Nantucket have chosen Mr .

T homas Macy the i r ag en t to treat w i th th e Hono rab le Colo ne l Lovelaceconcern ing t he affai r s o f the i s land , to act for th em int hei r beh a l f andstead , and in al l cons ideration s to do w hat i s nece ssary to be done inre fe rence to the p remi se s , as i f they th emselve s w ere pe rsonal ly p re sent .W i tne s s the i r hands , da ted June -

5 , 1 671 .

EDW ARD ST ARBUCK ,

P ETE R FOLGER ,

JOHN ROLFE .

Th e i nhab i tant s aforesaid do al so , inthe name o f the re st , de s i re Mr.

T r i s t ra m Coffin to ass i st the i r afo re said a gen t w hat he can inth e ma t te ro r bus i nes s conce rn ing th e Island Nan tucket .

P roposa ls to tke Governor f romt/ze J u li a éit ants of Nantu cket a oou tS ettling t/za t Government .

[Deeds , i i i , 59, S ecretary’ s Offi ce . ]

Imp rimi s . We humbly p ropo se l iberty for the i nhab i tan ts to choo seannual ly a man or men to be ch i ef i n th e gove rnment , and cho sen o rappointed by H i s Honor to stand i n place , consta ntly i nvested w i th pow e rof co nfirmation , by oa t h o r engag ement , o r otherw i s e a s His Hono r sh a l la ppo int , one to be ch i ef inth e cour t and to h ave ma g istra tia l pow er ata ll t imes w i th regard to the pea ce , and othe r necess a ry cons ide ra t ion s .

GLEANINGS .

Second . We ta ke for g ranted th a t the law s of Eng land are standardof government , so far a s w e know them , and a re su itable to our cond it ion ; ye t w e humbly p ropose th a t t he i nhabi tan t sma y have pow e r toconsti tu te such law or o rders as are neces sary and su i table to our cond it ion no t repugnant to the law s o f E ng land .

T h i rd . In po in t of carrying on the government fromt ime to t ime , w e

a re w i l l i ng to jo in w i th ou r ne ig hbor i s land , th e V ineyard , to keeptogether one cour t every yea r , one vear at ou r i sland , th e nex t w i th them ,

and pow er at h ome to end a ll ca se s not exceed ing tw enty pounds ; an dinal l case s l iberty o f a ppea l to the g enera l court i n a ll act ion s a boveforty pounds . And i n al l a ct ion s amount ing to the va lue of one hundredpounds , l iberty of a ppea l to H i s H ighne s s , h i s court a t th e c i ty of New

York , and i n ca p i ta l ca se s , o r such m a t te rs a s concern l i fe , l imb , o rba n i shmen t . All such cases to be tri ed at New York .

Fourth . And feel i ng th e Ind ian s are numerou s a mong u s , w e p roposetha t ou r government may extend to them , and pow e r to summont hemto our court s w i th re sp ect to tre spa s s , deb t , and oth e r m i sca rr ia ges , andto t ry and judge th em accordi ng to law s , w hen publ i shed a mong s t them .

And , l ast ly , some m il i ta ry pow e r committed to u s respect ing ourdefence , ei th er in re sp ect of I nd ian s o r s trang er s invading , etc .

Tke Answ er to tke Nantu cket P roposa ls .

[Deeds , i i i , 60 , Secreta ry’ s O ffice . ]

At a cou nci l he ld a t Fort James , i n New Yo rk , th e 28 th day of June ,i n the tw en ty- th i rd yea r of H i s Ma jesty ’s re ign , Anno Dom in i 1671

I n a n sw e r to th e p roposa l s del ivered i n by Mr. Coffinand Mr . Macyon the beh a l f of them selves and th e res t o f the i nhab i ta nt s u po n theI sland Nantucket , t he governo r and counci l do g i ve th e i r re solution s a sfol low s , v i z .

Im prim i s . As to the fi rs t b ranch in the i r p ropo sal s i t i s tho ug ht fitthat the i nhab i tan ts d o a nnual ly recommend tw o person s to the governor ,ou t o f w h ich he w i l l nom ina te one to b e the ch ief ma g i s t ra te upon thati s land

, and th e i s land of Tu ck anu ckett , nea r a djacen t , for th e year ensuing , who shal l , by comm issi on , be i nve sted w i th pow er accord ing ly .

T hat the t ime w hensuch ama g i s t ra te Shal l en te r i n to h i s emp loymenta fte r the exp i ra t ion o f t h i s firs t year shal l commence uponthe 1 3 t h dayofOctober , being H i s Royal H ighnes s

’ s b irthda y , to cont inu e for the spa ce

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GLEANINGS .

Fourth . In an sw e r to the fourth , i t i s left to them selves to o rder tho seaffa i r s a bou t th e Ind ian s , and to a c t there in , accord ing to the i r be s t d i scretions , so far a s l ife i s no t conce rned : w here inthey a re al so to haverecourse to New York , but that they be careful to u se such modera t iona mong st them that th ey be not exaspe rated , but by deg ree s may beb rough t to be con formable to th e law s ; to w h ich end they are to nom inate and ap poi nt con stab le s among st them w ho may h a ve stave s w i th theK ing

’ s a rms u pon them , the bette r to keep the i r peo ple i n a w e and goodorder , as is p ra ct i sed wi t h good success a mong s t the Ind ian s a t t he ea s tend of Long I sland .

To th e l a s t , th a t th ey retu rn a l i s t o f the i nhab i ta nt s , a s a l so the na mesof tw o pe rson s a mong st them ; out of w hom the governor w i l l a ppoi ntone to be thei r ch i e f m i l i tary Officer , t ha t t hey may be i n the better c a

p a city to d efend themselve s a gain s t the i r enem ies , w he ther Ind ian s o ro t he rs .

