New England Family Photo Collection Images of Yore

Jeffrey Gorman Photo Collection of New England families. Check out Images of Yore for other photo collections

Clarence H. Coffin 1846-1921 born in Barrington NS to Joseph Homer Coffin and Elizabeth Gorham Moved to Barnstable around 1848, then to Boston in the early 1870 where he married his wife Eudora Bassett and had 3 children Stanley, 1875, Frederic in 1886 and Elsie in 1892.

Eudora Bassett Coffin 1875-1952 Wife of Clarence Coffin. Daughter of Theodore Bassett and Lucy Ellis.

Stanley H. Coffin Son of Clarence Coffin 1875-1952 and Eudora Bassett. Born in Boston, Married Esther Smith Coffin in 1902 and had one daughter Irma B Coffin 

Irma B. Coffin 1908-1942? Daughter of Stanley Coffin and Esther Smith Coffin. She lived in Boston up to 1942 and no record of marriage of children.

A group photo with both Bates as well as Coffins. The back L to R. Ellen Bates 1855-1919 wife of Alba Smith mother to Esther Smith Coffin, Daniel Bates 1830-1916 Husband to Mary Bearse father to Ellen Smith Coffin. Ellen Smith Coffin 1876-1971 wife of Stanly H. Coffin and Esther Johnson 1800-1882 Mother to Daniel Bates.

Herbert S. Coffin 1849-1908 born in Barnstable to Joseph Homer Coffin and Elizabeth Gorham. He never married, no known children died in Somerville, Massachusetts. 

Two Photos of Esther Coffin 1854-1907, daughter of Joseph Coffin and Elizabeth Gorham. Born and Died in Barnstable. She also did not marry.  

Edgar Homer Coffin 1859-1949 born in Barrington NS to Thomas Homer Coffin and Sarah Doane. He moved to Boston in 1859.  He married Eva Crowell in 1859 she died in 1907 they had no children, He later married 2nd Henrietta Burbridge in 1909 and they also had no children.

Ella Sarah Coffin 1866-1886 daughter of Thomas Homer Coffin and Sarah Doane. She was born in Barrington NS and did not marry.

Below Photos of The MAYO Line

Elizabeth C. Mayo 1806-1880 she was the daughter of Herman Mayo and Elizabeth Crosby of Eastham MA. She married Nathan Smith Knowles in 1829 and together they had 11 children. She died in Eastham in 1880

Elizabeth Mayo 1864-1933 she was born in Provincetown MA to Joseph Mayo and Eliza Turner. She married Augustus Aiken in 1885 and had 2 children. she died in Saugus in 1933.

Elisha Cobb Mayo 1848-1899 Born in Eastham to Matthew Mayo and Martha Snow. He married Louise Doane Brown in 1868. He was a life long Cape Cod fisherman. He and his wife had no children.

Edwin Mayo 1825-1899 and his wife Alexandrina Kamp 1842-1920. He was born in Provincetown to Stephen Mayo and Jerusha Sawtell. She was born in Richmond Nova Scotia to Hector Kemp and Mary Matheson. Edwin and Alexandrina were married in 1862 and had two children. He was employed as a sailor. Both died in Provincetown.

Charles F. Mayo 1858-1940, he was the son of Isaac Mayo and Esther Small of Provincetown MA. He married his wife Bird V. (LNU) in 1868. He moved to the Dakota territories and was a farmer in 1880 where he raised 7 children. He later in life moved to Los Angeles CA in the late 1930’s.

Marietta Mayo 1836-1879 born in Brockton MA to Watson Gould Mayo and Elizabeth Cambridge. She married a shipping merchant Thomas S. Knowles in 1866 and together had 3 children.

John Mayo 1833-1900 and Ellen Commons 1834-1890. He was born in Provincetown to Joshua Atkins Mayo and Elizabeth Small. She was born in Ireland to Robert Commons and Alice Dunn. John and Ellen married in 1855. The later moved to  Big Stone Minnesota where he worked as a farmer. Ellen and John had 1 daughter Adelaide. 

