Joshua Coffin of Newbury Obit

From The Liberator July 1 1864 Please post or email for PDF/JPEG Copy of article or Coffin Line

"Olden teacher, present friend, Wise with antiquarian search, In the scrolls of State and Church; Named on history's title-page, Parish-clerk and justice sage." To My Old Schoolmaster." John Greenleaf Whitter 

Newburyport Preservation Trust

Coffin Family Papers, 1700s-1860s
Joshua Coffin Papers

Purchase Book at Sons & Daughters of Newbury 

Quaker Poem Revelation John Greenleaf Whittier

From Quaker Poems A Collection of Verses

REVELATION From A Gateway to Quakerism
"And I went into the Vale of Beavor, and as I went I preached repentance to the people. And one morning, sitting by the fire, a great cloud came over me, and a temptation beset me. And it was said: All things come by Nature; and the Elements and the Stars came over me. And as I sat still and let it alone, a living hope arose in me, and a true Voice which said: There is a living God who made all things. And immediately the cloud and the temptation vanished, and Life rose over all, and my heart was glad and I praised the Living God."-- Journal of George Fox, 1690.

Still, as of old, in Beavor's Vale,
O man of God! our hope and faith
The Elements and Stars assail,
And the awed spirit holds its breath,
Blown over by a wind of death.
Takes Nature thought for such as we,
What place her human atom fills,
The weed-drift of her careless sea,
The mist on her unheeding hills?
What recks she of our helpless wills?
Strange god of Force, with fear, not love,
Its trembling worshipper! Can prayer
Reach the shut ear of Fate, or move
Unpitying Energy to spare?
What doth the cosmic Vastness care?
In vain to this dread Unconcern
For the All-Father's love we look;
In vain, in quest for it, we turn,
The storied leaves of Nature's book
The prints her rocky tablets took.
I pray for faith, I long to trust;
I listen with my heart, and hear
A Voice without a sound: "Be just,
Be true, Be merciful, revere
The Word within thee: God is near!
"A light to sky and earth unknown
pales all their lights: a mightier force
than theirs the powers of Nature own,
And, to its goal as at its source,
His Spirit moves the Universe.
"Believe and trust. Through stars and suns,
Through life and death, through soul and sense,
His wise, paternal purpose runs;
The darkness of his providence
Is star-lit with benign intents."
O joy supreme! I know the Voice,
Like none beside on earth or sea;
Yea, more, O soul of mine, rejoice,
By all that he requires of me,
I know what god himself must be.
No picture to my aid I call,
I shape no image in my prayer;
I only know in Him is all
Of life, light, beauty, everywhere,
Eternal Goodness here and there!
I know He is, and what He is,
Whose one great purpose is the good
Of all. I rest my soul on his
Immortal Love and Fatherhood;
And trust Him, as his children should.
I fear no more. The clouded face
Of Nature smiles; through all her things
Of time and space and sense I trace
The moving of the Spirit's wings,
And hear the song of hope she sings.

Judge Franklin Davenport

Originally posted Wednesday, April 18, 2012 By Bryan Bonfiglio Village Green Preservation Society Blog I also included a genealogy portion after the article to include his lines from: NEHGS Volume 32

1798 Portrait of Deborah Davenport of Woodbury, NJ courtesy of  Library Company of Philadelphia's Digital Collections

It is my understanding that the Deborah Davenport pictured here is the sister of "Gloucester County's Most Famous Citizen", Franklin Davenport. Nephew of Benjamin Franklin, a Senator and a Representative from New Jersey; born in Philadelphia, Pa., in September 1755; received an academic education; studied law in Burlington, N.J.; admitted to the bar in 1776 and commenced practice in Gloucester City, N.J.; clerk of Gloucester County Court in 1776; during the Revolutionary War enlisted as a private in the New Jersey Militia, later becoming brigade major, brigade quartermaster, and in 1778 assistant quartermaster for Gloucester County; appointed colonel in the New Jersey Militia in 1779 and subsequently major general, which rank he held until his death; prosecutor of pleas in 1777; moved to Woodbury, N.J., in 1781 and continued the practice of law; appointed first surrogate of Gloucester County in 1785; member, State general assembly 1786-1789; colonel in the New Jersey Line during the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794; appointed brigadier general of Gloucester County Militia in 1796; appointed to the United States Senate as a Federalist to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Rutherfurd, and served from December 5, 1798, to March 3, 1799, when a successor was elected and qualified; elected to the Sixth Congress (March 4, 1799-March 3, 1801); was not a candidate for renomination in 1800; resumed the practice of law; appointed master in chancery in 1826; died in Woodbury, Gloucester County, N.J., July 27, 1832; interment in Presbyterian Cemetery, North Woodbury, N.J. (Stewart) Franklin Davenport was also responsible for introducing Freemasonry to Woodbury in July 1792 with the Woodbury Lodge No. 11. More on that later... (Maurada & Stewart, 1928)

