Memoir of Daniel Lathrop Coit 1754-1833 A Memoir of Daniel Lathrop Coit of Norwich, Connecticut I 754" l8 33 Privately printed Norwich The Bulletin Press 1907 THIS story of the life of ^Daniel Lathrop Coit, compiled by one of his grandsons, is offered to his descendants who never knew him, as a tribute to his memory. Lowthorpe, Norwich, Conn. Christmas, igoj. IV. C. G. E. S. G. L. G. L. Daniel Lathrop Coit A WISE man— was it Plutarch who in his time took many lives?— said "it is a desirable thing to be well descended but the glory belongs to the ancestors." However desirable it may be to give honor to whom honor is due, it is imperative to limit the number of the ancestors now to be commemo- rated, lest beginning our family tree, as Lord Chesterfield did, in the garden of Eden with Adam de Stan- hope and Eve de Stanhope, we find ourselves burdened with a long list of forbears, of whom it may only be said "they lived and died," a list scarcely more entertaining than the book of Chronicles. The particular ancestor to whom we are now to pay our tribute of honor is Daniel La- throp Coit. Nearly fifty years ago, his young- 2 DANIEL LATHROP COIT est son, with a graceful pen, wrote a brief sketch of his life which was read to his children and grandchil- dren, assembled in his old home, at the Norwich Bicentennial Celebra- tion in 1859. That sketch we cannot hope to improve, but we may extend and enlarge it, not without regret that, as none of his living descend- ants can supply any personal remi- niscences, we can only collect and arrange such scattered fragments of his history as are found in remnants of his diaries, in faded old letters, and in time-stained family records. Of his English ancestry we know next to nothing, nor is it probable that our knowledge will ever be in- creased, unless some enthusiastic genealogist with abundant means and leisure shall undertake the pious task of searching for treasures that must somewhere lie hidden in family or public archives in England. John Coit, the pioneer of all the Coits in this country, came with his DANIEL LATHROP COIT 3 wife and several children from Glamorganshire, Wales, to Salem, Massachusetts, as early as 1638. From thence he removed to Glou- cester, where he became a selectman, and there he remained, says tradi- tion, until he was driven off by In- dians. He then came to Saybrook, and, in about 1650, with several other men of Gloucester, established him- self in New London, where he died in 1659. His son Joseph came to New Lon- don with him and spent the re- mainder of his life there, carrying on the business of shipbuilding. He married Martha Harris of Wethers- field, was a deacon in the Church and a constable, and died in 1704. John Coit, son of deacon Joseph and Martha, born in 1670, died in 1744, married Mehetabel Chandler of Woodstock, in 1695. He lived an honorable life and continued in his father's business as a shipbuilder. Joseph Coit, son of John and Me- 4 DANIEL LATHROP COIT hetabel, born in 1698, died in 1787, married in 1739, as his second wife, Lydia Lathrop, daughter of Thomas Lathrop of Norwich, and sister of the Doctors Daniel and Joshua La- throp. Joseph Coit's mother Me- hetabel and sister Martha, whose note books and letters are in exist- ence, have been fitly commemorated by the great granddaughters of Me- hetabel. Following the family tradi- tions he went to Boston at the age of fourteen, to learn to be a ship- builder, "but likt it not," and having been partly incapacitated by an in- jury to his foot which "spoilt him for a carpenter" he relinquished the business and went to sea, making nineteen voyages, three before the mast, five as mate, and eleven as master. Subsequently he engaged in various mercantile and commer- cial enterprises in New London, and was a manager of lotteries chartered by the Colony for public purposes at a time when good men regarded DANIEL LATHROP COIT 5 them as means of beneficence, philan- thropy, and grace. His "daj^book," a brief journal of part of his life, now in the Lowthorpe archives, records many pious reflec- tions, his two marriages, the birth of his ten children, his hair-breadth escapes and "remarkable deliver- ances" from shipwreck and starva- tion ; from lightning when the meet- ing house was struck, in 1735 \ an d from the smallpox, which he had "so exceeding bad" that it seriously impaired his eyesight and, in his old age, reduced him to almost total blindness. In 1775, physical infirmities, family ties, and business interests brought him to Norwich, the early home of his wife, where several of his children were already settled. After living for a time in Thomas Leffingweirs house, near what is now the corner of Washington Street and Harland Road, he and his wife made their home in the new house just built by 6 DANIEL LATHROP COIT their son, the subject of this sketch, whose identity is now sufficiently established. Daniel Lathrop Goit was born Sep- tember 20, 1754, in New London, where he received an elementary education, and then came to Nor- wich as an apprentice to his mother's brothers, Doctors Daniel and Joshua Lathrop, who were engaged in an extensive mercantile business, an im- portant part of which was the im- portation of drugs. A memorandum in his handwriting, dated September 24, 1776, after his apprenticeship was ended, says "agreed with my uncle Daniel Lathrop to continue with him a year at the rate of ^80 per annum : he gave me encouragement that whenever business was such that it would be for my interest he would take me into partnership." Although business prospects dur- ing the dark days of the war were far from encouraging, this promise was fulfilled, and he continued to DANIEL LATHROP COIT 7 live on terms of affectionate intimacy with his uncle, Dr. Daniel, and his aunt, Madam Jerusha Lathrop, who, being childless in their advancing years, regarded him almost as their own son. Under the training of his uncles he acquired excellent business habits, prudence, enterprise, accuracy as an accountant, and great facility as a correspondent, habits that were in- valuable in the larger affairs which interested him in after years. More- over, as the3^ were men of high character and principles, college grad- uates, "lovers of learning, of good men, and of good things," although he himself had not the advantages of a collegiate education, he was in- spired by their influence and example to the acquisition of knowledge of the useful arts and sciences, and the enjoyment of everything that was available in the best English litera- ture. To be loved by such' a woman as 8 DANIEL LATHROP COIT Madam Lathrop "was a liberal education." Her nephew regarded her with