Joshua Coffin

author

Joshua Coffin

1792–1864

A New England schoolteacher turned historian and abolitionist, he combined a love of local history with a strong public stand against slavery. He is remembered both for his early anti-slavery work and for preserving the story of old Newbury, Massachusetts.

1 Audiobook

An account of some of the principal slave insurrections, and others, which have occured, or been attempted, in the United States and elsewhere, during the last two centuries.

An account of some of the principal slave insurrections, and others, which have occured, or been attempted, in the United States and elsewhere, during the last two centuries.

by Joshua Coffin

About the author

Born in Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1792, Joshua Coffin graduated from Dartmouth College in 1817 and spent many years teaching. One of his pupils was the poet John Greenleaf Whittier, a small detail that hints at the kind of thoughtful local influence Coffin had in his community.

He became deeply involved in the anti-slavery movement and is noted as one of the founders of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, serving as its first recording secretary. Alongside reform work, he wrote on history and family genealogy, bringing the same careful attention to the past that shaped his public life.

Coffin is best known as the author of A Sketch of the History of Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury and The History of Ancient Newbury. His work helped preserve the early history of his region, and his life stands out as a blend of scholarship, teaching, and moral conviction.