John P. Coburn (1811–1873) was a 19th-century African-American
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
, civil rights activist, tailor and clothier from
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
.
For most of his life, he resided at
2 Phillips Street in Boston's
Beacon Hill neighborhood. Coburn was one of the wealthiest African Americans in Boston of his time.
His property on the North Slope of Beacon Hill had the third highest real property value in an 1850 census.
Coburn was heavily involved in abolition-related work within his community, specifically work related to the
New England Freedom Association
The New England Freedom Association (c.1842 – c.1848) was an organization founded by African Americans in Boston for the purpose of assisting fugitive slaves.
History
The New England Freedom Association was founded in 1842Quarles (1969), p. 15 ...
and the
Massasoit Guards
The Massasoit Guards were an African-American militia company active in 1850s Boston. Clothing retailer John P. Coburn founded the group to police Beacon Hill and protect residents from slave catchers. Attorney Robert Morris repeatedly petitione ...
.
Entrepreneurial career
Coburn worked as a building contractor, tailor, and clothier. He managed two clothing stores, one at 20
Brattle Street and another at 59
Cornhill Street.
His business focused on tailoring clothes and selling clothes which were advertised to be the current trend. Coburn sold cashmere clothing, doeskins, tweeds and vestings. He also sold men's garments, and cleaned and repaired clothes.
In the mid 1860s, Coburn changed the name of his clothing store to W.T. Coburn Clothing Store, after his son Wendell T. Coburn.
Coburn also co-owned a profitable gaming house, named the Coburn Gaming House, with his brother-in-law Ira Gray. The Coburn Gaming House doubled as a safe house on the
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...
. The main clientele of the gaming house was aristocratic African-Americans.
This business brought Coburn even more wealth and allowed him to finance many rescue operations for fugitive slaves like that of
Shadrach Minkins
Shadrach Minkins (c. 1814 – December 13, 1875) was an African-American fugitive slave from Virginia who escaped in 1850 and reached Boston. He also used the pseudonyms Frederick Wilkins and Frederick Jenkins.Collison (1998), p. 1. He is known fo ...
.
Contributions to abolitionism
Coburn was the treasurer of the
New England Freedom Association
The New England Freedom Association (c.1842 – c.1848) was an organization founded by African Americans in Boston for the purpose of assisting fugitive slaves.
History
The New England Freedom Association was founded in 1842Quarles (1969), p. 15 ...
, an association that focused on helping fugitive slaves.
He patronized
''The Liberator'', a local abolitionist newspaper, by publishing advertisements for his stores and acknowledgments to the people who had donated to the New England Freedom Association.
In addition, he would also put out announcements offering lodging to those in need.
In 1854, Coburn founded the
Massasoit Guards
The Massasoit Guards were an African-American militia company active in 1850s Boston. Clothing retailer John P. Coburn founded the group to police Beacon Hill and protect residents from slave catchers. Attorney Robert Morris repeatedly petitione ...
, a black military company, to police
Beacon Hill and protect residents from
slave catchers
In the United States a slave catcher was a person employed to track down and return escaped slaves to their enslavers. The first slave catchers in the Americas were active in European colonies in the West Indies during the sixteenth century. I ...
. He served as the company's captain.
The Massasoit Guards were never officially recognized by the state, despite repeated petitions by attorney
Robert Morris. The group was named after a
Wampanoag
The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. 1 ...
chief who had been friendly to Massachusetts colonists.
Coburn also recruited volunteers for the militant abolitionist
John Brown.
Family and legacy
Coburn was married to Emeline Coburn and had one adopted son named Wendell Coburn. Between 1843 and 1844, he commissioned architect
Asher Benjamin
Asher Benjamin (June 15, 1773July 26, 1845) was an American architect and author whose work transitioned between Federal architecture and the later Greek Revival architecture. His seven handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities an ...
to design a house for him at the corner of Phillips and Irving Streets.
Coburn died in 1873 and left most of his belongings to his son Wendell Coburn. His house, located on Beacon Hill, is now a site on Boston's
Black Heritage Trail
The Boston African American National Historic Site, in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts's Beacon Hill neighborhood, interprets 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th-century African-American community, connected ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coburn, John P.
1811 births
1873 deaths
People from Beacon Hill, Boston
African-American abolitionists
Abolitionists from Boston