
April 16, 2018

Charles Carleton Coffin (1823-1896)
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The Boys of '76 By Barbara
Schock
Miss Lottie Goldquist
was Carl Sandburg's sixth grade teacher. She encouraged her students
to read, to learn about nature, history and other subjects. In her
words it was to “get an education.”
Under her direction
Sandburg began to read a variety of books about the history of the
world as well as the United States. As an avid reader he was
attracted to the works of Charles Carleton Coffin.
Late in his career
Coffin wrote a series of books about New England. He had been born
in Boscawen, New Hampshire in 1823. His ancestors came to the
Colonies in 1642. As a youth his education was ordinary, but he had
an extraordinary mind.
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He studied surveying,
worked for an early railroad and also helped plan and construct a
power line between Boston and Cambridge. Then he became a reporter
for the Boston Journal newspaper. He was paid
twenty-five dollars a week.
In 1860 he visited
Illinois because he had inherited eighty acres in the state. He was
interested in politics; and being in Chicago, attended the
Republican convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for president.
Coffin was a member of the group which traveled to Springfield to
advise Lincoln he was the nominee. As a reporter Coffin covered the
campaign and inauguration for the Boston paper.
Because of an ankle
injury as a young man Coffin wasn't able to serve in the military
during the Civil War. He wrote an account of the first battle of the
war at Bull Run just outside Washington, DC.
Coffin was the only
reporter to cover the entire four years of the war. Frequently he
was the first to write and have stories published about battles,
.including Antietam, Gettysburg and the Battle of the Wilderness.
General U.S. Grant gave him a pass to go to camps anywhere in die
Eastern Theater of the war. His articles were signed with his middle
name Carleton.
After the. war Coffin
wrote a number of books about his war experience:
My Days and Nights on the Battle Field
in 1864; Following the Flag and Four Years of Fighting published in
1865. In 1888 and 1891 he wrote two more books about the war. After a trip to
Japan, China and India he wrote a book about his observations in
those countries.
His books about his
boyhood and New England heritage included stories about the
Revolutionary War and the men who served in it. These were the books
that Sandburg enjoyed reading.
The Boys of ‘76
describes the important battles of the
Revolution as well as the young men who did the fighting. It was a
favorite and Carl remembered in his autobiography,
Always the Young Strangers, reading
some of the chapters five or six times.
The illustrations in the
book were especially interesting to Sandburg. No credit was given
for the pictures in the book so Sandburg never leamed the name of
the artist. Coffin's books about the Civil War weren't nearly so
interesting to Sandburg.
1
Charles Carleton Coffin
died in Brookline, Massachusetts on March 2, 1896. He is little
known to readers of today.
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DateDate |
Title |
April 23, 2018 |
The Boys of '76 |
April 16, 2018 |
The Eight-Hour Day |
