Coffin, Levi, 1798–1877, American abolitionist, b. North Carolina. In 1826 he moved to the Quaker settlement of Newport (now Fountain City), Ind., where he kept a store until 1847. His home became a leading station of the Underground Railroad Underground Railroad, in U.S. history, loosely organized system for helping fugitive slaves escape to Canada or to areas of safety in free states. It was run by local groups of Northern abolitionists , both white and free blacks.
..... Click the link for more information. , of which he was styled "president."

Bibliography

See his Reminiscences (3d ed. 1898, repr. 1968).

Coffin, Levi

(born Oct. 28, 1798, New Garden, N.C., U.S.—died Sept. 16, 1877, Cincinnati, Ohio) U.S. abolitionist. Despite little formal education, he became a teacher. As a devout Quaker, he opposed slavery. In 1826 he moved to Newport, Ind., where he made his home into a depot of the Underground Railroad and used much of his wealth as a merchant to help the escaping slaves. In 1847 he moved to Cincinnati, where he opened a store selling goods made only by free labour. He continued his work with the Underground Railroad until the outbreak of the American Civil War; he then worked to aid liberated slaves.