Call Number:

MC.975.04.005

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

0.2 linear ft. (1 volume)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Elijah Coffin scrapbook (HC.MC.975.04.005), Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

Undated.

Creator:

Coffin, Elijah, 1798-1862

Form:

clippings (information artifacts)

Abstract:

Elijah Coffin's scrapbook includes his handwritten notes, typed materials, and published clippings. It features published materials on the history of westward expansion and pioneers, and the history of Indiana, as well as typed excerpts from a history of Kentucky (by Scudder), a history of Virginia (by Cooke), and Daniel Boone. In addition to material focusing on the history of the American West, the scrapbook includes excerpts from histories of Mesopotamia, Russia, Babylonia, Sumeria, Palestine, and Jerusalem.

Elijah Coffin (1800-1862) was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, in 1800, the son of Bethuel Coffin and Hannah Dicks. He taught school beginning at the age of 19. He married Naomi Hiatt in 1820, and the couple had seven children: Miriam Allinson Coffin (1821-1913), Charles Fisher Coffin (1823-1916), William Hiatt Coffin (1825-1925), Caroline Elizabeth Coffin (1826-1916), Eliphalet Coffin (1828-1831), Mary Coffin (1830-1928), and Hannah Ameila Coffin (1836-1934). In 1822, he was appointed clerk of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. While living in North Carolina, Coffin was a member of an Emancipation Society, but due to his aversion to slavery, he and his family moved to Indiana in 1824. There, Coffin purchased land and opened a school. In 1827, he became clerk of Indiana Yearly Meeting, a position he filled for 31 years. In 1829, Coffin gave up teaching and opened a mercantile business in the village of Milton. Coffin died on January 22, 1862, in Richmond, Indiana.

This collection is comprised of the single volume scrapbook of Elijah Coffin, and includes his handwritten notes, typed materials, and published clippings. The volume includes published materials on the history of westward expansion and pioneers, and the history of Indiana, as well as typed excerpts from a history of Kentucky (by Scudder), a history of Virginia (by Cooke), and Daniel Boone. In addition to material focusing on the history of the American West, the scrapbook includes excerpts from histories of Mesopotamia, Russia, Babylonia, Sumeria, Palestine, and Jerusalem.