filial reverence, and she "fully reciprocating his attachment, spoke of him playfully as her philo- sophical nephew." Mrs. Sigourney tells us that she herself "thought he was a second Seneca, and always was mute in his presence," but it must be remembered that Mrs. Sigourney was thirty-seven years his junior. After the death of Dr. Daniel La- throp, in 1782, Daniel Lathrop Coit continued in partnership with his uncle, Doctor Joshua, under the firm name of Lathrop & Coit, and having extended their business by relations with Coit & Smith of Hart- ford, and Dr. Thomas Truman of Providence, it was increasingly large and profitable. We read of one ship- ment from England valued at $40,000, and it was by no means restricted to drugs and medicines but comprised DANIEL LATHROP COIT 9 a great variety of general mer- chandise. At the close of May, 1783, he sailed from Norwich for England, partly with the view of enlarging the busi- ness connections of the firm, and partly for pleasure and the advan- tages of foreign travel. His journal records that in going five miles down the river from Norwich, "the sloop got aground only fourteen times," whereupon he went ashore and walk- ed the rest of the way to New London, where he spent the night. The sloop, the "Polly Braddick," came along next morning and having better luck, made a good run to New York, where she arrived after three days. On the seventh of June he embarked on the brig Iris, with nine cabin passengers, all told, including himself and Lynde McCurdy, who had come with him from Norwich, and was his constant companion during a great part of his tour in England. 10 DANIEL LATHROP COIT The incidents of his twenty-seven days' voyage from New York, re- corded minutely in his journal, if not in themselves very remarkable, were, to a youthful traveler, inland bred, full of interest and excitement. A century and a quarter has not greatly changed the appearance of the ocean since his time : the whales, and porpoises, and sharks, the ice- bergs and the gulf stream, as he de- scribes them, are not unlike those seen by them that go down to the sea in ships and occupy their busi- ness in the great waters to-day : the wind and weather, and the " run " of two hundred and five miles as the highest daily record, were as inter- esting on the small brig Iris, as they are now on a steamer seven hun- dred feet long, with a speed record three times as great. But he im- proved the opportunity to make ex- periments illustrating the pressure of sea water at various depths down to one hundred and twenty fathoms, DANIEL LATHROP COIT 11 — seven hundred and twenty feet, — and to collate from the "Annual Register" varied information, from the temperature of the gulf stream to improved culture of fruit trees. The habit of keenly observing and minutely recording natural phenom- ena and mechanical processes was a characteristic of his whole life, and many pages of his commonplace books and letters are filled with his comments and reflections. He left the brig at the Isle of Wight and went by pilot boat to Portsmouth where he viewed with interest the town with its fortifica- tions and dock yards. Here on the stocks, ready for launching, he saw the ill-fated Royal George, battle- ship, of one hundred and eight guns, without dreaming that she was destined to sink at Spithead a few years later with a loss of eight hun- dred lives, for whom has ever since been recited Cowper's requiem, ' ' Toll for the Brave." 12 DANIEL LATHROP COIT After a day in Portsmouth, with Dr. Shepherd and Mr. McCurdy, his fellow passengers on the Iris, they took a post-chaise for London, and found it " a pretty reasonable way of traveling and the most pleasant and agreeable," as indeed it must have been in early June, over good roads where every mile presented new objects of interest. Nothing escaped his attention, the roads, the bridges, the cultivated fields, the hedges and pollard willows, the villages and small towns, the rural cottages, the stately mansions and private parks. He comments on the scarcity of wood for fuel, and gives it as his opinion that "in this coun- try there is a great want of brooks and rivlets." This recalls a remark of one of his descendants that "the great lack of Norwich is lakes !" The sight of London as he ap- proached it was "overwhelming, and excited wonder and amazement by its magnificence and grandeur. " ' 'At DANIEL LATHROP COIT 13 the end of my voyage and journey," he continues, " I have kept my eyes in so constant exertion in staring and gazing at everything I have seen that they are wearied and really ache for want of rest, for which purpose we alight at the New York coffee house, discharge our postilion and shut ourselves up till, with the help of the barber, hair-dresser, hatter, &c, we are twisted into the appearance and shape of other folks and may venture abroad in an ap- pearance that will not cause greater surprise than we feel ourselves." His first day in London was given to Westminster Abbe}^ and to Parlia- ment where he found "a great want of order and decorum ; the honorable gentlemen, like a parcel of boys, jumped up and kicked around and out of the room a bundle of papers that had been returned with unac- ceptable amendments by the Lords !" Three weeks were fully occupied in seeing the sights of the wonderful 14 DANIEL LATHROP COIT city, and by his business affairs in which his usual caution was mani- fest to a degree that was somewhat disappointing to his partners at home who realized more than he did the great scarcity of imported mer- chandise and the urgent demand for it. But as the definitive treaty of peace with England had not been signed, he, on his part, was appre- hensive that such serious commer- cial embarrassments might ensue as would be detrimental to the interests of the firm. It is difficult to realize at the present day, when an order for a cargo from the ends of the earth cabled in the morning may be count- ermanded an hour later, that it was then an affair of many months to mail a letter and receive an answer. Truman, for example, received only on October 3, a letter from Coit dated July 11, nearly three months in transit. Before the month was over, having DANIEL LATHROP COIT 15 had a cold "so severe that he could not remember that he was ever more unwell," and realizing that "this very noisy city is not the place for sick people, the weather being the hottest ever known in London, the thermometer at 87 ," he improved the opportunity to set out in a post-chaise for Birmingham with his friend, Mr. McCurdy. The trip was after his own heart and a very full record he kept of it. He saw several great estates on his way to