April 9, 2018 |
Handwriting |
April 2, 2018 |
Hello Spring |
March 26, 2018 |
The Post-Simpson House |
March 12, 2018 |
The Why |
February 26, 2018 |
John Van Ness Standish |
February 19, 2018 |
The Sale of Spirits |
February 12, 2018 |
Gershom Martin, part 2 |
February 5, 2018 |
Gershom Martin |
January 29, 2018 |
La Grippe |
January 22, 2018 |
Washday |
January 15, 2018 |
Dice |
January 1, 2018 |
What Is a Deprived
Childhood? |
December 18, 2017 |
Stars |
December 11, 2017 |
Andrew Carnegie,
Philanthropist |
December 4, 2017 |
Isaac Guliher |
November 27, 2017 |
"Found a Deserted Babe" |
November 20, 2017 |
Thanksgiving Days |
November 13, 2017 |
Wilkins Seacord |
November 6, 2017 |
Lake Washington Sanborn |
October 30, 2017 |
Streetcars |
October 23, 2017 |
Many Pranks Played |
October 16, 2017 |
Season to Open Soon |
October 9, 2017 |
Carl's 17th Birthday
Memories |
September 25, 2017 |
General P.S. Post |
September 18, 2017 |
'Tis Apple Time |
September 4, 2017 |
The Union Picnic |
August 28, 2017 |
The Founders' Streets |
August 21, 2017 |
Sarah Bernhardt |
August 7, 2017 |
The Circus |
July 31, 2017 |
A Man of Many Firsts |
July 24, 2017 |
Cuspidors and Spittoons |
July 17, 2017 |
John K. Fowler |
July 3, 2017 |
The Indelible Pencil |
June 19, 2017 |
Fairy Tales |
June 12, 2017 |
Potato Bugs |
May 22, 2017 |
A Pioneer Family |
May 15, 2017 |
The Prairie |
May 8, 2017 |
Henry Hitchcock |
May 1, 2017 |
Callender and Rodine |
April 24, 2017 |
The Mesmerist |
April 10, 2017 |
Street Fair of
1898 (Part 3) - Florence Cooke, Queen of the Street Fair |
April 3, 2017 |
Street Fair of 1898 (Part 2) |
March 20, 2017 |
Street Fair of 1898 (Part 1) |
March 13, 2017 |
Gingerbread |
February 27, 2017 |
Superstitions |
February 6, 2017 |
Sergeant Edwin C. Reed |
January 30, 2017 |
Corporal Andrew P.
Tanning |
January 23, 2017 |
The Ferris Wheel |
January 16, 2017 |
The Gibson Girl |
January 9, 2017 |
The Cookstove |
January 2, 2017 |
Sergeant Charles J. Rose |
December 19, 2016 |
Hazelnuts |
December 12, 2016 |
Minstrel Shows |
December 7, 2016 |
Memories of Pearl Harbor |
December 5, 2016 |
The Coffee Mill |
November 28, 2016 |
Robert J. Samuelson |
November 21, 2016 |
The Chrysanthemum Rules |
November 14, 2016 |
Newspapers |
October 31, 2016 |
Frederick Dickinson |
October 24, 2016 |
The Reverend Carl A. Nyblad |
October 17, 2016 |
Talk Not Always Cheap |
October 10, 2016 |
"It Will Live in Bronze" |
September 19, 2016 |
J. Charles "Frenchy" Juneau |
September 12, 2016 |
Oscar F. "Husky" Larson
|
September 5, 2016 |
Obituaries |
August 29, 2016 |
Aaron Boyer, Broommaker |
August 22, 2016 |
The Panic of 1873 |
August 15, 2016 |
The Swan Prize |
August 8, 2016 |
Chautauqua |
July 18, 2016 |
Street Lighting |
July 11, 2016 |
Cedar Fork |
July 4, 2016 |
Shelden W. Allen |
June 20, 2016 |
Conrad Byloff |
June 13, 2016 |
Edward W. Rosenberg |
June 6, 2016 |
Lawrence Futhey |
May 30, 2016 |
Memory |
May 23, 2016 |
Decoration Day, 1881 |
May 16, 2016 |
William Cullen Bryant |
May 9, 2016 |
College Days |
May 2, 2016 |
A Military Career
Thwarted |
April 25, 2016 |
How to Sweep a Room |
April 18, 2016 |
The Marsh Horse and Mule
Market |
April 11, 2016 |
Horses Everywhere |
April 4, 2016 |
Victor A. Thoureen |
March 28, 2016 |
Nicknames |
March 21, 2016 |
Corporal Edward P.
