Coffin family papers, 1700s-1860s
| Collection Name: | Coffin family papers, 1700s-1860s |
| Collection Code: | MS010 |
| Dates: | 1700-1869 |
| Abstract: | The Coffin collection spans the late-seventeenth, eighteenth and early-nineteenth-centuries. This collection presents a unique view of American history as recorded and collected by generations of one family. |
| Finding Aid Info: |
Paper finding aid available in the Library and Archives. |
| Collection Type: | Manuscripts |
| Description Level: | Collection |
| GUSN: | 187800 |
| Reference Code: | MS010 |
Historical/Biographical Note
Around 1642, Tristram Coffin, Sr. traveled from England to New England with his family. His son, Tristram, Jr. was the founder of the Newbury branch of the Coffin family. For six generations, his descendants lived in the house in which he had raised his children. Miss Lucy Coffin, the last family member to reside in the house, lived there until 1893. The Coffins owned the house until 1929, when the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, known today as Historic New England, acquired the building as its first property.Source: Coffin Family Papers finding aid.
Description
The Coffin Family Papers span seven generations of the Coffin family of Newbury, Massachusetts, from 1643 through 1861. The domestic life and civic affairs of the family during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are the main subject areas of these materials. The collection includes correspondence, legal documents, financial papers, account books, and diaries. Seven account books, kept by four generations of the Coffin family from 1710 to 1815, contain information pertaining to the expenses of the family tannery business and domestic purchases. Among the papers of Joseph Coffin (1702-1773) are proprietors' documents for the Maine town of Narraganset number 1, later named Buxton. These documents date from the 1740's through 1760's, the period during which Joseph was the proprietor's clerk, and relate to the establishment and founding of the town. Source: Coffin Family Papers finding aid.
Arrangement
These papers are arranged chronologically by family member. Each member's manuscripts are subdivided by correspondence, diaries, financial papers, legal papers, and printed matter. The description of each set of manuscripts contains a biographical sketch, scope and content note, and an inventory.
Record details
| Originator: |
Coffin Family |
| Descriptive Terms: |
families home tanneries |
| Material Type: |
account books commercial correspondence diaries financial records legal documents manuscripts personal correspondence |
| Subjects: |
Historic New England properties |
| Places: |
Newbury Buxton |
| Places (Buildings): |
Coffin House (Newbury, Mass.) |