Oxford where he spent two days and was deeply impressed by the college buildings, the paintings and the libraries. Of Blenheim, which he went sixteen miles out of his way to see, he says "nature and art seem here to have combined to reward my pains: nature indeed has been pro- fuse, and art no niggard." He visited many other magnificent estates and describes them at length. At Stratford he did himself "the honor to sit in Shakespear's chair; the 16 DANIEL LATHROP COIT house is in the middle of the town, very small and mean, with an old stone floor that seemed almost worn out ; but as the apartments were not so elegant and numerous as Lord Temple's they were soon viewed, and we gave the girl who was our informer a trifle and left it." At every important town he visited, the manufactures were of first and unfailing interest. At Woodstock there were steel and gloves ; at Birm- ingham, paper, buttons, bricks and hardware ; at Worcester, pottery and china ware ; at Clifton, pipeworks ; at Bristol, a steam corn mill and a shot factory. A shilling that he paid at Bristol to see a giant, seven and a half feet high, "was not illy spent," but the prevailing custom of tipping servants at inns he thought "ridicu- lous." On the Sunday he "went to church in the morning, and to meet- ing in the afternoon and found the preachers not more extraordinary than at home." It is to be regretted DANIEL LATHROP COIT 17 that from Bristol he did not pursue his journey to Glamorganshire, not far distant, and make enquiry con- cerning Coite Castle, and his Coit ancestry. In returning toward London he was particularly impressed by "Mr. Shenstone's estate called the Leas- owes." He says " it is the most rural and romantic and has the greatest assemblage of natural beauties I have ever seen." Without following his enthusiastic description of the place, it may be observed that he regretted that he had not time to copy all the poetical inscriptions that marked in- teresting points of view, but he was compensated for this loss by the pur- chase of Shenstone's poems, in three volumes, with the inscriptions in full. He made a brief stay at Bath, and in passing Windsor Castle had a glimpse of the King and the royal children, and after an absence of six- teen days arrived in town where he found his business affairs in good 18 DANIEL LATHROP GOIT order, his purchases packed and ready for shipment, and also re- ceived his first letters from home. Miss Burney's accounts in Evelina of life in London, Bath, Clifton, Bristol, and of the amusements at Ranelagh and Vauxhall gardens, places that he visited, are quite in accordance with his own descriptions — and it suffices to say that he found the entertainments at the latter places somewhat different in charac- ter from anything he had been accustomed to witness on Low- thorpe Meadows or even on Chelsea Parade. Near the end of August he set out for Holland where he spent about three weeks. Unfortunately, as a considerable portion of his journal is missing, although we know he visit- ed Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Delft Haven and The Hague we are de- prived of his account of them. But while he made purchases and formed business connections that continued DANIEL LATHROP COIT 19 for years, the journey as a pleasure trip was not a success. Neither the country nor the inns were comforta- ble ; the people, he found jealous and inhospitable, with less sociability among themselves than there is among the English. At a certain place he desired to procure a carriage, "but so slow and awkward is the Dutch method of doing business, it was an hour before I could get one. In the first place a messenger must be sent for the commissary, who orders a large ship bell to be rung to call together the whole fraternity of drivers, sixteen in number, for the purpose of casting dice to determine who shall have the privilege of get- ting up his carriage, but lest one ringing shall not muster the whole, it must be rung three times which employed perhaps twenty minutes ; by this time the gentry are assembled and ready to cast the lot ; after all have thrown the one to whom the lot has fallen posts off for his horses, 20 DANIEL LATHROP COIT which perhaps are feeding in the fields, as was now the case ; and after some time he comes with his machine or vehicle of conveyance which is difficult to describe, it be- ing neither coach, chaise or wagon." After a very disagreeable detention of six days, on account of bad weather, at Helvotsluys where he became very tired and anxious to see London, he took the packet for Harwich where he arrived after a rough passage of twenty-one hours. He quotes elsewhere, apparently with satisfaction, Sir William Tem- ple's description of Holland, as fol- lows : "It is a country where the earth is better than the air, and profit more in regard than honor : where there is more sense than wit : more good nature than good humor, and more wealth than pleasure ; where a man would choose rather to travel than to live, shall find more things to observe than to desire, and more persons to esteem than to love." DANIEL LATHROP COIT 21 Instead of proceeding directly to London, as Ipswich was but a few miles out of his course, he went there to seek the acquaintance of Doctor William Coyte, a physician of large practice and independent fortune, hoping to establish kinship with him. Entire stranger though he was, he was cordially received and entertained by the Doctor, whom he found "a very agreeable, pleasant and social man ; his wife, likewise, very pleasing, and his daughter very agreeable ; in short, an exceeding happy family." "The Doctor's for- tune," he continues, "is such as to enable him to live in as affluent cir- cumstances as he could wish. We had an exceeding good dinner of two kinds of fish, a boiled pudding, chickens, mutton, partridges, pigeon pie, and a baked custard pudding, and dessert of pears, nectarines, grapes, plums and hazel nuts, and after dinner the port and sherry passed briskly." He was much in- 22 DANIEL LATHROP COIT terested in the Doctor's extensive botanical garden and noble glass house, and, on the whole, "found him so clever a man and his family so clever" that he wished he might find a more certain proof of relation- ship than the black eyes, for which the Coytes of England are as noted as the Coits of America. He was thoroughly used up when he reached London with feasting and the fatigue of traveling by stage coach, but he soon rallied and re- sumed his pleasant occupation of sight seeing. At Drury Lane theatre "The Tender Husband" was well acted and went off with great eclat. He was also much entertained by "Othello, one of