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 REVEREND ENOCH COFFIN. 
 
 concord's first PREACIIKR, I726-'28. 
 By JoJin C. Tlionw. 
 
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 HE subject of this sketch 
 was descended from an 
 ancient and honorable 
 family, and is presumed 
 to be of Norman origin. 
 The first of that name in England 
 was Sir Richard Coffyn, Knight, 
 who accompanied William the Con- 
 queror on his invasion of that coun- 
 try in 1066. 
 
 Sir Richard held the rank of 
 general in the army. The lands 
 received by him from the king were 
 upon the borders of the river Severn, 
 and have descended in direct line in 
 the family for upwards of seven hun- 
 dred years. 
 
 The genealogy of Concord's first 
 preacher which is here given back to 
 Peter Coffyn, in England, is far 
 enough to answer our purpose. It is 
 like this: Enoch CofTin*^ (Nathan- 
 iel'', Tristram, Jr. ^, Tristram", Peter^) 
 was born in Newbury, Mass., Feb- 
 ruary 7, 1696. Graduated at Har- 
 vard college, 1714; died August 
 7, 1728. He married January 5, 
 1716, Mehitable Moody. They had 
 four children. All died before reach- 
 ing maturit}^ His father was Hon. 
 Nathaniel Coffin of Newbury, dea- 
 con of the first church, and clerk of 
 the town, also representative to the 
 General Court three years, i7i9-'2i. 
 Councillor of the Province in 1730, 
 and Special Justice of the Court of 
 
 Common Pleas for Essex county in 
 1734. He had eight children. Two 
 of them, the Rev. Enoch Coffin and 
 Samuel B. Coffin, graduated at Har- 
 vard college. He died in 1749, aged 
 eighty. Upon the tombstones of 
 his grandfather and grandmother in 
 the "First Parish Burying Ground" 
 are these inscriptions : 
 
 To the nieniory of Tristram Coffin Esq., who 
 having served the First Church of Newbury in 
 the office of Deacon 20 years, died, Feb. 4, 
 1703-4, aged 72 years. 
 
 On earth he pur-clias-ed a good degree, 
 Great boldness in the faith and liberty. 
 And now possesses immortality. 
 
 He was made a freeman of the 
 colony April 29, 1668. Elected rep- 
 resentativ^e in 1695, 1700, 1701, and 
 
 /' 
 
 Also, 
 
 To the memory of Mrs. Judith, late virtuous 
 wite of Deac. Tristram Coffin Esqr, who hav- 
 ing lived to see 177 of her children and chil- 
 dren's children to the ,^d generation, died Dec. 
 15, 1705, aged 80. 
 
 Grave, sober, faithful, fruitful vine was she, 
 A rare example of true piety, « 
 
 Widow'd awhile she wayted wisht for rest. 
 With her dear husband in her Savior's brest. 
 
 Enoch's great-grandfather, Tris- 
 tram, was born in Brixham Parish, 
 County of Devon, England, in 1609, 
 and came to this country in 1642, on 
 account, it is said, of the success of 
 Oliver Cromwell, he being a firm 
 Loyalist, with his mother, wife, two 
 sisters, and five children. The de- 
 

 K/-:i\ ENOCH COFFIN 
 
 "First Parish Burying-ground," Newbury, Mass. 
 Frcm History of'Oiilii .Vai'/y/ny," by /tiriiiissioii o/l/ir Author. 
 
 scendauls of Trislrani were very 
 numerous — indeed there were born 
 between the years 1652 and 172S, 
 1,582 children, of whom 1,128 were 
 living at the latter date. 
 
 Hon. Peter Coflfin, Es(iuire, the 
 eldest son of the above, born in 1630, 
 was a prominent man in tho.se days, 
 — he was Judge of His Majesty's 
 Superior Court of Jurisdiction, and 
 first member of His Majesty's Coun- 
 cil of the Province. He lived in 
 Dover, X. H., and lixeter, where he 
 died on March 21, 17 15, aged eighty- 
 five years. 
 
 From Tristram and Peter are de- 
 scended all of the name of Coffin 
 along the Merrimack valley. 
 
 Joshua Coffin, great grandson of 
 Nathaniel, born October 12, 1792, on 
 the old homestead, died June 24, 
 1864. Was a graduate of Dart- 
 mouth college and a noted school- 
 master. Was town clerk of New- 
 
 bury for seven years, and justice of 
 the peace for the county of Essex. 
 In the old mansion where he was 
 born and died he collected the mate- 
 rial for and prepared his History of 
 Newbury, published in 1845. 
 
 The " Ouaker Poet," "Vvnittier, 
 was one of his pupils and friends, 
 and refers to him in the lin?s ad- 
 dressed "To my old Schoolmaster." 
 