Nantu cket Af a irs .

[Deed s , i i i , 85 , Secre ta ry’ s Office . ]

Addi t ion a l i n structio ns and d i rect ions for the gover nmen t o f the I sland“

Na ntucket , sen t by Mr. Rich a rd and Ca ptai n Jno . G a rdner , Apri l the1 8 th , 1 673 .

Imp rim i s , th a t i n reg a rd tha t the tow n u pon th e island of Na ntucketi s not know n by any pec u l ia r o r p a rt icu la r na me , i t sh a l l from hencefo rthb e ca l l ed and d i st i ngu i shed i n al l deed s , record s , and w r i t i ng s by th ename of the tow n of Sherborne , u pon the I sland Nantucket .T hat a ll a ncien t and ob sole te deed s , g ra nts , w ri t i ng s , o r conveyance s

of la nd s upon the said is land, s h a l l be e s teemed of no force o r va l i d i ty ,b u t th e record s of every one ’ s cl aimor i n te re st shal l bea r da te from thefir s t d ivu lg i ng of the p a ten t g ra nted to the in ha bi ta n ts by autho r i ty of H i sRoya l H ighnes s , and so forw a rd , butno t before the da te thereo f.T hat the t im e o f el ect ion of the ch i e f mag i s t rate , and other c iv i l

officers , be and co nti nue a cco rd i ng to the di rectio n s and i n s truct ion sal ready g ivenbut i n regard o f the d i s tance o f the p l a ce and the uncerta i nty o f the co nveyance betw ix t th a t and th i s p lace , the ch ie f m a g i s t ra teand a l l the civ i l Officers sh a l l con tinue i n the i r emp loyment s unt i l t h ere turn o f the gove rno r

’ s cho ice and app robation of a new mag i s t rate besent u nto them , w h ich i s to be w i t h the fir s t conven ien t opportu nity .

T hat i n ca se o f mo rta l i ty, i f i t sh a l l p l ea se God th e ch i ef m a g i st ra teshal l d i e before the exp i ra t ion of h i s employment , th e a s si s tan t s for th e

GLEANINGS . 129

time be ing shal l mana ge and car ry on the a ffai rs of th e publ ic u nt i l t het ime of thenew elect ion , and th e gove rnor ’ s returnand a pp robat ion of anew m a g i st rate i n h i s s tea d .

T hat the ch ie f m il i tary office r shal l cont i nue i n h i s employment du ri ngt he governor

’ s p leasu re , and that he ha ve pow e r to appo in t such pe rson sfor i nfe rio r officer s as he shal l judge most fit and capable .T hat i n case of the dea th of the ch ie f m il i tary officer du ri ng t he

t ime o f h i s employment , that thenth e i nhab i tant s do forthw i th makecho ice of two persons , and returnthe i r names unto th e gove rno r , w how i l l a ppo in t one o f t hem to be the office r i n h i s stead .

That inregard to th e General Court to be held i n the I sla nd Na ntucke to r Martha’ s V ineyard i s bu t once i n the yea r , w here al l ca u se s o r act ion sa re t r iab le w i tho ut a ppeal to th e sum of fifty pou nds , l iber ty be g ra ntedto t ry a ll act io ns of debt o r t re spa s s at th ei r o rd ina ry cou rt s to th e va l ueo f ten pounds w i t hou t a ppeal , u n le s s u pon occa s i on of e rro r i n the p roceed ings t here , becau se o f complai n t fromthe o rdi n a ry court unto theGenera l Cou rt , o r from the Gene ra l Cou rt to

‘

th e Court o f A s s i z e s .T h a t w ha t i s g ranted i n the g eneral p a tent to the i nhab i ta n ts , free

holders of the I sla nd Nan tucket , i s to be understood , u nto them alone whol ive u pon the p la ce and make imp rovemen t thereof, or s uch others whoha ving pretence s o f intere st Sh a l l come to i nhabi t t he re .

G i ven under my hand a t Fort James , inNew York , th e day and yea rafore w r i tten ; and i n the twenty-fifth year Of H i s Ma jesty ’ s reig n .

Soon a fte r the m a r riage o f Ma ry Coffin , th e young e st daugh ter o f

T r i s t ram , w i th Na than i e l S ta rbuck , th e o l d gentleman concluded tom a ke h i s son-ih- law a landed p rop ri e to r ; and , w i t h a smu ch ca re for t heconti ng enci e s of th e fu tu re a s k ind p a rent s exerci se i n t he p re sent a ge ,

and w i th equal n icety i n the choice o f la ngua g e a smay be found inmodern conveya nce s , executed th e fol low i ng deed to h i s daug hter andher hu sband . I t w i l l be seen that i t w a s made some yea rs before i t w a s

a cknow ledg ed , and a cknow l edg ed some years befo re i t w a s reco rded

Tristramconveys to d a ug /zter , Ma ry S ta rbu ck , and ker ku soand ,

Na t/zaniel , one-k a lf of a ll esta tes .