Shakespere's mas- terpieces, exceedingly well done, and well worth seeing." He describes as one of the greatest wonders he had seen in England the famous brewery of Thrale and Com- pany. This was not far from the time when Dr. Johnson, as one of DANIEL LATHROP COIT 23 Thrale's executors was preparing to sell the brewery, and said, "we are not here to sell a parcel of boilers and vats, but the potentiality of grow- ing rich beyond the dreams of ava- rice." He also witnessed, a few days later, the imposing ceremonial of the proc- lamation of peace between England and the powers with which, she had been at war, a noteworthy event cele- brated with great pomp in a formal manner by a procession with heralds to the City. His Guide Book in London, pub- lished in 1782, called " the Ambula- tor, or Stranger's Companion," pur- ported to describe "whatever was remarkable either for Grandeur, Ele- gancy, Use or Curiosity within the circuit of twenty-five miles." That he made good use of his "ambula- tor " and his opportunities, is certain, but we may not follow him too closely, for many years of his life are yet before him and us. 24 DANIEL LATHROP COIT On October 25 he set out for Paris via Dover and Calais and spent about six months in France, sight seeing of course, in Paris ; and in the study of the language at Abbeville. He was favored with the acquaintance of Doctor Franklin, then our minister in France, and of the Marquis La- Fayette, lately returned from his American campaigns, and continued his friendly intercourse with Colonel Wadsworth and his son of Hartford. He was greatly interested in wit- nessing the first successful balloon ascension made by Messrs. Robert and Charles from the gardens of the Tuileries in December, 1783. To his uncle, Dr. Joshua, he wrote, " I have written my father (the letter was printed in the Norwich Packet), an account of the new Flying Machines, or Balloons as they are called, and refer you to him for a description. The novelty of men's flying in the air with great facility to any dis- tance will doubtless afford surprise. DANIEL LATHROP COIT 25 I doubt not you have heard before of the machine but not of the Aerial Voyage which has been made in this one, and which I have witnessed." But that he was not fully convinced of the ultimate success of the experi- ment appears in a letter from his friend, Dr. Coyte of Ipswich, who says, " I was much pleased with your account of the balloon, and think with you, that for want of steerage it is a matter that must be of no con- sequence and will fall to the ground neglected and disregarded," From that day to this balloons have risen and "fallen to the ground," and the problem remains unsolved, though the inventor of the Bell telephone is still confident that within the present year he will demonstrate the entire practicability of his plans. Early in March he returned to Lon- don, and after about seven weeks embarked on the ship Ceres for America. Nothing of greater inter- est than the usual vicissitudes of 26 DANIEL LATHROP COIT wind and weather occurred on the voyage, except an exchange of cour- tesies with a French fishing vessel off the Banks of Newfoundland, which gave in barter for a dozen of porter and a cheese, some fine fresh fish and a ' ' hollowboat," which, being alive when they came on board and immediately cooked, were the finest he ever tasted. On Friday, June 4, 1784, he landed in Boston, and after calling on his friends and relatives, the Greens and Hubbards, he found himself in Nor- wich in a little more than a year and a day from his departure. To a bright, intelligent young man, old enough to know what he wanted to see and do, yet young enough to enjoy it, this year of foreign travel was full of pleasure and profit and instruction. He did not go as far or as fast in twelve months as the tour- ist now travels in thirty days ; yet the post-chaise and the diligence gave opportunities for seeing and DANIEL LATHROP COIT 27 knowing the country and the man- ners and customs of the people that are not afforded by automobiles and limited express trains. He was doubtless a marked man in Norwich after his return, for, says John Fiske, " even in a town as large as Philadelphia at that time, an American who had crossed the At- lantic was sure to be pointed out in the street ' as a man that has been in Europe.' " His comments on England are not uninteresting : "The constitution of Britain seems to be like the body of an infirm man laboring under a com- plication of disorders which cannot be cured, but must by and by destroy it. The State seems to have many evils to cure without power to de- stroy any. The nation is sunk into an amazing debt the interest of which is enormous tho' absolutely neces- sary to be paid. The civil and mili- tary establishments call for great supplies and more than can be spared. 28 DANIEL LATHROP COIT The septennial parliament I think a grevious burden and introduces ve- nality, bribery and corruption, which would be much less the case were the members chosen annually. Rob- bery, thieving and murder are car- ried to a great height, and executions very numerous. Smuggling, in con- sequence of prodigious duties, is at a great height, so that whole bands go armed and sometimes abuse offi- cers of the customs. Dr. Price says, the dissenting interest in the country is in a declining way, and assigns the cause in some measure to the Methodists who are increasing :— many Methodists join them." So also, from Paris to Dr. Joshua Lathrop : "The air of Paris is vast- ly better than that of London, but I don't like the city- as well. It is, however, a great and magnificent place, very rich and opulent, though it has but little trade. The country in general is good, tho' I think in- ferior to England. The principal DANIEL LATHROP COIT 29 part of the Business of this place seems to be Pleasure, if that can be called Business : but the Pleasure of London seems to be Business, and great as are the two extremes they are not greater, or rather the differ- ence between them is not greater than the difference between the in- habitants of the two places. This place seems to be supported by for- eigners who flock here to spend their money and enjoy the amusements of the place, but one is surprised that that, added to the little business done here, should be sufficient to support such numbers in the style of afflu- ence they live in." He was now thirty years old, and his return to his native land may be said to mark the close of the first period of his life. He resumed his residence in Nor- wich with his aunt, Madam Jerusha, and continued in partnership with his uncle, Dr. Joshua, until the lat- ter withdrew from active business. 