Person Sheet


Name *Tristram COFFIN, 11G Grandfather
Birth 11 Mar 1609, Plymouth, Brixton Parish, Devonshire, England
Death 20 Oct 1681, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts
Occupation CLICK NAME FOR NOTES - Ferryman, Owner of a Tavern & 1 of 20 Co-owners of island of Nantucket
Mother Joanna THEMBER
Spouses:
1 *Dionis STEVENS, 11G Grandmother
Birth 4 Mar 1610, Brixton Parish,Brixton,Devonshire,England
Death 6 Nov 1684, Nantucket, MA
Occupation Keeper of an Ordinary/Tavern
Father *Robert STEVENS
Mother *Dionis WIFE OF ROBERT STEVENS
Marriage 1630
Children: *Tristram (1632-1703)
Peter (1630-)
John (Died Young) (-1642)
John (1647-1711)
Elizabeth
Notes for *Tristram COFFIN
The Coffins are entered in the Domesday Book (1086) as the possessors of several "hides" of lands in Devonshire. Later, the Coffin family is connected to the Carminowe family, which has been traced back to 1126, and the Boscawen family, which has been traced back to the 1200s. The British seat of the Coffins, Portledge Manor near Bideford, Devon, is believed to have been granted to Sir Richard Coffyn, Knight, "for valuable services rendered the Conqueror." The earliest record of ownership for Portledge is from 1254; it is a deed in Latin. Around this time (1066-1307) there was a great deal of feudal, civil unrest in Devonshire. Portledge was held by the Coffins for "six or seven centuries." Elder sons always inherited the estates.
It is generally assumed that Tristram Coffin was of the same Coffin family as that which inhabited Portledge Manor in Devonshire. Nicholas Coffyn, Tristram's grandfather, was born during the Tudor era, around 1568, and was m. Joanna. He died in 1613, had five children: Peter (the oldest, Tristram Coffin's father), Nicholas, Tristram, John, and Anne. Peter was born abt. 1580; he married Joan Thember and died abt. 1627. His children included Tristram, John, Joan, Deborah, Eunice, and Mary.
Tristram Coffin (later of Nantucket) was born in Brixton, near Plymouth, Devonshire, in 1605. He held estates at Brixton. In 1639/40 he was a church warden in Brixton, and in 1641 he was a constable. He owned property in Dorset and Devon. He married Dionis Stevens, daughter of Robert Stevens, Esq., of Brixton, in 1630, at age 25.

Puritanism was growing quickly in England, but Tristram Coffin was not a Puritan.
It is unclear why Tristram Coffyn left his estates at the age of 37 to move to Massachusetts. It's believed that Tristram emigrated on a ship owned by Robert Clement. According to stated source, 169"Tristram's friend Robert Clement was leaving for America shortly, aboard a small fleet of ships, some of which were owned by Clement. Tristram quickly put his affairs in order and embarked on his journey with his family aboard Clement's ship named Hector Clement in the spring of 1642."
He and his family (Dionis, his 58-year-old mother, his five children, and two unmarried sisters) settled in Haverhill (formerly Pawtucket) in 1642. This settlement began in 1640 and a deed from the Passaconnaway Indians was obtained in 1642. Tristram witnessed the deed, the signing of which was attended by the sachems Passaquo and Saggahew. The land was purchased for three pounds and ten shillings:
Know all men by these presents, that wee Passaquo and Saggahew wth the consent of Passaconaway; have sold unto ye inhabitants of Pentuckett all ye lands wee have in Pentuckett... And wee ye said Passaquo and Saggahew wth ye consent of Passaconnaway, have sold unto ye said inhabitants all ye right that wee or any of us have in ye said ground and Ileand and Rivver: And wee warrant it against all or any other Indeans whatsoever into ye said Inhabitants of Penuckett, and to their heires and assignes forever Dated ye fifteenth day of november Ann Dom 1642.
Witnes our hands and seales to this bargayne of sale ye day and year above written (in ye presents of us) we ye said Passaquo & Saggahew have received in hand, for & in consideration of ye same three pounds & ten shillings: John Ward, Robert
Clements, Tristram Coffyn, Hugh Sherratt, William White, Thomas Davis. [Norfolk Co. Deeds- book 2, p.209]
In 1644 Tristram obtained a license to "keep an ordinary, sell wine, and keep a ferry" in Newbury, where the family had moved. In 1647 he got another license to do the same. The pub, "Coffin's Ordinary," was run by his wife Dionis. Her pub became known as "the place where the best beer was sold."
The Coffin family moved to Salisbury in 1654, and Tristram "organized a company for the purchase and settlement of Nantucket." In 1659 Tristram went to Martha's Vineyard with Peter Folger (Ben Franklin's grandfather) along as an Indian interpreter. He wanted to check out the temperment of the Indians and see the island. There were about 3000 Indians on Nantucket when he arrived, and were described as being "kind and hospitable."
Following his visit to the Nantucket, the island was purchased from Thomas Mayhew for the sum of 30 pounds and two beaver hats. There were 19 purchasers, including representatives from the Coffin, Macy and Starbuck families. Their 1659 agreement stated that "No man whatsoever shall purchase any land of any of the Indians upon the said iland for his own private or particular use; but whatsoever purchas shall be made, shall be for the general account of the Twenty owners or purchasers..."
In 1659 Tristram and Thomas Macy also purchased an island from the Sachem of Nantucket: "This witnesseth that I, Wanochmamack, chife sachem of Nantucket, hath sold unto Mr. Tristram Coffin and Thomas Macy, their heirs and assigns, that whole nack of land called by the Indians, Pacummohquah, being at the east end of Nantucket, for and in consideration of five pounds to be paid to me in English goods or otherwise to my content by the said Tristram Coffin aforesaid at convenient time as shall be demanded. Witness my hand or mark this 22 of June, 1662." [Albany Deeds- Vol.III, p.57]
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Indian Deed of Nantucket [Deeds iii, 54, Secretary's Office] Albany, NY Records
Recorded for Mr. Tristram Coffin and Mr. Thos Macy, the 29th of June, 1671 aforesaid.

