Momunment to Levi and Catherine Coffin
Levi Coffin was first referred to as the "President of the Underground Railroad" by a slavecatcher who said, "There's an underground railroad going on here, and Levi's the president of it." The title became commonly used among other abolitionists.
Modern historians estimate that Coffin helped more than 2,000 slaves escape, although Coffin himself estimated the number to be around 3,000. Once questioned about why he aided slaves, Coffin said "The Bible, in bidding us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, said nothing about color, and I should try to follow out the teachings of that good book." Another time he simply said, "I thought it was always safe to do right."
He spent his final year writing a book about the activities of the Underground Railroad and his life. The book, "Reminiscences of Levi Coffin", was published in 1876 and is considered by historians to be one of the best firsthand accounts of the activities of the Underground Railroad.
He died on September 16, 1877 at around 2:30pm in his Avondale, Ohio home. His funeral ceremony was held in the Friends Meeting House of Cincinnati. The Daily Gazette recorded that the crowd was too large to be accommodated and hundreds had to remain outside. Four of his eight pallbearers were free blacks who had worked with Coffin on the Underground Railroad. He was interred in the Spring Grove Cemetery in an unmarked grave.
On July 11, 1902, African Americans in Cincinnati erected a 6 feet (1.8 m) tall monument over Coffin's grave in his honor.
Quaker graves are usually unmarked. The Coffin marker is a monument six feet high. Ex-slaves received permission to erect this marker and raised the money. The inscription, "Aiding thousands to gain freedom, a tribute from the colored people of Cincinnati".
Momunment to Levi and Catherine Coffin
Levi Coffin was first referred to as the "President of the Underground Railroad" by a slavecatcher who said, "There's an underground railroad going on here, and Levi's the president of it." The title became commonly used among other abolitionists.
Modern historians estimate that Coffin helped more than 2,000 slaves escape, although Coffin himself estimated the number to be around 3,000. Once questioned about why he aided slaves, Coffin said "The Bible, in bidding us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, said nothing about color, and I should try to follow out the teachings of that good book." Another time he simply said, "I thought it was always safe to do right."
He spent his final year writing a book about the activities of the Underground Railroad and his life. The book, "Reminiscences of Levi Coffin", was published in 1876 and is considered by historians to be one of the best firsthand accounts of the activities of the Underground Railroad.
He died on September 16, 1877 at around 2:30pm in his Avondale, Ohio home. His funeral ceremony was held in the Friends Meeting House of Cincinnati. The Daily Gazette recorded that the crowd was too large to be accommodated and hundreds had to remain outside. Four of his eight pallbearers were free blacks who had worked with Coffin on the Underground Railroad. He was interred in the Spring Grove Cemetery in an unmarked grave.
On July 11, 1902, African Americans in Cincinnati erected a 6 feet (1.8 m) tall monument over Coffin's grave in his honor.
Quaker graves are usually unmarked. The Coffin marker is a monument six feet high. Ex-slaves received permission to erect this marker and raised the money. The inscription, "Aiding thousands to gain freedom, a tribute from the colored people of Cincinnati".