30 DANIEL LATHROP COIT He then formed a new partnership which continued for ten or twelve years, with his cousin and future brother - in - law, Thomas Lathrop. The correspondents of the firm sent their compliments and congratula- tions "to the good old gentleman" on his retirement, adding that their "personal knowledge of Mr. D. L. Coit had given them a high opinion of his character," and expressing their willingness to continue rela- tions with the new firm "doubting not that Mr. Thomas Lathrop is also respectable." At this time his brother, Thomas, an active man of business ; his sister, Elizabeth, wife of Christopher Lef- fingwell ; his sister, Lucy, wife of Andrew Huntington ; his sister, Lydia, wife of William Hubbard, were all living in Norwich ; his brother, Joseph, after receiving his business training from his uncles had recently established himself in Hartford ; and his brother, Joshua, a DANIEL LATHROP COIT 31 distinguished lawyer, member of the Legislature and member of Congress was living in New London. His Lathrop kinsfolk at Lowthorpe were numerous ; the Huntington family connection was large and friendly, while at the Landing, in a beautiful situation at the mouth of the She- tucket, with gardens sloping to the water, the large family of sons and daughters of Captain Ephraim Bill extended his circle of friends. Whether it was before he went to Europe that he was specially attract- ed by the charms of a daughter of the house, then a young girl of seventeen, is a matter for conjecture; nor did she ever tell precisely when she became conscious of his attach- ment, as, in presenting a rose to her after carefully removing the thorns, he ventured to hope that it might be his privilege to remove all thorns from her path in life. But we do know that from London he wrote to his uncle, Joshua, that he was buy- 32 DANIEL LATHROP COIT ing window-glass, hinges, door-locks, nails, and-so-forth, with the view of building a house on his return. Thus it was, then, as now, that coming events cast their shadows before, even through window glass ! In accordance with this purpose, in 1785, he built the house on the hill, near the Coit elms, planted there five and thirty years before, and to this house, in November, 1786, he brought as his bride of nine- teen, Elizabeth Bill, daughter of Ephraim and Lydia (Huntington) Bill. Lydia was the daughter of Joshua Huntington, and sister of General Jabez Huntington, the father of five sons not less distinguished than himself. The year 1786, as has been seen, was the beginning of a new and in- teresting era in his life. Happily married and settled in his new home, his aged parents living under his roof, he himself at the head of the business with which he had long DANIEL LATHROP COIT 33 been connected, the auspices, so far as he was personally concerned, were full of hope and promise. Not so, however, with the country at large. The treaty with England had indeed been signed, and the United States were nominally at peace with all the world, but there was as yet no settled government ; the Constitution was not adopted till 1787 ; President Washington was not inaugurated till 1789; internal jeal- ousies and dissensions were preva- lent ; New York and New Hampshire were quarreling about the possession of Vermont ; New York was seeking to impose tariff laws against New Jersey and Connecticut : Pennsyl- vania and Connecticut were carrying on a sanguinary conflict, the so-called "Pennamite war," over territory claimed by each in the Valley of the Susquehanna ; a fierce controversy raged as to the location of the pro- posed national capital ; the finances of the country were in a deplorable 34 DANIEL LATHROP COIT condition ; the vast territory west of the Seaboard states was unsettled and unexplored, and the western frontier was constantly menaced by savage Indian tribes : while in Europe, the appalling sounds of the French Revolution were heard, the short-lived Republic came into ex- istence and the rising star of Napo- leon, of evil omen, appeared in the sky. But none of these things dismayed him. Was foreign commerce em- barrassed by French and English depredations on the sea, did the em- bargo check all enterprises at home, he pursued the even tenor of his way, sensible that as reverses and mis- fortunes were inevitable they must be accepted with patient fortitude. After the termination of his part- nership with his cousin, Thomas Lathrop, he began to close his mer- cantile business in Norwich, and early in the new century was prac- tically out of it. He sold the residue DANIEL LATHROP COIT 35 of his stock of drugs and medicines to Doctor Dwight Ripley, the father of a large and highly respected family of sons and daughters, of whom Judge George Burbank Rip- ly married Hannah, daughter of Thomas Lathrop. As early as 1796, he had become interested as an original subscriber in the Connecticut Land Company, in the Western Reserve in Ohio. He also inherited from his father an in- terest in the so-called "Sufferers Land," or "Fire Lands," set apart by the State of Connecticut in the west- ern part of the Reserve for the in- demnification of her citizens who had suffered losses by the fires kindled by Benedict Arnold and the British General Tryon in the Revo- lutionary War. His own proprietary interest by purchase and inheritance, and the management of property entrusted to him by others made incessant demands upon his time and atten- 36 DANIEL LATHROP COIT tion in correspondence and personal visitation, as long as he lived. The purpose of the proprietors was of course to cause the land to be ex- plored and surveyed and sold as soon as possible at reasonable prices to actual settlers. That he might be fully informed, although he never resided in Ohio, he made five jour- neys thither, remaining for consid- erable periods. His first journey in 1801 on horseback through the moun- tains of Pennsylvania to Pittsburg and thence north to Cleveland was not without peril. At times, like Goldsmith's Traveler, he must have found himself remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow, in his tedious journey of seven hundred miles, but he made light of his adventures, and writing to his wife says, "we have taken possession of the ' Land of Canaan.' The worst Hittites and Jebusites are the woods and forests to be cleared, — no wolves, bears, or rattlesnakes!" But so rapidly came DANIEL LATHROP COIT 37 improvements in traveling that twen- ty-five years later, accompanied by his wife, he made the journey from New York to Cleveland by steam- boat and the recently constructed Erie Canal. The canal of course interested him