Peckenpaugh
|
March 14, 2016 |
Hold Still! |
March 7, 2016 |
Capt. T. L. McGirr |
February 29, 2016 |
Sparrow Season |
February 22, 2016 |
George W. Erickson |
February 15, 2016 |
George Helgeson Fitch |
February 8, 2016 |
Anna Charlotte Goldquist |
February 1, 2016 |
"Little Boy Blue" |
January 25, 2016 |
Always the Young
Strangers |
January 18, 2016 |
George R. Longbrake |
January 11, 2016 |
Fred Cook |
January 4, 2016 |
Domestic Help |
December 14, 2015 |
Justice of the Peace B.F. Holcomb |
November 30, 2015 |
Standardized Time |
November 23, 2015 |
Joseph H. Knutson |
November 16, 2015 |
Wells and Cisterns |
November 2, 2015 |
Willis E. Calkins |
October 26, 2015 |
Galesburg Pottery |
October 19, 2015 |
Private Lewis H. Kay |
October 12, 2015 |
The Klondike Gold Rush |
September 28, 2015 |
Charles L. Bloomgren |
September 21, 2015 |
The Gilded Age |
September 14, 2015 |
Oliver Optic |
August 31, 2015 |
The "Spanish" Cannon |
August 24, 2015 |
The Company C Men |
August 17, 2015 |
Jacob A. Riis |
August 10, 2015 |
Mason Jars |
August 3, 2015 |
October 7, 1896 |
July 27, 2015 |
The Soldier's Monument |
July 20, 2015 |
Ice |
July 13, 2015 |
Moses O. Williamson |
July 6, 2015 |
Sweet Little Alix |
June 29, 2015 |
Sharlie's Shickens |
June 22, 2015 |
Anna Held & John Drew |
June 15, 2015 |
Hartel & Secker Meat Market |
June 8, 2015 |
Girls |
June 1, 2015 |
Old First Church - Part II |
May 25, 2015 |
Old First Church - Part I |
May 18, 2015 |
Marbles |
May 11, 2015 |
Pawnee County, Kansas |
May 4, 2015 |
Detective Stories and the
Real Thing |
April 27, 2015 |
Professor Isaac A. Parker |
April 20, 2015 |
Celluloid Collars |
April 13, 2015 |
Asparagus |
April 6, 2015 |
Mayor John C. Stewart |
March 30, 2015 |
Basket Ball |
March 23, 2015 |
The Courthouse of Knox
County, IL |
March 16, 2015 |
“Trifles make
perfection...”
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March 9, 2015 |
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
March 2, 2015 |
Martha Sandburg Goldstone |
February 23, 2015 |
Devotion |
February 16,
2015 |
Gumbiner's
Pawn Shop |
February 9, 2015 |
White Bread |
February 2, 2015 |
The
Monarch Club |
January 26, 2015 |
The Silver Dollar |
January 19, 2015 |
The Fulton County Narrow Gauge Railway |
January 12, 2015 |
The
Four Corners |
December 22, 2014 |
Swedish
Christmas |
December 8, 2014 |
Christmas 1878 |
December 1, 2014 |
Bunker
Boots & Shoes |
November 24, 2014 |
Galesburg,
Illinois |
November 17, 2014 |
It was Buffalo Bill's Day |
November 10, 2014 |
The Election of 1896 (A follow-up story) |
November 3, 2014 |
The Election
of 1896 (continued) |
October 27, 2014 |
The Election
of 1896 |
October 24,
2014 |
The
Rissywarn |
October 20, 2014 |
The Parlor Stove |
October 13, 2014 |
Ashes to Ashes |
October 6, 2014 |
Jesse James |
Sept. 29, 2014 |
Lester T. Stone, Public Servant |
Sept. 22, 2014 |
It's Who You Know |
Sept 15, 2014 |
Mother of the Illinois Flag |
Sept 8, 2014 |
The Scissors
Grinder |
Sept 1, 2014 |
Baseball |
August 25, 2014 |
Howard K.
Knowles, Capitalist |
August 18,
2014 |
Alcoholic Beverages |
August 11, 2014 |
Soda
Water |
August 4, 2014 |
Sweet Corn |
July 28, 2014 |
Marching Through Georgia |
July 21, 2014 |
The Knox
County Fair |
July 14, 2014 |
The Panic of 1893 |
July 7, 2014 |
The Rev. T. N.