These presents witness that I Wanackmamack, Head Sachem of the Island of Nantuckett, have Bargained and Sold, and do by these presents Bargaine and Sell unto Tristram Coffin, Thomas Macy, Richard Swayne, Thomas Bernard, John Swayne, Mr. Thos Mayhew, Edward Starbuck, Peter Coffin, James Coffin, Stephen Greenleafe, Tristram Coffin, Jr. ... for and in consideration of fourty pounds already received by me or other by my consent or order. To have and to hold, the aforesaid tracts of land with the propriety, royalties, immunities, privileges and all the appertenances thereunto belonging to them the aforesaid purchasers their heirs and assigns forever.

In witness whereof, I the aforesaid Wanackmamack have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above written.
The signe of Wanack-mamack.
Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of:
Peter Foulger, Eleazer Foulger, Dorcas Starbuck.
(BJ's note: The stated purchase price of Forty Pounds would be worth $3, 210.000 in 2010, the latest calculation I could perform. I'm guessing that forty pounds would be worth much more in 2013.)
Source: The Coffin Family: the Life of Tristram Coffin, by Allen Coffin, pub 1881
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The first white settlers on Nantucket were Thomas Macy and his family; Edward Starbuck; Isaac Coleman; and James Coffin, Tristram's son. Tristram's other children were Peter, Tristram Jr., John, Mary (who married Nathaniel Starbuck) and Elizabeth, who married Stephen Greenleaf on November 13 1651. Tristram built a home near Capaum Pond, and lived there until his death. Many Indians were employed by white settlers, including Tristram. In time, the Indians suffered from alcohol abuse, having been fine before learning to love rum. Some were sentenced with whipping due to drunkenness and petty larceny.
The Indians became troublesome only after they had learned to drink rum. The early court records are mainly devoted to trials, convictions and sentences of Indians to be whipped for getting drunk and for petty larcenies, and fines were imposed upon white men and women for selling rum to Indians. ... . The letter of Thomas Macy to Governor Lovelace, 9 May 1676 shows the fear of the Indians if strong drink was allowed to be sold to them and he asked the Governor to prohibit any ship coming into the harbor from selling strong drink to Indians: "Sir, concerning the Peace we hitherto enjoy, I cannot imagine it could have bin if strong Liquor had bin among the Indians, as formerly: for my owne yt I have been to ye utmost an opposed of the Trade these 38 yeares, and I verily believe (respecting the Indians) tis the only Ground of the miserable psent Ruine to both Nations; for tis that hath kept them from Civility, they have been the drunken Trade kept all the while like wild Beares and Wolves in the Wildernesse."
Epidemics in 1616-19 devastated the native population of Nantucket. The last Nantucket Indian, Abram Quary, died in 1854. In the late 1600s the community was divided by a feud between Tristram Coffin and John Gardner, concerning the governance of the island. The feud eventually ended and Gardner's daughter Mary married Tristram's grandson, Jethro Coffin. Their house, the oldest house on Nantucket, is now a tourist attraction.
Newburyport, MA - Its notable old houses include the Coffin House (c.1651), the Swett-Isley House (c.1671), and the Short House (c.1732). Source: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
"
[T]he old Coffin house...is a picturesque dark building set a little back from the street, the particular boast of which is two hearths adorned with small, square Dutch tiles, upon which are represented Scripture scenes in blue, the quaintest depicting Jonah, just delivered up, seated on the shore gazing at a whale - of a species unknown to natural history - whose ferocious jaws are provided with teeth like an alligator's." Source: New England Magazine - an illustrated monthly, New Series, Vol.5; Old Series, Vol. 11, September, 1891-February, 1892, pub. by New England Magazine Corp, Boston, Mass. 1892.
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Tristram's mother Joan died in Boston in May 1661 at age 77.
In September 1678, a French ship's cargo of furs from the Colonial mainland, ran aground on the Nantucket shoals causing an incident that some believe led to the indirect death of Tristram Coffyn. James Coffin among others perpetrated the incident by innocently asking permission from his father, who at the time was the Chief Magistrate of Nantucket, to remove the cargo of two thousand furs from the shipwreck. Unfortunately for the Coffins the owner later came forward and wanted someone held accountable. The burden of responsibility fell on Tristram Coffyn's shoulders. He was the Chief Magistrate of the Island and it was his responsibility by law to launch a salvage of any wrecks that ran aground on the Island, securing the contents until they could be claimed. Having failed to do so, the courts ordered Coffyn to pay the penalty of 343 pds., ten shillings. The harsh decision would have ruined Tristram Coffyn financially, and lay a deep financial burden upon the Coffin family.Tristram died on October 2 1681, aged 76. His will is linked here.

