Peleg Coffin Jr. (November 3, 1756 – March 6, 1805) was an American financier, insurer, and politician from Nantucket and

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 ...

Early life

Coffin was born in Nantucket in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

to a whaling family; his parents were Peleg and Elizabeth (Hussey) Coffin. Coffin's father was lost at sea a month after he was born. This early background led him to found and head the New England Marine Insurance Company.

Public service

Coffin served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1783–1784, and in 1789, and in the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

from 1785 to 1787, 1789 to 1792, and 1795 to 1796. He was elected to represent

in 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in the

3rd United States Congress The 3rd 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 at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Penn ...

from March 4, 1793, to March 3, 1795. Coffin was the

Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts The Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts (commonly called the "treasurer") is an executive officer, elected statewide every four years. The Treasurer oversees the Office of Abandoned Property, escheated accounts, the State Retirement ...

from 1797 to 1801.

References

External links

* 1756 births 1805 deaths Massachusetts state senators Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Politicians from Boston People from Nantucket, Massachusetts State treasurers of Massachusetts Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery People of colonial Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-MARepresentative-stub