Peleg Coffin Jr. Explained

Peleg Coffin Jr.
State:Massachusetts
District:3rd
Term Start:March 4, 1793
Term End:March 3, 1795
Alongside:Shearjashub Bourne (General ticket)
Preceded:Elbridge Gerry
Succeeded:Samuel Lyman
Title2:Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts
Term Start2:1797
Term End2:1801
Governor2:Increase Sumner
Moses Gill
Governor's Council
Caleb Strong
Predecessor2:Thomas Davis
Successor2:Jonathan Jackson
Title3:Member of the
Massachusetts Senate
Nantucket District
Term3:1795-1796
Office4:Member of the
Massachusetts Senate
Nantucket District
Term Start4:1790
Term End4:1792
Predecessor4:Isaac Coffin
Office5:Member of the
Massachusetts Senate
Nantucket District
Term Start5:1785
Term End5:1786
Office6:Member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
Nantucket District
Term Start6:1783
Term End6:1784
Title7:Member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
Term7:1789
Birth Date:3 November 1756
Birth Place:Nantucket, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America
Death Place:Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Restingplace:Mount Auburn Cemetery
Nationality:American

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

Early life

Coffin was born in Nantucket in the Province of Massachusetts Bay 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 in 1783–1784, and in 1789, and in the Massachusetts Senate from 1785 to 1787, 1789 to 1792, and 1795 to 1796. He was elected to represent Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives in the 3rd United States Congress from March 4, 1793, to March 3, 1795. Coffin was the Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts from 1797 to 1801.