[Nantucke t Record s , 1 st Book , P a ge

Know a ll men by the se p resent s , t hat I , T r i s t ramCoffin , of Nantucket , do for d ive r s good con sideration s , a s al so inregard of my fa t herly

1 30 GLEANINGS .

affecti on s , do g ive un to my da ughter , Mary S tarbuck , the one-hal f of mya ccommodat ionof my pu rchase , onNa ntucket I sland

,na mely

,the hal f

o f my tenth part w h ich I bought w i th the othe r n ine firs t pu rcha se r so f Mr. T homas Mayhew , i n p a ten t r igh t , and of th e Sachem s Indian srigh t , a s by t he i r g rant i n the deed w i l l at la rg e appea r : I d o a s afo resa i d g ive and g ran t un to my d a ug hte r , Mary S tarbuck , a l l the one-ha l fo f my accommodation o f p a tent r ig ht , and al l my r ig ht o f the hal f of a lll ands , mea dow s , marshe s , common s , ti mber , w ood , and al l a ppu r

tenances th ereunto belong ing , a s fu l ly a s mysel f o r any of the o thertw enty p a rt shares have o r oug h t to have , i n m a nner and form fol lowing : the one -h a l f to her ownand her h u sband ’ s d i sposa l , n a mely , he rhu sba nd , Nathani el S tarbuck , to themand th ei r he i r s and as signs , foreve r

,th e o the r h a l f to my aforesai d da ug h ter , Mary S tarbuck , and

Nathan iel S ta rbuck , her hu sband , dur i ng the i r l ive s , and w hen they d ie ,t hen i t sha l l be for th e u se of my daug hte r , Mary S tarbuck

’ s ch i ld , orchi ld ren , to h im , her , or them , and th e i r he i rs , foreve r ; but i f mydaughter , Ma ry S ta rbuck , have no ch i ld o r ch i ldrenl iv ing w henshed ie th

,then i t Shal l be in the pow er of he r h usband , Nathan ie l S tarbuck ,

to d i spose o f a ll t he afore said la nd s and accommoda t ion s , w i t h al l appu rtenances , a s he shal l judg e most m eet . In w i tn e s s w hereof, I , t he ;

saidT r i stram Coffi n , have hereunto se t my hand and seal , th i s 14th four thmonth , 1 664 .

TR I STRAM COFFYN .

[S igned , sea led , and del ivered in the p resence ofTHOM A S M A CY ,

MARY SWA IN ,

SAR AH MACY .

T h i s deed w a s a cknow ledg ed befo re me , T homas Mayhew , u ponthe i s land of Nan tucket

,t h i s 1 5 th day ofJ anu a ry, 1 677; I say befo re me ,

THOMAS MAYHEW ,Ma g .

Ju ly 26 , 1736 .— Then rece ived the orig inal o f th i s above w r i t ten

deed , and by the des i re of same concerned , perfected the record a boveby m a k ing the S ign of the seal . Atte s t

ELE ZER FO LGER , Reg r .

W h i le T r i s tram w a s g ene ral ly reputed to be qu i te w ealthy i n good sand l a nds , ow n ing , toge ther w i th h is SOns, a t one ti me about one

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GLEANINGS .

and north s ide : In w i tne s s W he reo f I have set my hand and seal , thefifteen th of the e leventh month , one thou sand s ix hundred and seventys ix . TRISTRAM COFFYN .

Acknow l edg ed before m e t he deed w i th i n w r i t t en th i s 1 5 th day ofJune , 1 677. TH OMAS MAYHEW ,

Mag i s tra te .

Ag r eement oetw eenStep/fenCoj fnand k is f a tker , a s to r zgk ts inka rnto Tr istr amand kis w if e D ionis .

[Nan tucket Reco rd s , 2d B ook , P ag e

A rt icle s o f a g reement betw een T r i s tram Coffin , Sen io r , and S tephenCoffin , son of the afo re sa i d T r i st ram Coffin , both of th e tow n of She rbo rn , on the i sla nd of Nan tu cket , a s fol low s : i mpri m i s , w e do jo i ntlyand seve ral ly a g ree th a t wh ereas there i s a ba rn bu i l t at Coppamet byu s , t h i s p re sen t yea r , one thou sand six h undred seven ty-seven , th at thea foresa i d S tephen Coffin h a d been at the most part of the charge , t herefo re I , T r i s t ram Coffin , do coven a n t and a g ree W i thmy son , S tephenCoffin , that he shal l have th e a fore said barn and lea n-to s for h im sel f, andh i s h e i rs and a s signs , forever : to have and to hold and quietly to enjoy ,i n con siderat ion w he reof, a s al so i n con s idera t ion o f th e rece iv ing o ftw o thou sand fee t of boards , and some t imber , and some labor o fseve ra l person s in fram ing th e w ork s , I , S tephen Coffin , do con sent an da g ree that my fa th e r , T r i s tra m Coffin , and my mother , D ion i s Coffin ,shal l have the u se of th e one-h a l f o f the a fore sa i d ba rn , com ing i n and

go ing to t he barn and lean—to s w i thou t any k ind of h indra nce , le t , ormole sta tio n , by , from , o r u nde r me , S tephenCoffin , my hei r s , execu to r s ,adm in i s trator s

,or as signs ; and i f my fathe r and mother afo re sa id do

happen to d ie insome short t i me , a s namely , w i th i n sevenyea r s afte rthe date hereof

,th en I , S tep hen Coffin , do eng a g e to pay the sum of ten

pound s to my fa ther or mothe r ’ s o rder , w i th inone year afte r the i r dece a se , if t hey o r e i ther o f them order me so to do . W i tne s s ou r hand sand sea l s to th i s a g reemen t , th e 1 8 th o f Ju ly , 1 677.

S ig ned , sealed , and del ive red i n p re sence o fu s , w ho a re w i tne s s to these p resent w i th inw ri t ten art icle s o f a g reement .M ARTH A HUSSE Y . THOMAS MACY .

NATH AN I EL B ARNARD .

TR I STR AM COFFYN .

ST E PHEN COFF IN .