greatly, recalling his observation of canals in Holland more than forty years earlier, and he did not fail to notice the use of natural gas at Fredonia, New York, — a novel sight, at that day. This property was at times a heavy burden by reason of the difficulty of making sales to desirable settlers, and the greater difficulty of securing payments, and effecting remittances by safe conveyance when the mails were slow and irregular, and the finances of the country were in a most precarious condition. In 1 80 1, Mr. Coit was urged by his brother-in-law, Joseph Howland, a merchant of large affairs in Norwich, to engage with him in a new enter- prise in which he had become inter- 38 DANIEL LATHROP COIT ested on the Hudson River where he had purchased for $63,000 more than three hundred acres of land, part of the ancient Phillipse Manor, now the City of Yonkers. On this estate was the mansion house with several other dwellings, barns, shops, a sawmill and a flouring mill. It was proposed that Mr. Coit should remove with his family to New York and under- take the purchase of wheat and the sale of the flour to be manufactured by Mr. Howland at Phillipsburg, where the sawmill river afforded sufficient water power and where transportation to New York was easy by boat or by land carriage. Writing to his wife from Ohio, Mr. Coit said, "I have told brother How- land I will endeavor to leave my mind open for conviction, and per- haps it will be better for you to do the same, and regard the proposition with a suitable degree of attention :" — and again, a month later, "was it ten years earlier in life, and was it DANIEL LATHROP COIT 39 not for the unhealthfulness of New York, I should be tempted to follow suit." He did consider it for a year, and, finally, under advice of his friends, he yielded to Mr. Howland's very flattering proposals, and, renting his house under the elms and leaving his three elder children to attend Mr. Hale's school at Lisbon, went to New York with his wife and the three younger children, Maria, Eliza, and two-year-old Joshua, early in May, 1802. We can imagine their feelings as they went down the river leaving their beautiful home. "It is a per- plexing business," he wrote, "I wish it was over, or had never been thought of." Again : "I feel like a cat in a strange garret, in New York :" and, a few months later, " I am a lit- tle more at home, but not pleased with the bustle of New York." The family occupied a pleasant house in Washington Street, near Cortland Street, at that time a de- 40 DANIEL LATHROP COIT sirable place of residence, near to Mrs. Aspinwall, Mrs. Woolsey and Mrs. Levi Coit, his wife's nieces. His place of business was perhaps half a mile away on South Street, between Coenties Slip and the Bat- tery, then, as now, the great landing place for vessels with grain and flour. But the proximity of Washington Street to the North River exposed the family to great inconvenience at high tides, when a foot or two of water on the kitchen floor was not conducive to health or comfort. After a year they removed to a bet- ter situation on Broadway near Reade Street and the City Hall, but the prevalence of yellow fever in the summer of 1803 compelled the re- moval of his family to one of Mr. Howland's houses at Phillipsburg, — an agreeable change for his wife who thus became the neighbor of her sister, and for the children who had all the freedom that such a pleasant residence could give. DANIEL LATHROP COIT 41 Two years' experience satisfied him that financial results would not com- pensate for the sacrifices he was making, and he was happy to re-es- tablished his family in their old home in May, 1804, he, himself, remaining "amphibious," as he said, for a few months, pending the settle- ment of his business in New York. It was in this summer, soon after the Fourth of July, that the city, and indeed the whole country, was shocked by the murder of Alexander Hamilton in a duel with Aaron Burr. His account of the prevailing excite- ment, which he personally witnessed, is of special interest. "The busi- ness," he says, "causes great agita- tion, and in my humble opinion is a proof that great men are not always wise." It was at about this time that Jerome Bonaparte and his bride, who was Miss Patterson, of Balti- more, arrived in New York, "with the expectation of sailing immediate- 42 DANIEL LATHROP COIT ly for Europe. Unfortunately, how- ever, for the little great man and his Lady, an English frigate and a sloop of war, sent, I suppose, from Halifax to escort them, came and placed themselves alongside of them, and since, 'tis said, another English sloop of war is at the Hook, so that Mon- sieur and his suite have again re- turned on shore where they will probably remain until they get aid from their unpleasant condition." After returning to Norwich, where he passed the remainder of his life, he did not again embark in the hazards of commerce, his most im- portant business interest being in his Western lands. But he was far from idle, and, as he wrote to his friend, Governor Huntington, of Ohio, "em- ployment of almost any kind is in my estimation one of the first re- quisites to happiness." Although he was not prone to rash speculation he was not unwilling, after careful investigation, to make DANIEL LATHROP COIT 43 moderate investments in new ven- tures that interested him. Thus the "old tan lot" on the hill above his house was long remembered as the place of his experiments in making leather. So also, having a salt spring on his land in Ohio, he encouraged his son, Henry, to engage in its manufacture there, and, as his com- monplace books show, carefully studied the subject and after seeing the process at Rochester, on Buz- zard's Bay, Massachusetts, believed it might be not only possible but profitable to obtain salt by evapora- tion of sea water on Long Island Sound or even on the Thames River. In 1796, with others, he was inter- ested in forming a library company in Norwich and acted as its secretary. The original subscription list, and invoices and a printed catalogue of books purchased from Isaac Beers, bookseller, of New Haven, have come down to us. The titles, rang- ing from grave to gay, comprise 44 DANIEL LATHROP COIT many excellent books, such as no gentleman's library should be with- out, and that are readable to-day, but they have been scattered and no remnant of the collection can be found. Among them were the Ram- bler and the Spectator; "the graver English poets," Thomson, Young, Pope and Cowper ; Miss Burney's Evelina and Cecilia ; Sir Charles Grandison, seven volumes ; the En- cyclopaedia, eighteen volumes ; Gib- bons' Rome ; and the British Theatre, fifteen