29 Jefferson Street, Newburyport Historic Surveys, 1981
29 Jefferson Street – Joseph Coffin, owner of the shipyard at the end of Jefferson Street, and the 1784 will of Benjamin Coffin that tells of a ship building yard at the end of Jefferson Street in the 1700s.
The owner of 29 Jefferson Street in 2022 told me that the mason that fixed the chimney put the house at around 1750. The first documented owner that I could find was Joseph Coffin (1785–1868). Joseph is a direct descendant of Tristram Coffin (1608 -1681) one of the first settlers of Newbury who ran the ferry to Carr Island from the Newbury side at the end of Jefferson Street.
In 1655 the town of Newbury laid out a new way, what is now Jefferson Street, as a means of getting to the ferry to Amesbury at Carr Island. For more than 50 years it was called Ferry Lane or “the way to the ferry.” In 1814 it was called Jefferson Street, and in 1839 it was called Coffin’s Lane. It was changed back to Jefferson Street when that area became part of Newburyport in 1851.*^
Joseph’s grandfather was Benjamin Coffin (1710 – 1784), and in Benjamin’s will* he left his his “ship building yard with all its privileges” at the bottom of Jefferson Street to his three sons, Stephen, Amos (Joseph’s father) and Lemuel Coffin. The shipyard at the bottom of Jefferson Street goes back to at least the 1700s. There is very little known about the shipyard, and the fact that there is a document, the will, about the shipyard adds to the small amount of history that is understood about it. Robert Cheney in his book, “Maritime History of the Merrimac: Shipbuilding,” has Joseph Coffin and his relative Samuel Coffin as the first major ship builder at the end of Jefferson Street around 1810.*** John J. Currier has Benjamin Coffin, who bought the land from Moses Coffin in 1763.*^* Benjamin Coffin’s will of 1784 shows that the shipyard belonged to Joseph’s grandfather and aligns with the account by John J. Currier. In Joesph Coffin’s probate (1868), he lists a “Ship-yard at the foot of Jefferson Street,” as well a “Half a ship yard on the Merrimac River,” and a “Ship-yard on Merrimac Street.”
Benjamin Coffin may well have built 29 Jefferson Street, in his will he left his house to Joseph’s uncle Lemuel. I have not been able to figure out how Joseph acquired the house, I have not found a deed or a will, but he most definitely owned it. It is listed in his probate records,** as well was the newspaper, selling the estate,^^ The 1872 Map not only shows Jospeh’s house but also a large estate including land on Jefferson Street, as well as land along the Merrimac River and Merrimac Street where the shipyards would have been, as well as other houses and land which he rented out,^* all of which were sold in 1872.^^
The 1884 map shows that Joseph’s land was divided up. His house had been sold to Philip D. Adams who was a teacher in Newburyport and lived on High Street. It seems that he rented it for 20 years before letting his son Frank and his new wife live there in 1893.^*^ He gave the house to Frank in 1906, and Frank’s widow Carrie sold it in 1928 after Frank’s death. Philip Adams married Ruth Coffin who was the daughter of Joesph Coffin, Philip bought his father-in-laws house and Frank was Joseph’s grandson. The house stayed in the family from when it was built, possibly by Benjamin Coffin in the 1700s to when Frank Adams died in 1928. There is a brief mention in the paper when the house was sold that it had been neglected and was going to be restored by Edward Hoyt who had bought the property.^^^
1924 Assessor’s Map, Courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
Philip D. Adams, The Snow Collection, Courtesy of the Museum of Old Newbury
29 Jefferson Street, © Courtesy of Biff Bouse
29 Jefferson Street on the Newburyport Interactive History Map
~ History compiled by Mary Baker Eaton
Footnotes and References:
* Benjamin Coffin’s will, 1784
** Probate of Joseph Coffin, 1868
*** Maritime History of the Merrimac: Shipbuilding, Robert K. Cheney, Chapter IV
*^* History of Newbury, Mass., 1635-1902, by John James Currier
*^ John J. Currier, History of Newburyport Mass, 1764-1905
^^ Newburyport Daily Herald, September 20, 1872
^* Advertisements in the Newburyport Historic Newspapers, the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
^^^ Newburyport Daily News and Newburyport Herald, December 6, 1928
^*^ Newburyport censuses and the Newburyport City Directories
Salem Deeds
FamilySeach.org
HeritageQuest Online
American Ancestors
The Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
The 1872 Map, Courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
The 1884 Map, Historic Map Works and the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
1924 Assessor’s Map, Courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
Newburyport Historic Newspapers, the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
Newburyport City Directories
Federal Census from FamilySearch.org