T h i s deed w a s acknow ledg ed th i s 24th day of July , before me ,THos . MACY , Ma g .

GLEANINGS . 1 33

Tr istr amg rants kisnew dwellz'ng -kou se to kis sonJ okn.

[Nantucket Record s , 2d Book , P a g e

To a ll Ch r i s t ian p eopl e to w hom the se p re sents shal l come , T r i s tramCoffin , Sen io r , i n the tow n of S herborn, onthe I sland o f Nantucke t ,sende th g reet ing , and declareth tha t , i n reg ard to my natu ra l a ffect ionu n to my son , John Coffin ,now of Sherbon , as a l so for d iver s o ther goo dand law fu l con side rat ion s , I , the a bove sai d T r i s t ram Coffin, do freelyg ive unto my son , John Coffin, and to h i s he i rs , fo reve r , mynew dw el ling -hou se , w i t h a ll other hou se s a djo i ni ng unto i t ; and a l so the w holehal f sh a re of la nd and a ccommodat ion and a ppu rtena nce s the reun to belong ing , namely , my pa r t o f the hou se lo t and a ll commona ge of t i mber ,w ood , pastu ra ge s , and a ll meadow s , m a rshe s . and creek g ra s s the reun tobelong ing ; and , I , th e a fore said T r i s tra m Coffin , do freely and firmly bythe se g ive , g ran t , and co nfirm the above sa id dw el l ing -hou se , w i th a ll

p riv i l eg e s and a ppur ten a nce s a s aforenamed , unto my son , John Coffin ,and to h i s he i rs to have and to hold foreve r , i mmedia te ly a fte r the deceas eo f me , th e a fore said T r i s tramCoffin , Sen io r , and mynow w i fe , D io n i sCoffin , free and di scharged again s t al l p er sons or personlayi ng any cla i mu nto the a bove sai d hou se o r any a ppurtenances thereunto belong i ng , i n ,by , o r und er me ; and i n w i tne s s hereo f I , T r i st ram Coffin, Sen io r , haveset my h a nd and seal th e th i rd day of December , one thou sand s ix hundren and seven ty-e igh t .

TR I STRAM COFFYN , Sen io r .W i tne s s h ereunto

J AME S COFF IN ,

STE PHEN COFF IN .

Th i s w a s acknow ledg ed T r i st ra m Coffi n to be h i s act an d deedthe 3d 1 0m. , 1 678 .

A t rue copy W ILL IAM WORT H , As s i s ta n t .W I LLIAM WORTH , Reco rder .

Tr istr amg rants tena cres of land to ea c/t of k is g r and c/zild rentopl ant .

[Nantu cket Reco rd s , 2d B ook , P a g e

All mensh a l l k now by the se p re sent s th a t I , T ri s t ramCoffin , of

Sherborn , ont he i sl and of Na ntucke t, w i th or in reg a rd o f my natural

1 34 GLEANINGS .

a ffect ion unto my g ra ndc h i ld ren , I do freely g i ve un to every one ofthem ten a cre s o f la nd to p l ant o r sow Eng l i sh g ra i n on, o r any o therimprovement , fo r o a t s , o r w hat i s fit for food for men . And I

,the above

sa i d T ri s tra m Coffin , sen io r , do free ly and firmly g ive unto al l and everyone of my g ra ndch i ldren that a renow l iv ing , o r that sh a l l be bo rn herea fte r , ea ch of themten acres -of land upon the i sland of T u ckernu ckT o have and to ho l d , to p lant Ind ian co rn, or to sow or p lant any o the rg ra i n on , and i f they or any of them shall sow t he i r land w i t h Eng l i shhay - seed they shal l have l iberty to keep fou r sh eep u pon every a credu r ing th e l ifetime of any one that shal l so imp rove the above-n a medla nd or any part of i t . In w i tne s s he reo f, I , T r i s t ram Coffin , have setmy hand and sea l 3d 10 th ,

1 678 .

S ig ned , sea led , and del ivered i n p re sence ofu s t he w i th i n w r i t tendeed .

J AME S COFF IN , JOHN COFF IN ,

ST E P HEN COFF IN .

TR I STR AM COFFYN .

T h i s d eed w a s a cknow l edg ed by Mr. T ri st ramCoffin , to be h i s a c tand deed before m e

, W ILL IAM WORTH , a s s i s tant , 3 In1 0 th 1 678 .

Th i s i s a t rue copy of the o rig i na l by me .— W ILL I AM W ORTH ,

Reg r .

By t he se deed s a bove quoted w e sha l l lea rn that TrystramCoffynhada new dw el l ing -hou se , w h ich stood ona h i l l , and a nother dw el l inghou se w h ich stood unde r the h i ll . Al so , tha t h e last l ived i n h i snewhou se onth e h i l l . W i th th i s i nfo rmation , and by tracing th e t i t l e o f th enew ho use onth e h il l

, w h ich w a s co nveyed to Joh n Coffin , and fromJo h n to h i s son P e te r , and fromP e ter to h i s son Robert , t he saidRobe rt ’ s e s ta te being defined w i th i n th e reco l lect io n o f t h e p re sen t ‘

g enera tion, I th ink w e c anknow th e exact spot w here T r i s t ra m Coffynl a st re s i ded , and fromw h ich plac e h i s morta l p u t on im morta l i ty . Hisw i fe , w ho su rvived h im ,

doubtle s s b rea thed her las t i n th e same mansion ,a s she w a s to have a l ife-r igh t ca rved ou t of the e state w hich subsequentlybeca me ve sted i n John and S tep hen Coffin . T he Co urt o f Ses s ions , a tth a t t ime exerci s i ng p roba te juri sdic t io n , a l low ed to Mrs . Dioni s Co ffynt he u se of th e enti re e sta te o f her hu sband during he r l i fe , the th ree so n s ,James , John , and S tephen , as adm ini s trato rs, so recommending .