Izetta Mayo 1854-1873 Georgiana Mayo 1850-1932 they were the daughters of Isaac Mayo and Esther Small of Truro MA. Izetta married a sailor, Richard Arrow Smith Rich in 1872. The had one child before her death in 1873. Georgiana married a insurance salesman, Wallace Collins in 1881 they later moved to Orange NJ. They had no children.

Izetta Mayo, Geogianna Mayo (see above) and their cousin Adelaide Mayo 1856-1945. Adelaide was the daughter of John Mayo and Ellen Commons of Provincetown. She married Johnathan Sparrow Jr. in 1878 and they had 8 children.

Isaac Mayo 1826-1912 and Esther Small 1820-1914. He was the son on Joshua Atkins Mayo and Elizabeth Small. She was the daughter of Nathaniel Small and Peggy Goddard. the married in 1848 and had 4 children. Isaac was a surfman of the United States Life Saving Service (pre Coast Guard)

On April 4, 1879, he led multiple and eventually successful efforts to rescue seamen stranded in an offshore wreck at the height of a violent storm.

The schooner Sarah J. Fort was wrecked on a sandbank just off Cape Cod Initial attempts to row a rescue boat out to the wrecked and disintegrating schooner failed, with two boatmen lost overboard. By the time the tide had gone out the initial rescue crew was exhausted, and Mayo was part of a second boat crew. The boat was swamped and wrecked. Mayo rallied and led a third rescue attempt in a smaller rescue boat that was ultimately successful at rescuing the last four survivors of the schooner’s crew.

To honor his bravery and leadership, the Life-Saving Service honored Mayo with a Gold Lifesaving medal The Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts awarded Mayo and the rest of the rescue boat’s crew Silver Medals.^[7] As the captain of the rescue boat, Mayo was also awarded what the Humane Society called a “Diploma.”

Esther and Isaac later moved to Oriska North Dakota where he took up farming. In 2010 the Coast Guard named one of their new Sentinel cutters after him.

Herman Lester Mayo. He was born in Provincetown to Joseph Mayo and Eliza Turner. He marries Annie McKenzie in 1887 and had 4 children He was employed as a lifelong Cape Cod fisherman.

Betsy Mayo 1860-1931. She was the daughter of Joseph Mayo and Eliza Turner of Provincetown MA She married Hollis Perkins a sailor from Maine 1880. 

Stephen Atwood Mayo 1796-1876 He was the son of Joshua Atwood Mayo and Martha Nickerson of Provincetown MA. He married Jerusha Sawtell in 1824 and had 5 children.

Reuben Mayo 1840-1916 and Selina Doggett 1846-1914. He was the son of Matthew Mayo and Martha Snow of Eastham MA. She was the daughter of Lathrop Doggett and Janet Huphman of Liverpool Nova Scotia. They married in 1869 and had 4 children.

Matthew Frank Mayo 1840-1916. He was born in Eastham and was the son of Matthew Mayo and Martha Snow. He married Sarah Brown in 1870 and had 3 children. He was a lifelong fisherman.

Mary Malvina Mayo 1841-1892. She was born in Eastham MA and was the daughter of Matthew Mayo and Martha Snow. She married Henry Harrison Paine, a sailor from Wellfleet in 1862 and together had 1 child. 

Joseph A Mayo 1822-1886. He was born in Provincetown to Joseph Mayo and Eliza Turner. He was a lifelong fisherman. He married twice once to Adeline Sears in 1885 and they had one son Charles and again to Elizabeth Young in 1901 they had no children.

A Quality Brew Coffin History Newbury, MA & Nantucket

My Articles Published in Newburyport News and  Beverly Patch:

Beer has been a part of American culture since our ancestors first arrived. In fact, the ship Arabella left England with 10,000 gallons of beer and 120 casks of malt to make good cheer in the New World. A good pint will cure what “ales” you, plus it prevents scurvy and other diseases. Harvard students low on dough paid tuition fees in wheat and malt to supply the campus brew house. Early records indicate that it was mandatory for every town to establish a licensed ordinary or else incur a fine. At the time, inn holding was considered a very reputable occupation, and Newbury had a top-shelf resort operated by Tristram and Dionis Coffin, who the records indicate were licensed for business on May 26, 1647.

