John P. Coburn

John P. Coburn
Born 1811
Boston, Massachusetts
Died 1873
Boston, Massachusetts
Known for Abolitionism
Spouse(s) Emmeline Coburn
Children Wendell Coburn

John P. Coburn (1811–1873) was an African-American abolitionist and civil rights activist from Boston.

Biography

Coburn was born in Boston in 1811. He worked variously as a building contractor, a tailor, and a clothier. He managed two clothing stores in the West End, one at 20 Brattle Street and the other at 59 Cornhill Street. With his brother-in-law Ira Gray, he co-owned a profitable gaming house which doubled as a safe house on the Underground Railroad; he used the profits to finance slave rescues.[1]

Between 1843 and 1844, he commissioned architect Asher Benjamin to design a house for him at the corner of Phillips and Irving Streets. Coburn lived there with his wife, Emmeline, and their adopted son Wendell.[2][3]

Coburn was a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee[1] and treasurer of the New England Freedom Association,[4] both organizations dedicated to helping self-emancipated slaves. In 1851, he was arrested, tried, and acquitted for his alleged part in the rescue of Shadrach Minkins.[4] He was also active in Boston's desegregation movement.[2]

In 1854, Coburn founded the Massasoit Guards, a black military company, to police Beacon Hill and protect residents from slave catchers. He served as the company's captain.[5] He also recruited volunteers for the militant abolitionist John Brown.[1]

Coburn's wife died in 1872.[3] Coburn died in 1873 and left the bulk of his estate to his son.[2] John Coburn House, his former home on Beacon Hill, is a site on Boston's Black Heritage Trail.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2015). "Coburn, John P.". The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations. Routledge. p. 123. ISBN 9781317454168.
  2. 1 2 3 Petronella, Mary Melvin (2004). Victorian Boston Today: Twelve Walking Tours. UPNE. p. 137. ISBN 9781555536053.
  3. 1 2 Curtis, Nancy C. (1996). Black Heritage Sites: An African American Odyssey and Finder's Guide. American Library Association. p. 295. ISBN 9780838906439.
  4. 1 2 3 "Boston African American NHS Park Brochure, Side 2" (PDF). National Park Service.
  5. ↑ Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2015). "Black Militias". Civil Disobedience: An Encyclopedic History of Dissidence in the United States. Routledge. pp. 38–40. ISBN 9781317474401.
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