 I, — the man of middle j-ears, 
 111 whose salile locks appears 
 Manj- a warning fleck of gray, — 
 Looking hack to that far day, 
 And the primal lessons, feel 
 Grateful smiles my lips unseal, 
 As, remembering thee, I blend 
 Olden teacher, present friend. 
 Wise with antiquarian search 
 In the scrolls of .State and Church ; 
 Named on history's title-page 
 I'arish clerk, and justice sage ; 
 For the ferule's wholesome awe 
 Wielding now the sword of law. 
 
 Tradition asserts, so says Currier 
 in his hi.story of " Ould Newbury," 
 
 P 
 
 Author. 
 (Person). 
 
 23Ja '03 
 
"^REV. ENOCH CO E FIN. 
 
 "that the centennial anniversar}^ of 
 the settlement of the town was cele- 
 brated in the front yard of the ' old 
 Coffin house,' beneath the shade 
 of a lofty elm, remarkable for its 
 great size and graceful shape. This 
 noble elm, with its widely extended 
 branches, was one of the prominent 
 landmarks for miles around; it served 
 as a guide for vessels entering or 
 leaving the harbor." This monarch 
 of trees was struck by lightning 
 several times and finally cut down 
 about 1S85. This ancient and mag- 
 nificent tree reminds us of the "old 
 Coffin elm," at the North End, Con- 
 cord, N. H., perhaps a scion of the 
 Newbury elm, set out by Captain 
 Enoch Coffin, a branch of this great 
 family, in 1782, also known as the 
 "Webster elm," as it was planted 
 the year of Daniel Webster's birth. 
 This stands to-day on the former 
 Coffin homestead, a grand and ma- 
 jestic tree outlined against the sky in 
 form of strength and beauty. Two 
 
 large elms now stand on the Coffin 
 homestead in Newbury, planted by 
 Joseph Coffin, one in 1792, when his 
 son Jo.>5hua, the historian, was born, 
 the other in 1794, when his son 
 Thomas was born. 
 
 Rtv Enoch Coffin, whom we will 
 now more fully consider, was born in 
 the old, big Coffin house which still 
 stands in Newbury, erected upwards 
 of two hundred and fifty years ago. 
 A fine picture of this ancient man- 
 sion here appears, taken from Cur- 
 rier's " Ould Newbury." Enoch 
 was evidently not of a robust con- 
 stitution, for we learn that he re- 
 ceived a call to settle in Dunstable 
 as a successor of Rev. Thomas Weld, 
 but was obliged to decline in conse- 
 quence of ill health. Feeling, per- 
 haps, the need of an invigorating 
 expedition into the forests, and find- 
 ing a new home among New Hamp- 
 shire's health-giving hills, he ar- 
 ranged to leave Newbury. We see 
 by the records of the proprietors of 
 
 "The Old C^Kin House," Newbury, Mass. 
 From History o/'UJ/iiJ Xow/t/iry," l<y /'friiiissioti of tkr Atitho 
 
REW ENOCH COEEIN. 
 
 Ptiiny Cook, that ou the 17th of 
 January, 1726, the ''Great and 
 General Court" of the Province of 
 Massachusetts Bay, decided to set 
 apart " Penny- Cook Plantation " as a 
 township, in answer to a petition of 
 the previous June. On the second of 
 February following-, the comnnitee 
 of the general couit met at the house 
 of Kbenezer I^astnian, in Haverhill, 
 for the purpose of admitting settlers 
 to the township of Penny Cook. In 
 this they proceeded with great cau- 
 tion " iu order to the admitting of 
 such as shall be thought most suit- 
 able." After much inquiry and 
 examination the requisite number of 
 one hundred was obtained. Here 
 in this careful selection of the first 
 aettkrs of Concord, men of worth 
 and high character, we see was laid 
 the foundation of a strong, upright, 
 moral communil}-. Among the early 
 applicants and who was accepted, 
 was the Rev. I^noch Cof^n, then a 
 young preacher of Newbury. On 
 the seventh of February the com- 
 iiiitiee of the court voted "to appoint 
 survt-yors, and chainmen to attend 
 them when they should go to allot 
 the said tract of land into one hun- 
 dred and three shares, according to 
 order." Thursday, May twelfth, 
 " Early in the morning, the com- 
 mittee begun their journey from 
 Haverhill, in order for Penny Cook, 
 being attended by twenty-six per- 
 sons, including the Surveyors, Chain- 
 men, and such of the intending 
 setikrs as were disposed to take a 
 view of the Lands." With these 
 went the Rev. Enoch Cofhn, as chap- 
 lain of the expedition into the wilder- 
 ness. Says Moore in his Annals of 
 Concord, 1824, " The settlers of 
 Penny Cook, like those of all the 
 
 older towns, strictly observed the 
 religious institutions of their fathesr. 
 Rev. J^noch Coffin, of Newburj', 
 Mass., accompanied them on their 
 first visit to their new lands." Late 
 ou I'riday afternoon, the party ar- 
 rived and " Ivncamped on a piece of 
 Intervale Land, or plain, called 
 Sugar Piall plain." On Saturday 
 they proceeded with their surveys of 
 the "township according to the 
 General Court's oider." 
 
