| Notes |
- Sarah and Reuben lived in Jackson, New York. They farmed near Little Utica, New York.
Part 49: Celebration Held Honoring Sarah Coffin On 100th Birthday
Apparently the hardships of pioneer life did not shorten the days of Sarah
Coffin, for on May 7, 1887 a grand celebration was held at the colonial home
(the present yellow house with slender pillars by the front entrance, that
stands a quarter of a mile east of Jacksonville) to honor her on her one
hundredth birthday. Two tents were raised in the front yard and the crowd of
visitors was served dinner. Frank Sharp was detailed to toll the bell of the
Little Utica church one hundred times.
Her family consisted of six living children, thirty-six grandchildren, eighty-
four great-grandchildren, and nineteen great-great-grandchildren. With members
of this family and a host of neighbors and friends this venerable daughter of
the historical Bassett and Adams families of Massachusetts celebrated h
centennial.
No better picture of Jacksonville in pioneer days can be given than to quote
from the Baldwinsville Era of May 14, 1887 which contained a complete account
of the occasion, as well as the life sketch of Mrs. Coffin:
"Centennial Birthday"
Mrs. Sarah Adams Coffin celebrates her one hundredth birthday at the residence
of her son, A. M. Coffin, near Little Utica." "It has long been the custom of
the people of this country, as well as of the old, to celebrate centennial
anniversaries. Eleven years ago, the tenth day of this month, occurred in the
city of Philadelphia, the official opening of the centennial exhibition of the
adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which took place July 4,1776.
History tells us how the people on that day gathered in the streets of
Philadelphia, anxious to learn the decision. In the steeple of the old State
House, was a bell on which, by a happy coincidence, was inscribed, 'Proclaim
Liberty Throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof
Impatiently they waited for the bell ringer's boy to announce the adoption of
the Declaration of Independence and to give his father the signal to ring the
bell. Suddenly the bell ringer heard this boy clap his hands and shout, "Ring,
Ring". The father grasped the iron tongue and swung it to and fro, proclaiming
the glad news of liberty to all the land. The large crowd caught up the sound
and every steeple re-echoed it. During the entire night the people expressed
their joy by shouting, illuminating the streets, firing cannons, et
It is also the case sometimes, that men and women live longer than their
allotted three score years and ten, and reach their one hundredth birthday.
Such is the case with the lady, whose name appears at the head of this article
and her centennial birthday was appropriately celebrated at the residence of
her son, A. M. Coffin, near Little Utica, last Saturday. The family had
previously issued invitations to relatives and friends, inviting them to
assist in properly observing the day.
At six o'clock in the morning, Mrs. Coffin, who is blind and quite deaf, and
very feeble, being unable to help herself, was attacked with a sinking spell,
and it was thought she was dying. This circumstance threw a feeling of gloom
over the household, but about seven and a half o'clock, she rallied and
appeared much better, so much so that she was dressed for the occasion. She
was attired in a black satin dress and upon her head wore a white cap. Before
the company began to arrive, A.W. Warner, the photographer, took her picture
and also that of the five generations present. Their names and ages are as
follows: Mrs. Sarah Coffin, 100 years old; Mrs. Bogardus, 77; Mrs. Johnson,
51; Mr. Johnson, 26; Master Andrew Johnson, 5.
At nine o'clock a.m., vehicles began to roll up to the house and before the
day had passed, over six hundred people had called to pay their respects to
Mother Coffin. On the east side of the house two tents 12 by 15 feet had been
pitched, inside of which were two tables set, where lunch was served from ten
a.m. to twelve noon, to all callers. After lunch, a picture was taken of all
the older gentlemen present, whose names and ages will be found elsewhere,
also a picture of the house, together with a portion of the company. About
four o'clock, Rev. J. L. King announced that the exercises of the day would
begin. The first on the program was singing, after which J. A. Merrifield
offered a fervent prayer. Rev. J. L. King next read a sketch of the life of
this venerable old lady.
