Zenas Coffin
Zenas Coffin | |
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| Born | June 3, 1764 Nantucket. MA, United States |
| Died | July 8, 1828 (aged 64) Nantucket. MA, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Occupation |
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| Spouse(s) | Abial Gardner |
| Children | 8 |
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Zenas Coffin (June 3, 1764 - July 8, 1828)[1][2][3] was an American mariner and one of the wealthiest whale oil merchants[4][5][6][7][8] and largest shipowners[6] of his time in Nantucket, Masssachusetts.
Family Life
Coffin was born to Micajah Coffin and Abigail (née Coleman) Coffin[1][2][3][7] on Nantucket, Province of Massachusetts, on June 3, 1764.[7][1][2][3] In 1776, Coffin, at age 12, dropped out of school and instead focused upon the whaling business on the wharves of Nantucket.[7]
On September 28, 1786, Coffin, at age 22, married Abial Gardner.[2][3][7] They had eight children together[2]: Eunice, Charles, Lydia, Frederick, Mary, Charles G., Frederick G., and Henry.
Business Career
Coffin, with both his father, Micajah Coffin, and his brother, Gilbert Coffin, operated a Nantucket based whaling firm during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries called Micajah Coffin and Sons.[9]
In 1791, at age 27, Coffin was the captain of a whale oil ship of 160 tons.[7] During July 1791, Coffin became the captain of the ship named the Lydia and sailed on a whaling voyage to the Cape of Good Hope.[7] During April 1792, Coffin returned to Nantucket with the Lydia's cargo completely full.[7] This was the first of 15 voyages in which the Coffins were sole or part owners of this ship which brought in over half a million dollars to the Nantucket Coffin family and others.[7]
On June 23, 1812, Coffin, with a group of other Nantucket men [Daniel Coffin, Isaac Coffin, Silvanus Macy, Obed Macy, James Barker, Paul Gardner, Jr., and George Gardner 2d] created the corporation known as the Phoenix Bank.[10]
On June 12, 1818, Coffin incorporated the Nantucket Phoenix Insurance Company.[11] Due to his large whaling ship fleet, Coffin felt it best to self insure his ships.[12][13]
Death
Coffin died on July 8, 1828 on Nantucket.[1][2][3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Zenas Coffin 1764-1828 - Ancestry®". www.ancestry.com. Archived from the original on 2019-07-04. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Coffin, Louis (1962). The Coffin Family. Nantucket, Massachusetts: Nantucket Historical Association. p. 209.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Barney Genealogical Record - Person Page 442". www.nantuckethistoricalassociation.net. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
- ↑ "House Histories: 86 Main Street | Nantucket Preservation Trust". Retrieved 2019-07-04.
- ↑ "Thomas Macy House History". Nantucket Historical Association. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Swift, J.G.; Ellery, Harrison (1890). The memoirs of Gen. Joseph Gardner Swift. Privately Printed. p. 55. ISBN 9785872206675.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 Gardner, Will (1949). The Coffin Saga. Nantucket Island, Massachusetts: Whaling Museum Publications. pp. 64, 159, 160, 162, 319.
- ↑ Heflin, Wilson (2004). Edwards, Mary K. Bercaw; Heffernan, Thomas Farel (eds.). Herman Melville's Whaling Years. Vanderbilt University Press. p. 179. ISBN 0826513824.
- ↑ "Guide to the Charles Congdon Collection on Micajah Coffin and Sons, 1602-1893". Nantucket Historical Association. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
- ↑ Massachusetts (1812). "1812 Chap. 0039. An Act To Incorporate The President, Directors And Company Of The Phoenix Bank".
- ↑ Massachusetts (1818). "1818 Chap. 0017. An Act To Incorporate The Nantucket Phoenix Insurance Company".
- ↑ Anonymous (2016). Biographical Encyclopedia of Massachusetts of the Nineteenth Century; Volume 2. Wentworth Press. pp. 266, 267. ISBN 978-1359986344.
- ↑ "Zenas Coffin". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
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