            The Coffins ran a ferry on the Newbury side of the Merrimack, receiving "two pence a person out, and two pence back, and four pence a beast.” The original structure is no longer standing, and to set the record straight, Tristram, Jr. rather than his father owned the historical “Coffin House,” located on 14 High Road (1678) in Newbury. Many sources list this as the location of the tavern, which is incorrect. Records indicate the Coffins owned forty acres across from Carr Island. In later years, the road to the Inn, known as Coffin Lane, was located on the west side of present day Jefferson St., down by the shore of the Merrimack River.

            In 1645, the government passed regulations requiring that "every person licensed to keep an ordinary shall always be provided with good wholesome beer of 4 bushels of malt to the hogshead, which he shall not sell above 2 pence the ale quart. Whosoever failed to comply with the provisions of this law should forfeit for the first offence forty shillings & for the second offence shall forfeit their license." In general, Puritan laws were not open to interpretation, and those who stepped out of bounds were hauled in for examination.

            In spite of the regulations, Dionis decided to tap into a new recipe for beer that was stronger and stouter than her competitors’ brew. One source suggests she consulted “Hodder’s Arithmetic,” exclaiming, "as four is to two, so is six to three… I'll have better beer than my neighbors and be paid for it— A fig for the law." Her magic elixir made quite a splash, and even at the illegal price of 3 pence a quart, it sold well.

           Local officials heard the buzz about the chichi ale, which brewed trouble for Dionis, who was presented a summons for overcharging. She appeared in court in September 1653, ready to do battle, assert fermentable trust in her barley pop, and serve these officials a cold one. Mr. Samuel Moore gave testimony that she did indeed mix “six bushels of malt into each hogshead,” which was more than the law allowed, but he asserted that she produced a better quality brew and therefore should be allowed to charge a premium price. The issue was resolved quickly and all charges were dropped— perhaps she slipped the city elders a jug or two.

            According to Bethany Groff, a local historian and direct descendent of Dionis (9^th great grandmother), “Dionis’s brewery is one of the first accounts of women business records, and she defended her product for its quality and higher prices, as crafters of home brew still do today.”  In this way, Dionis set precedence for future entrepreneurs as well as her female ancestors. Her daughter Mary Coffin Starbuck industrious and held many titles, among them “the Great Merchant.” Mary also became the first Quaker minister of Nantucket, playing a pivotal role in converting the whole colony to the Quaker faith.

Lucretia Coffin Mott

Lucretia Coffin Mott, also a Quaker minister, abolitionist, and suffragist wrote, “The exercise of women talents in this line, as well as the general care which devolved upon them in the absence of their husbands, tended to develop… and strengthen them mentally and physically.”

            The Coffin family produced as many exceptional offspring as there are distinct craft brews in this country. Perhaps the Puritan lifestyle was simply not free-flowing enough for the first Coffin line. Instead, they found a locale that sourced freedom, eventually establishing Nantucket along with the Starbuck, Macy, and Folger families. Tristram, Sr. became Chief Magistrate for Nantucket; however, Tristram, Jr. settled in Newbury, and so did several generations thereafter and held many high positions locally.

            Thankfully, the brewing industry continues to prosper in Newburyport. Natives Bill Fisher and Chris Webb, who just opened Newburyport Brewing Co. at 4 New Pasture Road, are certainly carrying on in the tradition of Dionis Coffin. Their three debut brews are Plum Island Belgian White, Newburyport Pale Ale, and Green Head IPA, “The Beer That Bites You Back.”
 Visit www.nbptbrewing.com for more info.

Find out more about the Coffin House and other local historic sites at: www.HistoricNewEngland.org.

 http://www.islandregister.com/rcoffin/pg1_25.html