”

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OB ITUARY OF ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN, BART .

Gent leman’s Ma g a z ine ,” 1 840, vol . x iii. , p .

J u ly 23 . At Chel tenha m , a ged 80 , S i r I saac Coffin , Ba r t .Admi ra l o f th e Red .

T h i s gal lant O ld office r w a s th e fourth and youngest son of Natha n ie lCoffin , E sq . , Cash ie r of the Cu stom s i n th e port o f B o ston , America ,by E l i z abeth , da ughte r of Mr. Hen ry B arne s , merch a nt , of the samep lace .

He entered the Roya l Navy in May, 1773 , under the a usp ice s o f RearAdmi ra l Jo hn Monta g u , who confided h im to the care o f the la te L ieu t .Wm. Hunter , Of G reenw i ch Hosp i tal , a t t h a t per iod commanding theb rig Ga spee ” on th e American s tat ion . Of al l the young men ,

”

sa i d L i eu t . Hunter , I eve r ha d th e care of, none answ ered my ex pec

ta tions equa l to I sa a c Coffin . Never d id I know a young mana cqui re so much n a ut ical know l edge i n so short a t i me .

”

Mr. Co ffinafte rw ard s se rved a s m idsh ipman i n the Capta i n ,” K i ng

fishe r ,” “ Fowev,

” and D i l igen t , onthe Ha l i fa x sta t ion ; and fromthe la st na med w a s removed in to the Romney of 50 gun s , bea r ingt he fl ag of h i s pa t ron at New fou ndl a nd . I n the summer of 1778 heobtained a l i eu tena ncy , and th e command o f the “ P la cent ia cutte r ;and the fo l low i ng sp ri ng he served a s a vo luntee r o n boa rd the Syb i l ”

fr igate , comm a nded by Cap ta inP a s ley , and w a s soon a fter appo in ted tothe command of le P in son ” armed ship ; i n w h ich he h a d the m i sfortune to be w recked on the coast of Labrador , but on a court-mart ia lw a s acqu i t ted of a l l b lame .

Having v i s i ted Eng la nd he w a s, i n November , 1779, a ppointed to theAdam a nt ,

”a bou t to be launched a t L ive rpool ; and inthe fol low i ng

year he e scorted i n her th e outw a rd-bound trade to New Yo rk . He w a s

next a ppo i nted to th e “ London the fla g-sh ip of Rea r-Adm i ra lG rave s , on th e coa s t o f America ; and from her h e removed i nto theRoya l O a k ,

” a th i rd-ra te , u nder Vice-Admi ral A rbuthnot , to w homhe a cted a s S ignal -L i eutena nt i n the act ion o ff Cape Henry , March 1 6 ,

178 1 .

I n July fol low ing he w a s m a de Comm a nder, and on h i s a rriva l a tNew

GLEANINGS . I37

York join ed th e Avenger sloop . He w a s a fte rward s rece ived as avolun teer

,by S i r Samuel Hood , on board the Barfl eur in w h ich

h e shared i n mu ch a ctive se rvice . Havi ng subsequently rejoi ned hi ss loop

,he w a s a ppo inted Ca p ta i n o f the Sh rew sbu ry at Jam a ica ,

and confirmed in that rank June 1 3 , 178 2 . I n the fol low i ng Decembe rhe exchang ed to the “ Hydra i n w h ich he retu rned to E ng la nd ,and w a s put o u t of comm i ss ion .

Afte r spend ing some ti me i n F rance he w a s , i n 1786 , a ppo inted tothe “ T h i sbe ” fr igate , and o rde red to ta ke Lord Dorcheste r and h i sfam i ly to Quebec .

In the course of 1788 , being i r r i tated by some t rea tment expe ri encedfrom the Adm i ral ty , Ca ptai n Coffin took the extrao rd i na ry step of p roceed ing to F landers , w here he ente red into the se rvice o f the B raba n tpatr iot s ; but the event w h ich shortly en sued , of the conduct o f Lo rdHow e and his co l lea gue s at the Board be ing d eclared i l legal by thetw elve judg es , decided h i s retu rn to the se rvice o f h i s K i ng and country ;and at the Spa ni sh armament i n 1790 h e w a s appo inted to the Al l i

gato r”of 28 guns . At that per iod , w hen ly ing at the Nore , during a

st rong w i nd , a man fel l overboard , and Ca p tai n Coffin , i mpel led by h i s

generou s sp i r i t , i mmedia tely lea ped afte r h im . He succeeded i n rescu

ing a fel low -bei ng fromdeath ; bu t h i s exert ion s p roduced a severerup tu re , w h ich frequently a fte rw a rd s rem inded h im of th i s act o fhum a n i ty .

In the sp ri ng of 1791 ou r officer , having p reviou s ly been to Co rk ,w here h e rece ived th e fla g of Adm i ra l Cosby , w a s once more o rderedto America , from w hence he retu rned w i t h Lord Dorchester and h i sfa m ily i n th e ensu ing autumn . The A l l igato r w a s soon afte r pai doff at Dep tford .