The Library Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin as a subscription library supported by its shareholders, as it is to this day.

James Davenport (Ebenezer, Thomas), born Dorchester, March 1,1693; administration on his estate granted June 13, 1759 ; m. first, Sept. 30, 1715, Grace, dau. of Onesephorus Tileston, of Dorchester. She died Oct. 24, 1721, let, 27. He m. second, May 3,1722, Sarah (b. July 9, 1699), dau. of Josiah and sister of Benjamin Franklin. She d. May 23, 1731, set. 32. He m. third, Nov. 12, 1731, Mary Walker, of Portsmouth. He was an innkeeper and baker in Boston; was of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co.; appointed coroner, Jan. 7, 1741. His children, said by son John to have been twenty-two, all born in Boston, were: Sarah, b. Oct. 10, 1716; d. Dec. 6, 1716. William, b. Oct. 19, 1717; d. Sept. 2, 1773; m. April 3, 1740, Sarah, dau. of Moses Gerrish, of Newburyport, where he settled, and where most of his Davenport descendants live.Sarah, b. Jan. 2, 1719; m. March 6, 1738, Samuel Bowls, apothecary, of Boston. Elizabeth, b. March 8, 1723; d. March 15, 1809; m. first, Joseph Chapman; m. second, Col. Joseph Ingersols, from Falmouth, pub. Oct. 12, 1789. Dorcas, b. Aug. 26, 1724; m. May 7, 1747, Anthony Stickney. See history of Stickney family. Jliev, b. March 7, 1725; m. March 13,1745, John Rogers, of Boston, son of Ichabod. She had John and Anna. Josiah, h. Dec. 18, 1727; pub. June 29, 1749, to Sarah Billings, of Boston. Shed, in Philadelphia, April 1, 1751, aat. 23, ana was buried side of Dr. Benj. Franklin. He m. second, Dec. 13, 1751, Anna Annis, at Philadelphia. His son, Judge Franklin Davenport, of Woodbury, N. J., was U. S. Senator, 1798-9. Abiah, b. Oct. 2, 1729 ; pub. June 20, 1751, to John Griffith, Jr., of Portsmouth. Eleazer, h. Sept. 21, 1732. Lucy, b. Nov. 17, 1733; pub. March 27, 1745, to John Doane, of Boston. James, b. June 12, 1735. Rebecca, b. May 23, 1737; pub. June 4, 1755, to John Tucker. Ann, b. May 18, 1739. George, b. Dec. 9, 1740. Addington. b. March 17, 1742; d. May 27, 1743. Esther, b. April 19, 1744 ; d. March 18, 1801; pub. April 13, 1762, to Daniel Crosby, of Boston. Jane, b. Dec. 16, 1745; pub. Jan. 10, 1768, to Reuben Ingram. Mary, b. June 3, 1747. Addinoton, b. Feb. 6, 1749; d. June 24, 1821, Boston; m. June 16, 1805, widow Mary Barron, who d. Nov. 25, 1854, set. 90. She ne'e Melntire, of Salem, had m. first, William Brock, and m. second, William Barron. John, b. Aug. 4, 1752; d. Portsmouth, N. H., March 28, 1842. He ui. first, Elizabeth Hull, of Portsmouth; m. second, widow Elizabeth Welch, nee Pendexter, June 21, 1780; m. third, Sally Bradley, of Haverhill. His Davenport descendants in Haverhill and New York city.