Part 50: Sketch Of Mother Coffin's Life Presented At Her 100th Birthday (by
Reverend J. L. King)
"VENERABLE MOTHER COFFIN, THRICE FAVORED SONS AND DAUGHTERS, LADIES AND
GENTLEMEN:
I have the pleasure and honor of being selected to present a brief sketch of
Madame Sarah Adams Coffin, whose Centennial Birthday you come to celebrate. We
are thankful to Almighty God that she is spared to complete a century, and
that six of her sons and daughters, five of her grandchildren, two of h
great-grandchildren and two of her great-great-grandchildren now mee
We only regret that her sight and hearing are impaired so that she cann
engage the more readily and happily in these festivities. Yet it is cause for
profound thankfulness to know that she can intelligently exercise her memory
and reason, and appreciate the fact that this is her one-hundredth birthday.
To test her powers of mind, last Wednesday I said to her, 'I have seen a lady
a hundred years old before, but you are better looking than she was!' To that
she laughed heartily. Then I told her that on her birthday they would have to
give her one hundred strokes. She replied thoughtfully, '0, well, I guess they
will not be very cruel to me', indicating that though her sight is gone and
her hearing not very acute, her immortal spirit still sees some things yet in
their true relations.
Her maiden name was Bassett. She was born at Chilmark, Dukes County,
Massachusetts, on Martha's Vineyard, May 7, 1787. Her father's name was
Ebenezer Bassett and her mother's name was Abigail Adams, second cousin to
John Adams, the second president of the United States. Her great-grandfather,
Mayhew Adams, lived to be 115 years of age, had his third set of teeth, and
could read without spectacles. Grandmother's ancestors had lived in this
country for some time.
The Bassetts came here about thirty years before her birth. Her great-
grandfather Bassett was colonel in the English army and that office was then
no sinecure position. After faithful service in the French and Indian war in
1756, he received a lot at Martha's Vineyard, as a grant from the Engli
government for honorable duties performed. Therefore he settled there instead
of returning to his native country and there her father lived and she w
born. Who is there that can trace his ancestors to two branches of the human
family more honorable than these?
Sarah Bassett loved to look upon the ocean. She remembers seeing the ships
tossed like feathers upon its bosom, and those early scenes have always been
remembered with pleasure. She was a bright girl of twelve summers when her
parents took her with them and family, in 1799, to Easton, Washington County,
New York. The motive inducing her father to seek a home inland was because he
had a number of boys. The laws of nations permitted seamen to impress into
their service any man in the time of an emergency. If a vessel lacked hands at
any given port, the commander could compel the first able bodied men he came
across of given age, to go to sea in order to manage the ship. As their sea-
view home was so near to the sea, there was no redress to save the boys from
being forced to follow the life of a sailor, so he chose the least of t
evils and got out of harm's way by coming to the Empire State.
In the year of 1808, Miss Sarah Bassett was married to Reuben Coffin. He
belonged to the historic Coffins of Nantucket Island, who were doubtless
acquainted with Nantucket skippers and the like. Reuben Coffin and his bride,
Sarah Coffin, soon made up their minds to go west and seek a fortune. T
western fever raged then as now.
In 1810, about two years after their marriage, they left Easton, Washington
County, and came in all about 175 miles with a team and covered wagon, a linen
sheet constituted the covering, which was probably woven by the young a
enterprising wife. Another team came with them and four families accompanied
each other through a country in places wild in the extreme, over impassable
and trackless wastes where the hideous howling of the wolves must have been a
familiar night experience.
They left Snow's Bridge for Palmertown. This march was made in a day. The only
marks they had to tell which way to go were the blazed trees, which told the
way some kind traveler had taken before them. The forest stretched in o
unbroken mass, from the river to Palmertown. A road had been cut out, so they
picked the way for their teams by winding through the thick woods as best they
could. For seven miles no houses were to be seen, until that night, worn out
with fatigue, they arrived in Palmertown. This was May 3, 1810.
Jonathan Palmer, an old revolutionary soldier, had a lot granted to him in pay
for his continental services. He had built a log house on the lot where Mr.
Irwin Baker now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Coffin were welcomed to
Jonathan's log house. I do not know how large it was, but the hospitality of
that early time made almost any house commodious. They shared apartments with
their host four days. In the meantime, Reuben Coffin rolled one log abo
another, notched to fit, until a house stood ready for occupancy. The fifth
day they occupied their own dwelling. It stood over the creek about twenty
rods north from where we now are. The lot embraced six hundred acres. We are
now upon a part of the six hundred acres.