At the commencement o f the w a r w i th the F rench rep ubl ic Ca pta inCoffin , w ho had inth e in te ri m vi s i ted Sw eden , Denm a rk , and Ru s s ia ,ob ta i ned the comm a nd of the Me la mpus ” fr igate , i n w h ich he w a s

employed on Channel service u n t i l t he clo se o f 1794 , w hen one n ig ht ,by exert i ng h im sel f too violently , he became rup tu red on both s ides ,w h ich obl iged h im to qu i t h i s sh i p , and fo r some mon th s he w a s l i te ra l lya cri pp l e . Onh i s recovery h e w en t to Le i th , be ing a ppointed to therec ru it ing se rv i ce at that port ; and i n O ctober , 1795 , he p roceeded toCors ica , w here h e served a s Res iden t Comm i s s ione r u n ti l th e eva cuat ion of that i s la nd , Oct . 1 5 , 1796 . F rom thence he removed to E lba ,and su b sequently to L i sbon , w here he conti nued fo r tw o years , a ct ivelyemp loyed a s th e head of the naval e sta b l i shment of tha t p lace .

GLEANINGS .

Tow ard s the latte r end of 1798 , w hen M i norca fel l i n to the hands ofth e E ng l i sh , Comm i ss ioner Coffin w a s appo in ted to th e superi ntendenceo f the a rsena l a t P ort Mahon ; and afte r the lap se of a few month sretu rned to E ng land on h i s w ay to Nova Scot ia , w h i ther he p roceededi n th e “ Venu s ” frigate .

O u r officer cont in ued to perfo rm the a rduous dutie s of a Re siden tCommi ss ione r o f the Navy , first at Hal i fax , and sub sequen tly a tSheerness , unt i l Ap ri l , 1 804 , w hen he w a s a dvanced to the ra nk of RearAdm ira l , and soon a fte r hoi sted h i s fl a g on board the G lad iato r ,”

bei ng a ppo inted to superi n tend the harbor du ty a t P ort smou th . Onth e 19th of May, 1 804 , he w a s created a B a rone t a s a rew ard for h i sun rem i tt i ng z eal and persever ing efforts fo r th e good of the p ubl i cservice .

S i r I saac Coffin h a uled dow n h i s fla g on be ing promoted to therank of V ice-Admira l

, Ap r i l 28 , 1 808 : H e became ful l Admi ra lJune 4 , 1 8 14 .

At th e g ene ra l e l ect ion of 1 8 1 8 he w a s re tu rned to P arl iament for t heborough of I lchester , for w h ich he sa t unti l t he d i s so lu t ion in1 8 26 . InP a rl iament be con stantly p a i d m uch a t tent ionto naval matte r s , and notu nfrequently in a styl e of facetiou sne s s tha t rel i eved th e subject of i t s drytechn ica l i ty . His char i ty w a s exten s ive and w i th i n a few w eek s of h i sdeath b e rem it ted ana ddi t ional and l ibera l d ona t io n to t he Royal NavalChari ty , for fear ,

”a s he humorou sly exp res sed h im se l f, he Should

sl ip h i s w i n d and forg et a l l abou t i t . ”

S i r I saac Coffin m a rr i ed , March , 1 8 1 1 , E l i zabeth B row ne , only ch i ldo f W . G reenly , Esq .

, of T i tl ey Cou rt , Hereford sh i re . She d ied notlong before her a g ed par tner , on the 27th Ja nuary , 1 839, hav ing had noi s sue . P rev io u sly to h i s marr iag e S i r I saac obta ined the royal perm i ss ion to take the name and a rm s o f G reenly , i n add i t io n to h i s own, bu the rel inqu i shed tha t name i n March , 1 8 1 3 .

He w a s posse s sed o f con s ide ra b le e state s i n th e Ma gda l ene i s land s , i nthe Gul f of S t . Law rence . He had c ro s sed t he At lantic o n serv ice o rp leasu re no les s tha n th i rty t ime s .

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CONCLUSION .

The p reface of a book u sually conta in s i t s las t w ord s to th e reader .O u r ownh a s long si nce been s truck off , and i t st i l l remai n s to accountfo r some lack of arrangemen t too g la r i ng to e scape unobserved , forwh ich , i f exp la ined , some a l low a nce may be made . T h i s sketch of mysubject h a d long been i n m a nu scr ip t , muc h more m inute i n detai l , w heni nvited to conden se i t i n to a d i scourse . In order to bri ng i t w i th i n thespecified l im i t o f anhour for del ive ry, much that had been p reparedw a s omi t ted . When p ri nted for the Ja nuary Record the tw e lve pa g e so rig i na l ly a l lotted w ere extended to nearly as many a gain . I t w a s

i mpo ss ible , even w i th i n these l imi t s , to emb ra ce all that m ig ht be u sefu lo r i n te res ting for the de scendant s of T ri s t ram to know , or for th em a ny be side s w ho , fo r othe r reason s , should find i t i n st ruct ive . Itseemed bette r that i t Shou ld contai n too much than too l i t tl e , enough tom a ke the re st u nderstood .

B es ide s , i t s value depended u pon finding a pla ce upon the shel f as a

vol ume , w here i t coul d be ea s i ly con su lted , not among th e p a mph let s i na clo se t to pass ou t of v iew . I t seemed , al so , ano bject that i t s t i tl eshould be i n th e ca talogue of bound book s i n the l ib ra r ie s W here i t coul deas i ly be fo und . T hat i t m ig ht not only a t t ract a t tent ion , but be o f u seto the n umerous cla s s w ho se h i s to ry i t part ial ly rela ted , i t seemed wo rthw hi le to imp rove the occas ion , w i thou t neg l ecti ng the p ri nc ipal subj ect ,and incorpora te w ha tever el se w ould shednew l igh t on the fami ly a nnal s .W h i le pass ing th roug h th e p res s many p reciou s documents and otherp a pers , previou sly u nknow n , came to my know l edg e ; to insert some ofthem a ppea red i nd i sp en sa ble to a ful l and fa i r v i ew of the ca ree r of th ea dm ira l .The w ri te r w ou ld be g l ad to ha ve cop ie s o f a l l corre spondence that

ex i st s o f S i r I sa ac , l et ters that he w rote or w h ich w ere a ddres sed to h im ,

and to l ea rn a l l i nci den ts and anecdote s of himor o ther members o f th eCoffin ra ce , w h ich i f know n would have a dded to the va lue or ente rta i nmen t o f th i s volume . I f not h i s p riv i leg e to perfect th i s w ork by add ingsuch cont ribu tion snow , they w i l l be kep t tog ether w here they cannot belos t . T here w i l l be pe rh a p s other memoi r s to be w r i t ten int he t imes to