Hasselquist |
June 30, 2014 |
The Knox
County Courthouse |
June 23, 2014 |
The Family
Photograph Album |
June 16, 2014 |
Parades |
June 9, 2014 |
Lingonberries |
June 2, 2014 |
Where We Live |
May 26, 2014 |
Old Main |
May 19, 2014 |
Rhythms
of the Railroad |
May 12, 2014 |
Spring
Tonic |
May 5, 2014 |
The Milkmen |
April 28, 2014 |
Gray's
"Elegy..." |
April 21, 2014 |
Off to War |
April 14, 2014 |
Swedish Easter |
April 7, 2014 |
A Father's Face |
March 31, 2014 |
Secret Societies |
March 24, 2014 |
George A. Murdock, Merchant |
March 10, 2014 |
Trade
Cards |
March 3, 2014 |
The Demorest
Medal |
February 24, 2014 |
Rip
Van Winkle |
February 17, 2014 |
Cabbage
Soup |
February 10, 2014 |
Lincoln's Birthday |
February 3,
2014 4 |
The
Colonel |
January 27, 2014 |
The
Lincoln Penny - A Little History |
January 20, 2014 |
Walking to Work |
January 13,
2014 |
A Small Abode |
January 6, 2014 |
Birth of a Poet |
December 30, 2013 |
Christmas 1880 |
December 23, 2013 |
Swedish Christmas |
December 16, 2013 |
The Reporter
Sees Santa |
December 9, 2013 |
The Coming
of Christmas |
December 2, 2013 |
The Fire Boys Talk |
November 25, 2013 |
Galesburg Will Feast on Turkeys and Cranberries -
Thanksgiving 1893 |
November 18, 2013 |
Mary
Sandburg Johnson |
November 11, 2013 |
Carl
Sandburg's Bicycle |
November 4, 2013 |
Lace Curtains |
October 28, 2013 |
The
Front Room |
October 21, 2013 |
A Warm Breakfast |
October 14, 2013 |
Marion D.
Shutter |
October 7, 2013 |
Cigars and Consumption |
September 30, 2013 |
Forrest F. Cooke & August Sandburg |
September 16, 2013 |
Forrest F.
Cooke, Mayor |
September 9, 2013 |
Dusty
Streets |
September 2, 2013 |
Typhoid
Fever |
August 26, 2013 |
Coffee and Water |
August 19, 2013 |
A
Horse! A Horse! |
August 12, 2013 |
Gaddial Scott |
August 5, 2013 |
The
Racetrack |
July 29, 2013 |
John Peter
Algeld - Part II |
July 22, 2013 |
John Peter
Altgeld - Part I |
July
15, 2013 |
Tramps, Tramps, Tramps |
July 8, 2013 |
Lady
Liberty |
July 1, 2013 |
Galesburg's
Fourth |
June 24, 2013 |
John
H. Finley |
June 17, 2013 |
The
World's Columbian Exhibition |
June
10, 2013 |
Fruit
Short-Cake |
June 3, 2013 |
Horatio Alger,
Author |
May 27, 2013 |
Memorial Day,
1887 |
May 20, 2013 |
Professor
Jon W. Grubb |
May 13, 2013 |
Beginnings of Lombard University |
May 6, 2013 |
Young
Sandburg’s View of Lombard College |
April
29, 2013 |
Thinking |
April
22, 2013 |
Robert
Colville, Master Mechanic |
April 15,
2013 |
The Galesburg Opera House |
April 8, 2013 |
Grocery
Stores and Sample Rooms |
April 1, 2013 |
A
Hearty Breakfast |
March
25, 2013 |
The Lost
Wallpaper Legend |
March 18, 2013 |
Martin G. Sandburg |
March 4, 2013 |
The
Edison Talking Machine |
February 25, 2013 |
Joe Elser, Civil War
Veteran |
February 18, 2013 |
Remember
the Maine... |
February 11, 2013 |
Lincoln's
Birthday |
February 4, 2013 |
Curiosity |
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