volumes. He had already, while in London, made purchases for his own library from Mr. Longman, the publisher, with whom he was on friendly terms. He also consigned for sale to Mr. Beers, a lot of medi- cal books, probably from the library of his uncle. "Atone time, the production of raw silk he thought might be availa- ble and with this view he carefully studied the modes of culture and manufacture abroad and in this DANIEL LATHROP COIT 45 country and procured experienced persons to raise one or two crops of the silk worm on a sufficiently large scale under his own inspection, hav- ing fortunately for the experiment an ample supply of the proper mul- berry trees at his disposal." The re- sult was not altogether unsatisfactory, and he sold his silk at a fair profit, but, he remarks, "while in a family among farmers the business might be carried on advantageously by children and women, at times when little else would be done, it would be difficult to manage an extensive manufacture of this kind when so much labor is required at times, for short periods only, and afterwards no employment." In connection with his son, Daniel, who resided for some time in New Jersey for the purpose of procuring quercitron bark, largely used by dyers and tanners, he engaged in the business of drying and grinding the bark, for which his old tan bark mill 46 DANIEL LATHROP COIT was available ; but, desiring some- thing better, he caused a new mill, specially adapted to his purposes, to be constructed after his own design at Hudson, New York, and made large shipments of the ground bark to New York and London where for a time it yielded a handsome profit. In the year 1802, together with a few friends, he organized the Nor- wich Sealing Company and fitted out two vessels, the Miantonomo and the Oneco, at considerable expense, for a voyage round Cape Horn to the northern Pacific, their ultimate des- tination being a port in China with a cargo of seal skins. Some idea of the risks to be incurred and of the profits anticipated is suggested by his willingness to pay a premium of twenty-five per cent, for insurance. Unfortunately, the vessels, after tak- ing on board more than seventy thousand seal skins, were seized and detained by a Spanish vessel on sus- picion of having been engaged in DANIEL LATHROP COIT 47 traffic with an English cruiser. In a compromise settlement the under- writers paid as for a partial loss, but not till twenty-three years later did the United States government, which in behalf of the owners and insurers had demanded indemnity from Spain, finally adjust the claims. If none of these ventures, nor others that might be named, yielded much profit, on the other hand they resulted in little loss, and afforded agreeable and interesting occupation. After he had duly weighed and con- sidered a business proposition he accepted the result philosophically quite undisturbed by adverse fortune. "I am sorry for the loss," he said, "but it cannot be helped." "Re- verses must be expected and prepared for in business." "Uninterrupted good fortune cannot be looked for." Enterprise, and interest in new schemes were balanced by prudence and foresight, and through all the chances and changes of his varied 48 DANIEL LATHROP COIT business experience, and, indeed, in all the vicissitudes of life his pre- dominant characteristic was equa- nimity. In 1808, his friend, Joseph Howland, who was then living in New York became seriously embarrassed in his affairs by the disastrous failure of Jesse Brown & Son, merchants in Norwich. Mr. Howland was large- ly interested in real estate in de- tached pieces in Norwich, New Lon- don and Montville, and having made an assignment to his sons-in-law, resi- dents of New York, they found it difficult to manage the property at that distance, tied up, as it was, with leases, mortgages and attachments. They therefore entrusted the business to Mr. Coit as their agent. He found it anything but a sinecure, requiring close personal attention to details, correspondence and litigation, and calling for all his tact and business experience for several succeeding years. DANIEL LATHROP COIT 49 Thus, although he was nominally "out of business," his advice and as- sistance were in constant requisition by his friends and neighbors, so that it may be said no small part of his vocation was in "helping when he met them lame dogs over stiles." In 1818 by a fall from a ladder while he was picking grapes, he fractured his right thigh bone near the hip joint The accident was in- deed serious and disabled him for more than a year, but improvement came slowly and he was able to make several journeys, on one occasion to Massachusetts, with Mr. Gilman and one or two other friends, where they visited the great cotton mills at Taunton and Waltham, which were particularly interesting on account of the new manufactories then being established at the Falls. "At Ply- mouth, which it has become quite fashionable to visit, we were gratified by seeing the cradle of our New England settlements, and had the 50 DANIEL LATHROP COIT pleasure, too, to place our feet on the famous Rock that first received the footsteps of the fathers." He also tells of another occasion when, as he was driving home alone from Vermont where he had landed interests, he was arrested at Bolton, Connecticut, and detained and fined for travelling on the Sabbath day ! This seems remarkable in these days when automobile cars rush madly over the country with terrific noise seven days in the week, — and yet there are good men who use these and other uncanonical means of loco- motion for their Sabbath day's jour- neys of business or pleasure, main- taining that the world is growing better ! This was certainly the opin- ion of the good lady who was asked if the first day of the week was as well kept as it had been in her younger days. '* No," was her reply, "the Sabbath is not as well kept, but the rest of the week is kept much better." DANIEL LATHROP COIT 51 It was also after this accident that he made his fifth journey to Ohio to which reference has already been made. Describing his proposed route, in a letter to his son, he said, "Thus, you see, we have em- ployment for considerable part of the summer from which we hope for considerable amusement ; and inno- cent amusement, at our time of life, is about the whole that is left us. I don't know that we could do better." But after five serene and happy years it was his misfortune in No- vember, 1 83 1, to meet with another serious accident. He had spent the evening as was his custom, in reading aloud to his wife, a custom, which she said, gave her great pleasure. At the usual hour he took a candle and was about to bank up the fires and lock up the house for the night, when his foot caught in the rocker of her chair, and, unable to extricate himself, he fell heavily to the floor and again fraqtured his right thigh. 