GLEANINGS . 14 I

come where they w i l l find a place . T he re are reason s w hy b iog rapher sShou ld be o f othe r name s thanthe i r subject s . Sh a r ing th e i r s tock andfa mil ia r w i th a l l that concerned the a dm i ra l from h is ea rl i e s t da ys , hehope s tha t i t may not be con s idered p re sump tion i n h imto haveu ndertaken the ta sk .

I t h as been an ancien t cu stom , not yet p a s s ed"aw ay , for educa tiona l

and eleemosyna ry in s t i tut ion s i n ou r mothe r-count ry and othe r land s , tohold i n remembrance the bi rthda y s of the i r founde rs . In P endenn i s ,

”

Col . New comb cel eb ra ted such ana nn iver sary among the B l ue Coa t s o fLondon . S i r I saa c , se tti ng forth i n h i s revoked w i l l th e ru le s for h i snau t ica l schoo l s , fol low ed s imp ly th i s t ime-honored cu stom i n p rovid ingt hat h i s ownShould be kep t , and th a t p r i z e s and p re sent s s hould bebe stow ed on tha t d ay upont he p up i l s , that he , too , m ig h t be p lea sa ntlyremembe red . He w a s not sanctimoniou s enoug h to be canon i zed fo r a

sa in t , nor w i l l it be fifty years s i nce he died befo re 1 889. He posse ssedn everth ele s s many o f the qual ifica t ion s for such a p lace i n th e ca lendar ,i n h i s g enerou s con s idera t ion o f other s . T h i s tr ibu te i s pa id to h i smemory , a bout w hom mu ch more that i s i n te re s ti ng m igh t be sa id , onth i s a nn iver sa ry of h i s b i rthday .

BO STON , May 16 , 1 886 .

19 Commonwea lth a venu e .

ERRATA .

P a ge 55 . Fo r cred ito r rea d d eb tor.

57. Fo r cra tes rea d cra ils .

67. For B ra b and ers rea d B ra banters.

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ARCH /EOLOG ICA L INST ITUTE .

P UB LICAT IONS O F THE ARCH l E O LOGICAL INS TI

T U T E O F AME RICA .

F I RST ANNUAL RE PORT ,1 880 . Svo . pp . 26

S ECOND A NNUAL RE P ORT ,1 88 1 . 8yo . pp . 49

T H I RD A NNUAL RE PORT ,1 882 . 8vo . pp . 56

FOU RTH A NNUAL RE P O RT ,1 883 . 8vo . pp . 56

F I FTH ANNUAL RE PORT , 1 884 . Syo . pp . 1 18

S IXTH A NNUAL RE P ORT,1 88 5 . 8vo . pp . 48

B ULLET IN O F THE A RCHE OLOG I CAL INST IT UT E . 1. Jan.

,1 883 .

Syo . pp . 40 . I l l ustra tedF I RST A NNUAL RE PORT AND PA P ERS . 1 880 . Svo . C lo th .

pp . 1 63 . I l l ustra ted 2 00

AMER I CAN S ER I E S I. 1 88 1 . 1 . Historica l Introductionto S tudiesamong the S edenta ry Ind IanS of New Mex ico . 2 . Report uponth eRums of the P ueblo of P ecos . By A. F . BANDEL I ER . 8yo .

Boa rds . pp . 1 35 . I l l ustra ted . 2d ed itionAMER I CAN S ER I ES II. 1 884 . Report of anA rchaeo logica l T our InMex ico in1 88 1 . By A . F . BANDE L I ER. 8vo . C loth . pp . 326 .

I l l ustra tedCLASS I CAL S ER I ES I. 1 882 . Report onthe Investiga tions a t A ssos

,

1 88 1 . By J O SE PH THACHER CLARKE . With ana ppendix conta ininginscrip tions fromA ssos and Lesbos

,and P a pers byW . C . LAW TON

and J . S . D 1LLER . 8m. Boa Id s pp . 2 1 5 . I l lustra tedP a p ers o f th e S ch oo l o f C l a ss ic a l S tu d ie s a t A th ens . F IRSTA NNUAL RE P ORT O F THE COMM ITTE E . 1 88 1 . Svo . pp . 1 3

T he Second and T hird Annua l Repmts a re conta ined H] th e Fourth andF ifth Annua l Reports o f the Immune , respec t ive ly.

B ULLET IN O F THE SCHOO L O F CLASS I CAL STUD I E S . I. Reportof P rof . IVILLIAM \V. GO ODW I N , Direc tor of the S chool , 1 882— 831 883 . 8vo . pp . 33

P RE L IM INARY REPO RT O F AN ARCHzEO LOG ILAL J O URNEY MAD EIN A S IA MINO R D U R ING T HE S UMM ER O F 1 884 By J . R. S .

