Levi Coffin
The reputed President of the Underground Railroad, Levi Coffin, philanthropist, was born October 28, 1798, near New Garden, North Carolina, and of Quaker parentage. His ancestors were from Nantucket, and he was a farmer and teacher. His sympathies were enlisted in favor of the slaves, and when a lad of but fifteen he began to aid in their escape. In 1826 he settled in Wayne County, Indiana, kept a country store, cured port and manufactured linseed oil. Meanwhile, his interest in the slaves continued, and he was active in the Underground Railroad, by which thousands of escaping slaves were aided by him on their way to Canada, including Eliza Harris, the heroine of “Uncle Toms Cabin.” In 1847 he removed to Cincinnati and opened and continued for years a store where only were sold goods produced by free labor, at the same time continuing his efforts for the escape of slaves. In the war period he aided in the establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau, visited England and held meetings in the various cities and collected funds for the Freedmen’s Commission. On the adoption of the Fifteen the Amendment he formally resigned his office of President of the Underground Railroad, which he had held for more than thirty years. He died in 1877.
From: Howe’s Historical Collection of Ohio, Vol. 1 Henry Howe, LL.D Published by: C. J. Krehbiel & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, 1904