 "Sabbath day. May 15th. This 
 day Mr. luioch Coffin, our Chaplain, 
 performed divine vService both parts 
 of the day. Fair and Cool." John 
 Wainwright, Ivsq , clerk, has most 
 graphically related in his journal the 
 details of this journe\', which mo.st 
 fortunatel}^ has been preserved, and 
 from which I have been able to 
 (piote. So, as stated above, on the 
 Sabbath day, May 15th, 1726, was 
 hekl the first religious service in 
 Concord, or even in central New 
 Hampshire, the Rev. Enoch Coffin, 
 preacher. 
 
 To commemorate this i :}iortant 
 event, there was erected, on Sugar 
 Ball Bluff, over-looking the beautiful 
 plain where the first settle li en- 
 camped and held their religious ser- 
 vice, a neat and substantial granite 
 monument. This was dedicated Oc- 
 tober 26, 1899, at the fifty-seventh 
 annual meeting of the Concord Con- 
 gregational Union, at which an ad- 
 dress was given by the Hon. Joseph 
 B. Walker: John C. Tliorne present- 
 ing the report of the work as chair- 
 man of the committee of the Union. 
 
 The monument, which is of Con- 
 cord granite of fair proportions, as 
 seen in the accompanying illustration, 
 stands some seven feet in height, and 
 is erected in Memorial park, a plot 
 
A'A/". ENOCH COFFIN. 
 
 of ground comprising about three- 
 fourths of- an acre. It beai's this 
 inscription : 
 
 On the interval below this spot a com 
 mittee of the General Court of Massachusetts 
 Baj% their survej-ors and attendants there 
 present to locate and survey the Plantation of 
 Pennj' Cook, conducted the first religious ser- 
 vice ever held in the central part of New 
 Hampshire, on Sunday, May 15, 1726. Rev. 
 Enoch Coffin, Preacher.' 
 
 the one httndretl ami three intending 
 settlers, was that of Ivnoch Coffin. 
 He drew No. 36 "House Lot," of 
 one and one half acres, located at the 
 extreme south end of the Main street; 
 also No. 26 the "Home Lot," of 
 about seven acres on the interval, in 
 tiie section designated as the " Great 
 Plain." There is no doubt that the 
 
 Wlorument on Sugar Bali Bluff, Concord, N, H. 
 Fri'iii the '^Coiigrcgationalist" Boston, l>y f>i-ymissioii. 
 
 On the obverse it is inscribed : 
 
 Krected by the Congregational .Societies of 
 Concord, October, iSgg. 
 
 At the meeting of the committee 
 at Audover, Mass., February 7th 
 and 8th, 1726, for the drawing of 
 lots for the land at Penny Cook, we 
 find that the first name on the list of 
 
 'The last Hue, ''Rev. ]^noch Coffin. Preacher," 
 has been cut upon the nioiunueut. in justice to the 
 facts, since the photoi^raph was taken for the above 
 half-tone illustration. 
 
 Reverend Mr. Coffin located in the 
 town, being one of the original pro- 
 prietors, and that he was employed 
 to minister to the .settlers. He 
 preached more or less to the people 
 for some two years, for, consulting 
 the records again, we read " That at 
 a meeting of the proprietors held at 
 Bradford, Mass., March 12, 1729, it 
 was voted : That the sum of four 
 pounds be allowed and paid unto the 
 heirs of the Reverend Knoch Coffru, 
 
REV. ENOCH COEEIN. 
 
 deceased, for his jjrcaching and per- 
 forming divine service at Penny 
 Cook, in full discharge." He was 
 not Concord's first minister, but was 
 its first preacher. The Rev. Timo- 
 th}- Walker was settled as the first 
 regular minister of the town Novem- 
 ber 1 8, 1730. 
 
 That Mr. Coffin well and faithfully 
 performed the duties of his higli 
 
 ofiice there is no (juestion. lie was. 
 however, obliged to lay down his 
 work, after a short service for his 
 Master, at the early age of thirty- two 
 years, and passed on to his reward. 
 We cherish his memory as one of the 
 religious pioneers of his time, and 
 Concord owes him honor and rever- 
 ence for his faith and works within 
 her borders. 
 
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