Mother Coffin came from that old log house to live here, so we find that
during seventy-seven years she has been no rolling stone, having lived in but
two houses during her married life. Some of the original owners sold parts of
the six hundred acres until about two hundred acres are left. March 1, 1886,
Robert died so that Alexander is the only son left to possess the land. It has
fallen to his lot to have his mother with him, and we know the duty is a
privilege and a delight to him. Sir Walter Scott said, "How pleasant it is for
a father to sit at his child's board. It is like an aged man reclining under
the shadow of the oak which he has planted." And I may add to that of S
Walter Scott, by saying it is equally so, when the mother dwells with her son.
And such a mother as we have here, lives seldom in this world. The love she
bears today to her children, doubtless equals her tenacious hold on life. How
fortunate for Mother Coffin, to have a son with his wife, and her daughter,
Mrs. Harrington, situated so as to care for her. How blessed for Alexander and
all the other sons and daughters to have such a mother.
What a springtime that must have been when they planted their first seed corn
among the felled trees. They cleared off the logs to make room to sow winter
wheat. No saw mill was found, so they built the first one in town. The nearest
grist mill was at Camillus. That was so far that some way had to be improvised
to prepare the corn for bread. Jonathan Palmer was equal to the emergency. He
scooped out a large beech stump, smoothed it by burning the inside of t
hollow, and thus made a mortar mill for pounding corn to meal. The other part
was a pole that could bend, one end was put in the ground, the upper end was
placed across the limb of a tree. The limb acted as a fulcrum. A large iron
called a pestle was attached to the upper end of the pole, and then worked
into the beech mortar by the powerful hand of early settlers, until corn was
converted to meal and wheat to flour. Of course the heavy pestle was carried
up by the bent pole only to come down again and again, until it had
scientifically ground the grist. One man preferred another method.
He put his bag of corn or wheat inside of a deer skin and with the hairy side
upon the ground, he drew deer skin with corn or wheat clear to Skanateles Lake
to mill, and back he came with it ground, making a round trip of 48 miles."
Part 51: Episodes in Mother Coffin's Life Related On Her Birthday
IN 1816 the settlers experienced the rigors of a severe winter. It w
extremely cold season. The frost had spoiled their wheat. One day some
visitors came. What should they do for bread? Just then the good hostess
remembered that several barrels of bran had been standing in the chamber a
year. Immediately the bran was sifted, short-cake made, served, and the
company retired well-filled and merry in heart, not knowing the ruse that was
played upon them for a good while. The hostess and family with becoming
fortitude continued to live upon the products of corn meal during that year.
There were two ways to secure something beside bread without eating the herd
and the flock.
One was to go fishing. As there was no dam across the 0swego river, the salmon
trout swam and leaped in the water of Three Mile Creek east of Little Utica.
Hither went the Coffins with pitch forks, and speared trout frequently
weighing 3 pounds. When they wanted change of fare, all they had to do was to
visit the denizens of the forest, knock over a bear and slice him up. Bear
stories were strictly truthful then, one of which Grandmother Coffin relates.
Reuben, her husband, with his brothers, John and Peter, assisted by Mr.
Dutcher, killed a bear with their axes west of George Allen's store
(Jacksonville). The bear, when dressed, weighed 400 pounds. Sometimes t
bears and the wolves tried to get even with the settlers. Grandmother's sheep
once got out of the fold and the wolves held high carnival as they salted down
eight of them.
Two or three years after they reached Palmertown, a Mr. Neal had a cow
browsing in the woods. One evening the cow did not return as usual. They
searched for her; her bones were found, but the cow had slipped out of them,
gone down the rapacious throats of the wolves.
But while the men were industrious and frugal, and the bears and wolves too
neighborly, the face of perseverance of Mother Coffin knew no bounds. T
first year business was carried on principally by trading one article f
another. Little money was in circulation. The time to pay taxes on the 600
acres rolled around. How could they meet the $4 due? She resolved to meet the
demand. She had woven a piece of flannel. No doubt extra pains were taken to
weave it as nicely as possible, for it was a new dress pattern to be worn by
herself. However, she willingly gave up the labor of her hands, and a n
dress pattern for four dollars, and with it the taxes were paid.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1787 - 1888 (100 years)