Stephen Coburn (November 11, 1817 – July 4, 1882) was a Republican member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. He was brother to

Maine Governor The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is Ja ...

Abner Coburn Abner Coburn (March 22, 1803 – January 4, 1885) was the 30th Governor of Maine from 1863 to 1864 and a prominent individual in Skowhegan, Maine until his death. Early years Coburn was born on a farm in Old Canaan (later renamed to Skowhegan) ...

and the father of

Louise Helen Coburn Louise Helen Coburn (September 1, 1856—February 7, 1949) was one of the five founders of Sigma Kappa sorority, a pioneer for women's education at Colby College, where she served as the first female trustee, and an accomplished scientist and write ...

, the founder of Sigma Kappa sorority and a prominent Maine writer. Coburn was born in Bloomfield, Massachusetts, now known as

Skowhegan Skowhegan () is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 8,620. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuously-held state fair in the United States. Skowh ...

. He graduated from

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...

in Waterville in 1839 and after teaching at a plantation school for two years, he attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

and became a prominent lawyer in his native state. He was elected to the

36th Congress The 36th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1859 ...

in a special election on November 6, 1860, and served from January 2 to March 3, 1861. The election for the

37th Congress The 37th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1861, ...

had actually been held in September of the previous year, so he could not be re-elected. Coburn served as a delegate from Maine to the peace convention in 1861 in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Coburn resumed his law practice, eventually becoming

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Skowhegan. He drowned in the

Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river within the U.S. state of Maine. It ri ...

at Skowhegan in 1882. He is interred in South Cemetery in Skowhegan.

References

Congressional Biography

External links

Photo of Stephen and Louise Coburn from Maine Historical Society
Maine lawyers Colby College alumni Harvard Law School alumni People from Skowhegan, Maine 1817 births 1882 deaths Maine postmasters Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American lawyers Deaths by drowning in the United States {{Maine-politician-stub