The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1 | Page 4

description of that battle which Mr. Coffin has given in the
"Boys of '76," is doubtless due in a great measure to the stories of these
pensioners, who often sat by the old fire-place in that farm-house and
fought their battles over again to the intense delight of their
white-haired auditor.
Ill health, inability for prolonged mental application, shut out the future
correspondent, to his great grief, from all thoughts of attempting a
collegiate course. While incapacitated from mental or physical labor he
obtained a surveyor's compass, and more for pastime than any thought
of becoming a surveyor, he studied the elements of surveying.
There were fewer civil engineers in the country in 1845 than now. It
was a period when engineers were wanted--when the demand was
greater than the supply, and anyone who had a smattering of
engineering could find employment. Mr. Coffin accepted a position in
the engineering corps of the Northern Railroad, and was subsequently
employed on the Concord and Portsmouth, and Concord and Claremont
Railroad.
In 1846 he was married to Sallie R. Farmer of Boscawen. Not wishing
to make civil engineering a profession for life he purchased a farm in

his native town; but health gave way and he was forced to seek other
pursuits.
He early began to write articles for the Concord newspapers, and some
of his fugitive political contributions were re-published in _Littell's
Living Age_.
Mr. Coffin's studies in engineering led him towards scientific culture.
In 1849 he constructed the telegraph line between Harvard Observatory
and Boston, by which uniform time was first given to the railroads
leading from Boston. He had charge of the construction of the
Telegraphic Fire Alarm in Boston, under the direction of Professor
Moses G. Farmer, his brother-in-law, and gave the first alarm ever
given by that system April 29, 1852.
Mr. Coffin's tastes led him toward journalism. From 1850 to 1854 he
was a constant contributor to the press, sending articles to the
Transcript, the Boston Journal, Congregationalist, and New York
Tribune. He was also a contributor to the _Student and Schoolmate_, a
small magazine then conducted by Mr. Adams (Oliver Optic).
He was for a short time assistant editor of the Practical Farmer, an
agricultural and literary weekly newspaper. In 1854 he was employed
on the Boston Journal. Many of the editorials upon the
Kansas-Nebraska struggle were from his pen. His style of composition
was developed during these years when great events were agitating the
public mind. It was a period which demanded clear, comprehensive,
concise, statements, and words that meant something. His articles upon
the questions of the hour were able and trenchant. One of the leading
newspapers of Boston down to 1856 was the Atlas--the organ of the
anti-slavery wing of the Whig party, of the men who laid the
foundation of the Republican party. Its chief editorial writer was the
brilliant Charles T. Congdon, with whom Mr. Coffin was associated as
assistant editor till the paper was merged into the Atlas and Bee.
During the year 1858 he became again assistant on the Journal. He
wrote a series of letters from Canada in connection with the visit of the
Prince of Wales. He was deputed, as correspondent, to attend the

opening of several of the great western railroads, which were attended
by many men in public life. He was present at the Baltimore
Convention which nominated Bell and Everett as candidates for the
Presidency and Vice Presidency in 1860. He travelled west through
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, before the assembling of the
Republican Convention at Chicago, conversing with public men, and in
a private letter predicted the nomination of Abraham Lincoln, who, up
to the assembling of the convention, had hardly been regarded as a
possible candidate.
He accompanied the committee appointed to apprise Mr. Lincoln of his
nomination to Springfield, spent several weeks in the vicinity--making
Mr. Lincoln's acquaintance, and obtaining information in regard to him,
which was turned to proper advantage during the campaign.
In the winter of 1860-61, Mr. Coffin held the position of night editor of
the Journal. The Southern States were then seceding. It was the most
exciting period in the history of the republic. There was turmoil in
Congress. Public affairs were drifting with no arm at the helm. There
was no leadership in Congress or out of it. The position occupied by Mr.
Coffin was one requiring discrimination and judgment. The Peace
Congress was in session. During the long nights while waiting for
despatches, which often did not arrive till well toward morning, he had
time to study the situation of public affairs, and saw, what all men did
not see, that a conflict of arms was approaching. He was at that time
residing in Maiden, and on the morning after the surrender of Sumter
took measures