S T ERRETT,P H .D . 1 88 5 . pp . 4 5

PA P ERS O P THE AME R I CAN SCHOO L OF CLASS I CAL STUD I E S AT

A THENS . Vol . 1 . 1882-83 . Svo pp . 262 . I l l ustra ted

W Any of Me a bove w orks sent post/ a id to any pnr t of the United S ta tes or Cana d aonr ece ipt of tke pr ice .

CUPPLES , UPHAM, CO .

,PUBL I SHERS , BOSTON .

A M E R I C A NA .

ANTIQUE VIEW S O F YE TOW NE O F B OSTON .

A ssisted by Dr . Samuel A. Green, E x -Mayor of Boston,Libra rianof

the Ma ssa ch uset ts Historica l Society ; JohnWa rd Dean,Libra rian

of the New Eng land Historic Genea logica l S ociety ; and J udge Mel linC hamberla in

,of the P ub l ic Libra ry. Anex tensive and ex ha ustive

work in378 pa ges . Large qua rto . l ll IIstIa ted with nea rly 200 fu l lsize reproductions of a ll knownra rema ps, o ld prints, &c . 1 vol . a to .

C lo thFIRST CHURCH IN B O S T ON . H I STORY O F

, FROM 1 630

To 1 880 . By A RTHUR E . ELL I S . With anintrod uctionbyGeorge E .

E l l is,D . O . I l l ustra ted with pla tes . I vol . 8vo . C lo th . 356 pp .

SAMUE L A . GRE EN ,M .D . , Ex -Mayor of Bo ston

, Libra rianof Ma ssa ch usetts Historica l So ciety. THE EARLY RECORDS O F

( J ROTON,lVIAS S .

,1662— 1707. I l l ustra ted . I vol . 8vo . 202 pp .

B URY ING—GROU ND O F GROTON,MASS . W ith no tes and ana ppen

d ix . 1 vol . Syo . C l o th . 271 pp .

I ND IAN WA RS . I vo l . Syo . 2 1 4 pp .

MASSACHU SE TT S . 1 vol . 8yo . C lo th

GE ORGE E . E LLIS , D .D . MEMO IR OF JACO B B I GELOW ,

M.D .,LL .D . WIth portra it . 1 vol . Svo . C lo th

RAL PH W ALDO EMERS ON . By C . A . BARTOL. Syo .

P amph let .

JAME S T . F IE LDS . A TRIB U'

I‘

E . By C . A . BARTOL. 8 vo .

P amph letHENRY KNOX THATCHER ,

Admira l U . S . Na vy.

By A DM IRAL G . H. P REBLE . W ith portra it . Svo . P amph letALEXANDER HAMILTON VINTON . By PH ILLI PS

BROOK S Svo . P amph letDAVID P ULS IFE R . BATTLE OF B UNKER H ILL. 16mo .

C loth

W Any of tke a bove works sent postpa zd to any pa r t of the Unz'ted S ta tes or Cana d aonreceipt of Ike pr zce .

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P EAB ODY . ZESTHETIC PA P ERS . Ed ited by EL IZABETH P

P EABODY . l VOl . 8vo . P amph let . pp . 248 . Boston,1 849

A ra re Americanpamphlet . It conta ins ea i ly pa pers byEmerson, Haw

thorne, P a rke , Godwm, Thorea u, and o thers .

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HIS T O RY O F TH E INDE P ENDENT S . P amph let . I vo l .

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B OW DIT CH . S U FFOLK S URNAMES . (Surnames o f S u ffo l kCounty, Ma ss . ) I vol . 8yo . C loth . 383 pp .

FRANCIS S . DRAKE MEMOR IALS OF THE SOC IETY O F

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A M E R I C A NA .

OLD SOUTH CHURCH , B O S TON . (T h ird C h urch . )MEMOR IAL A DDRE SSES ; viz .

, Josh ua S cot tow and J ohnA l den,by

H . A . H I LL , A.M. ; S amue l S ewa ll, by G . E . E LL I S, D .D LL . D . ;

S amue l A dams, by E . G . P O RT ER,A.M . Ministers of the Old So u th

from1670 to 1 882,by I NCREASE N. TARBOX

,D . O . \V ith anindex

of names . 1 vol . 8vo . C lo thTHE S EW ALL P AP E RS . Geo rge E . E l l is, H .

VVhitmore,HenryWan'

eri Torrey, James Ru sse l l Lowel l , Col /mu tter: ofP u blica t ion. D IARY OF SAMUEL S EWALL

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— 1 729. 3 vo ls . La rge8yo With e labora te index ofnames, pla ces, and events . C loth ,ha l f ca l f or ha l fmorocco

The famous dia ry of Chie f Just ice Sewa l l of Ma ssa ch usetts , themanuscript of which is one of the trea sures of the Ma ssa chuse tts Historica lSoc iety As aminu te picture of themanners and customs of ea rly co lonia l days , a bound ing Inwit , humor, and wisdom, inthe qua intest of Engl ish ,it h a s ha rdly a pro to type inthe who le range o f ea rly Americanlitera ture .

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Book , a re inprocess of annota tionfor publ ica tion.EDW ARD H . SAVAGE . BO STON EVENT S . A Brief Men

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CHARLE S W IS'

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VILLE . H I GH FARMING W ITHOUT MANU RE . Six Lectures onA gricu l ture . By GEO RGE V I LLE . P ublished under the directiono fthe Ma ssa ch usetts So ciety for the P romotionof Agricu l ture. 16mo .

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E . A . RO B INSON AND GE ORGE A . W ALL . THE

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SHE USED WHAT SHE LEAR \ ED . A story for ch il drenand thosewho love ch il dren. Fromth e Germanof J ohanna Spyri, by Mrs .

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