Tristram Coffin's Wills

"I Tristram Coffin of Nantucket, do for divers good considerations, as Also
in regard of my Fatherly affections, do give unto my daughter, Mary
Starbuck, the one half of my accomodations of my purchase, on Nantucket
Island... 14th 4th mo. 1664." [Nantucket Deeds Vol.1, p.197]

"I Tristram Coffin, of Nantucket, Senore, do give... unto my son, Stephen
Coffin, the one-half of my land at Cappan, Alies Northam, within the
township of Sherborn, situated upon Nantucket Island... all... except... my
new dwelling house upon the hill, and my old dwelling house under the hill,
by the Erbe garden; now, for and in consideration of the aforesaid
premisses, my son, Stephen Coffin, shall always from time to time do the
best he can in managing my other half of my lands and accomodation during
mine and my wife's life, and tht he be helpfull to me and his mother in our
old age and sickness, what he can:... the fifteenth of the elventh mone,
one thousand six hundred and seventy-six."[Nantucket Deeds, old book, p.
63]

"Tristram Coffin, Senior, in the town of Sherborn, on the Island of
Nantucket... in regard to my naturall afections unto my son, John Coffin,
now of Sherborn, as also for divers other good and Lawful consideration...
I... do freely give unto my son, John Coffin... my new Dwelling house, with
all other houses Adjoining unto it, and also the whole half share of land
and accomodation... to have and to hold forever, imediatly after the
Decease of me... and my now wife Dionis Coffin" 3 Dec. 1678.[Nantucket
Deeds Vol.2, p.19]

"I Tristram Coffin of Sherborn... in Regard of my Natural afection unto my
Grand Children... give unto every one of them Ten Acres of land to plant or
sow English grain on... upon the Island of Tuckernuck... and if they...
shall sow their land with english hay seed they shall have liberty to keep
four shep upon every acre during their Lifetime... 3d 10th 1678."[Nantucket
Deeds- Vol.2, p.17]

"The 8th day of August, 1682, an Inventory being presented to the Court of
the estate of Mr. Tristram Coffin, Senior, who departed this life the third
day of October, on thousand six hundred eighty one, the Court taking into
consideration the present state of the estate, together with the best
Information of his mind before his decease: doe order the use of the estate
for Ms Dionis Coffin, his widdow, during her life after al Just debts are
paid." [Nantucket Records]

For more info. on Tristram Coffin and his family you can visit these sites:
http://www.islandregister.com/rcoffin/rcoffini.html
http://members.localnet.com/~rossbk/GenCOFFIN.htm
http://www.vineyard.net/vineyard/history/coffin.htm#john8
http://ucs.orst.edu/~gildenj/coffin/index.html
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