Mary Coffin

Notes:

From Alison M. Gavin, "A Tale of Two Women: Seventeenth-Century Coffin and Starbuck Matriarchs", citation details below:

Tristram and Dionis's daughter Mary Coffin Starbuck undertook first alone, and later with her eldest son Nathaniel, a number of commercial ventures, including a country store, extensive land trading, and investment in the nascent Nantucket whaling industry. Mary not only knew how to read and write; she also mastered Latin and Greek, and was "well read in the Scriptures." Despite the fact that children growing up in the Bay Colony were required to attend school, Mary's level of education would have been unusual. The ability to read and write classical languages was usually a skill possessed only by young men studying for the ministry at Harvard College. All sources point to Mary being precocious and charismatic.

From Noyes-Gilman Ancestry, citation details below:

She was a remarkable woman, and in the language of a preacher of the day, "The Islanders esteemed her as a judge among them, for little of moment was done without her." She attended town meetings and took part in the debates, usually beginning "my husband thinks" so-and-so, or "my husband and I, having considered the matter, think" so-and-so; in 1701 she became a Quaker, and was distinguished as a teacher.

Mary married Nathaniel Starbuck before 30 Mar 1663. Nathaniel (son of Edward Starbuck and Katherine Reynolds) was born about 1635; died on 6 Aug 1719 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was the first child of European descent born on Nantucket.

Family/Spouse: James Gardner. James (son of Richard Gardner and Sarah Shattuck) was born on 19 May 1664 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts; died on 1 Aug 1723. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jethro married Dorcas Gayer on 6 Dec 1694. Dorcas (daughter of William Gayer and Dorcas Starbuck) died on 11 Dec 1747. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He and his wife were second cousins, being both great-grandchildren of Tristram Coffin and Dionis Stevens.

Jonathan married Patience Bunker on 16 Aug 1723. Patience (daughter of Jonathan Bunker and Elizabeth Coffin) was born in 1706; died after Aug 1777. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 15 Sep 1704, Nantucket, Massachusetts

Lydia married Benjamin Barney on 31 Mar 1722. Benjamin (son of Jonathan Barney and Sarah Griffin) was born in of Nantucket, Massachusetts; died on 14 Apr 1783. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Said to have received to Barrington, Nova Scotia, in 1762.

Simeon married Sarah Long on 22 Nov 1750 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married William Rotch on 31 Oct 1754 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. William (son of Joseph Rotch and Love Macy) was born on 4 Dec 1734 in Nantucket, Massachusetts; died on 14 May 1828 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Jonathan Covell. Jonathan (son of Timothy Covell and Thankful Wheldon) died on 18 Feb 1812 in Barrington, Shelburne, Nova Scotia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"Elizabeth (Rotch) Rodman, along with her younger sister Mary, who never married, were the impetus to so many of the Rotches and Rodmans leaving the Society of Friends, most of them because of what happened to these two women. [...] Samuel Rodman, after the vote that revoked Elizabeth's and Mary's position as Elders, was so incensed by what had taken place that he 'tendered a resignation of his right of membership to the Mo[nthly] Meeting. He declined entering into the reasons which had led to this step, which must be well known to most who were present -- he said it was not a hasty one, but taken after mature deliberation, [and] he should only request a copy of the minute made on this subject.'" [Rhonda R. McClure, citation details below]

Elizabeth married Samuel Rodman on 1 Jun 1780 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Samuel (son of Thomas Rodman and Mary Borden) was born on 11 Nov 1753 in Newport, Newport, Rhode Island; died on 24 Dec 1835 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Deborah married Reuben Smith on 24 Jan 1815. Reuben (son of James Smith and Sarah Wilson) was born on 15 Dec 1792; died on 14 Sep 1869 in Cape Sable Island, Shelburne, Nova Scotia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"Both Anna and her husband Andrew were disowned from the New Bedford Monthly Meeting for 'absenting' themselves from meetings. Andrew was disowned 27th 10 mo. 1825. Anna was subsequently disowned 24th 5 mo. 1827." [Rhonda R. McClure, citation details below]

Anna married Andrew Robeson on 2 Jun 1810 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts. Andrew (son of Peter Robeson and Martha Livezey) was born on 18 Aug 1787 in Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; died on 8 Dec 1862 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mathilda married Ephraim Clifford Nickerson on 3 Jan 1855. Ephraim (son of Judah Nickerson and Elizabeth Smith) was born on 26 Jun 1832 in Clark's Harbour, Cape Sable Island, Shelburne, Nova Scotia; died on 14 Sep 1915 in Clark's Harbour, Cape Sable Island, Shelburne, Nova Scotia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He graduated from the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, but did not practice. He was active in the management of his father's Fall River factory.

He was disowned by the Quakers in 1840, over a decade after his parents were.

Andrew married Mary Arnold Allen on 2 Mar 1843 in Islesboro, Maine. Mary (daughter of Zachariah Allen and Eliza Harriet Arnold) was born on 9 Sep 1819 in of Providence, Providence, Rhode Island; died on 25 Jul 1903 in Islesboro, Maine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Arrived in the US from Clark's Harbour, Nova Scotia, in Feb 1924, proceeding to Medford, Massachusetts. Said to have died Oct 1953 in Somerville.

Alfred married Ella Seretha McComiskey in 1903 in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Ella (daughter of James McComiskey and Christiana Wilson) was born in 1869 in Nova Scotia; died on 9 Jan 1947 in Somerville, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married Charles Sprague Sargent on 26 Nov 1873. Charles (son of Ignatius Sargent and Henrietta Gray) was born on 24 Apr 1841 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts; died on 22 Mar 1927 in Brookline, Norfolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]