Stephen Coffin (1807 – 1882) was an investor, promoter, builder, and militia officer in mid-19th century

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

. Born in

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

, he moved to Oregon City in 1847, and in 1849 he bought a half-interest in the original Portland townsite."The City"
''Morning Astorian'', Astoria, Oregon, 19 March 1882, p. 3. Coffin's interests included the Tualatin Plank Road between Portland and the

Tualatin Valley The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon in the United States. The valley is formed by the meandering Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, ...

, the Oregon Iron Company, an eastern Oregon sawmill, bridge-building, and other investments and projects. In 1856, he and a neighbor, Finice Caruthers, established the Pioneer Water Works to supply drinking water to Portland. In that same year, he helped found the

Oregon Republican Party The Oregon Republican Party is the state affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Oregon, headquartered in Salem. The party was established in the Oregon Territory in February 1857 as the "Free State Republican Party of Oregon" and held ...

and was elected to the Portland city council a year later. His interests in transportation extended beyond roads and bridges to investments in the

People's Transportation Company The People's Transportation Company operated steamboats on the Willamette River and its tributaries, the Yamhill and Tualatin rivers, in the State of Oregon from 1862 to 1871. For a brief time this company operated steamers on the Columbia Ri ...

, which controlled shipping on the upper

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

in the 1860s, and the

Oregon Central Railroad The Oregon Central Rail Road was the name of two railroad companies in the U.S. state of Oregon, each of which claimed federal land grants that had been assigned to the state in 1866 to assist in building a line from Portland south into California. ...

Stephen Coffin from Centennial History of Oregon

In 1863, after Coffin provided a steamboat for sending troops up the Columbia River to fight in the

Yakima War The Yakima War (1855–1858), also referred to as the Yakima Native American War of 1855 or the Plateau War, was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian languages, Sahaptian-speaking people of the Northwest Plateau, then ...

, Oregon Governor Addison Gibbs made him a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

in the state militia."Appointed"
''The Weekly Oregonian'', Portland, Oregon, 7 November 1862, p. 2. Lucina Coffin

Coffin donated land to Portland's

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

for construction of a boys academy and a girls

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

. He and his wife also donated land to the public in 1871, including seven park blocks and several acres along the river at Jefferson Street for a public

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastl ...

. Coffin died in Dayton, Oregon, on March 16, 1882.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffin, Stephen 1807 births 1882 deaths American investors Oregon pioneers People from Maine Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon People's Transportation Company 19th-century American businesspeople