Levi coffin biography
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Levi Coffin
American educator and abolitionist (–)
Levi Coffin Jr. | |
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A drawing based on a c. engraving | |
| Born | ()October 28, Guilford County, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | September 16, () (aged&#;78) Avondale, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Resting place | Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Occupation(s) | Farmer Pork packing Merchant Banking |
| Known&#;for | work with Underground Railroad |
| Political party | Whig Republican |
| Board member&#;of | Western Freedman's Society Second State Bank of Indiana |
| Spouse | Catherine White |
| Relatives | Lucretia Coffin Mott (cousin) |
Levi Coffin Jr. (October 28, – September 16, ) was an American Quaker, Republican, abolitionist, farmer, businessman and humanitarian. An active leader of the Underground Railroad in Indiana and Ohio, some unofficially called Coffin the "President of the Underground Railroad", estimating that three thousand fugitive slaves passed through his care. The Coffin home in Fountain City, Wayne
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Quakers in the World
Levi Coffin
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Levi Coffin was the only son of Levi and Prudence (nee Williams) Coffin. His family were Quakers and farmers in Guilford County, North Carolina. He had little formal schooling because he was needed to work on the farm. Nevertheless he was educated sufficiently well at home (with his six sisters) to be able to take up teaching. His life story is told in his book “Reminiscences of Levi Coffin” published in He wrote “Both my parents and grandparents were opposed to slavery, and none of either of the families ever owned slaves; and all were friends of the oppressed, so I claim that I inherited my anti-slavery principles.”
When he was fifteen he went to a corn husking, where he noticed a group of slaves brought to the husking by a slave dealer named Stephen Holland. While the other whites in the party dined, the young Quaker remained behind to talk with the slaves and to "
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Levi Coffin was born in North Carolina on October 28, into a Quaker family who greatly influenced by the teachings of John Woolman a Quaker preacher, who believed slaveholding was not compatible with the Quaker beliefs and advocated emancipation. Growing up in the South, Coffin was frequently exposed to slaves throughout his childhood and sympathized with their condition.
By the age of 15, William was helping his family assist escaping slaves bygd giving them food and shelter on their farm. In , William became a teacher and opened up a school for slaves to teach them how to read, though it was not successful as slave owners would not permit their slaves to attend. In , he moved to Indiana and over the next 20 years he assisted more than 2, enslaved persons escape bondage, so many that his home was known as the "Grand Central hållplats of the Underground Railroad."
Moving to Cincinnati, Ohio in , he operated the Western Free Produce Association, a store that sold only goods produced b