52 DANIEL LATHROP COIT He knew perfectly what had hap- pened, and calmly directed what should be done until Mr. Gilman and the doctor were summoned. From this accident he never fully recovered, but his letters describing it and the former accident, and the serious illness that followed, display not only his close observation of de- tails, but wonderful serenity and patience, and thoughtful considera- tion for his anxious friends. Writing to his son, December 22, 1 83 1, he said, "I have no pain in the limb, save, occasionally, a rheumatic affection. It is a rule with me, you know, to endeavor to draw all the benefit from misfortune that it ad- mits of, and on the present occasion not a small consolation is derived from the consideration that the mis- fortune at your period of life would have been greater. I have now nearly run my race, and without this accident a few quiet and peaceable years were all I could rationally hope DANIEL LATHROP COIT 53 to enjoy, and as active exertion is not absolutely necessary, and books afford me amusement, I may still hope for them, if it please the Supreme Ruler of all events to grant them." Nothing could be more beautiful in domestic correspondence than his letters to his children, beginning when the }^oungest was not two years old, and the eldest was scarcely more than fourteen, and continuing until a few days before the close of his life, — letters of tender, fatherly counsel, of solicitude for the welfare of each one of his children, enlivened occa- sionally with gentle humor, and, as years went on, becoming more and more free in expressions of affection. When his two elder sons went to New York to engage in business, he watched their careers, not without solicitude, sympathizing with them in their perplexities and gratified with their prosperity. His youngest son, Joshua, a graduate of Yale, es- 54 DANIEL LATHROP COIT tablished in New York as a lawyer, had a life of uninterrupted success in his profession, to the entire satisfac- tion of his father. When his eldest son, Daniel, after many years of isolation and close application to business in South America, had attained great pros- perity, he was delighted, not so much because his son had made a fortune, as because of the warm commendations he received from his business friends and associates. Writing to him, July, 1825, he says: "I have long and with much so- licitude sought for some intelligence in your letters relative to the satis- faction you may have afforded your friends in London, and now it comes in full tale. The extracts from the letters from Messrs. Huth & Co. and Mr. Huth individually, who could not be satisfied with the testimony of the house, but must add his own personal declaration to manifest his perfect satisfaction and his testimony DANIEL LATHROP COIT 55 of cordial esteem and perfect gratifi- cation, are, indeed, such a treat to me I want words to express. Nothing short of your own personal health and welfare, could be half so gratify- ing, and although I have gone along with you in all your trials and suc- cess with great interest, yet there seemed to be something wanting till I could know that your proceedings gave entire satisfaction to those kind friends who had placed such un- limited confidence in you. The gratification I experience from this circumstance can only be estimated by your own sensations on the receipt of those letters ; and more, I am sure, I need not say." And again, May 10, 1826 (after Mr. Perit's return from Europe), he wrote, "I have been delighted with Mr. Perit's account of the estimation that your friends, Messrs. Huth & Co., entertain of you, and all your management of the vast concerns you have had on hand. For this I 56 DANIEL LATHROP COIT had been prepared by your own communications and copies of the testimonials they had given you, but this is a renewal and confirmation of all and is highly pleasing to me." His son, Henry, at an early age, married and settled in Ohio where he became a large land owner, and conducted numerous enterprises with great zeal, and with considerable success. In 1811, his eldest daughter, Lydia, was married to Professor James L. Kingsley of Yale College. Her father's letters, and his not infre- quent visits, indicate his warm affection for her, and his gratifica- tion at the excellent standing of her sons, at school and in college. One of his letters to the youngest son, in a kind and playful style, is still pre- served by "Master William's" grand- children. His daughter, Maria, in 1823, be- came the wife of Pelatiah Perit, a native of Norwich, and a long-time DANIEL LATHROP COIT 57 resident and prominent merchant of New York. With this daughter, his correspondence was continuous, the last letter he wrote being addressed to her. In his letters to Daniel he speaks in high terms of Mr. Perit : thus, "He cannot be known any- where without being esteemed." "I do not speak without reflection in saying that I believe few men in New York are held in higher estima- tion." "Few commercial houses in New York stand on so commanding ground as Goodhue & Co., and our friend, Mr. Perit, does honor to the establishment and himself wherever known." His youngest daughter, Eliza, who was married in 1820 to William C. Gilman was the only one of his family who continued to live in Nor- wich. At an early period he became attached to her husband, and, before her marriage, in proposing him as a trustee of the Erie Company, he wrote to General Perkins, "The 58 DANIEL LATHROP COIT person whom I have in view is a young gentleman living in town by the name of William C. Gilman : he is a good accountant, a ready pen- man, and an amiable man, and on my own account desirable, as he is like to become one of my family." Writing to Daniel, in South Amer- ica, he says, "I could wish you had been better acquainted with this brother-in-law of yours, for I want you to love him as much as do the rest of his acquaintance." And, again, ""We have much satisfaction from the attention of Eliza and her very good husband, who are as pleasantly settled as at any house in town, and whose prospects are as good as most." He was greatly interested in the building of their new house, and de- scribing its pleasing situation in de- tail to Daniel, recommends it as a subject worthy of his pencil. After his second accident, "William and Eliza" occupied the Thomas house, DANIEL LATHROP COIT 59 with their children, in order to be near him. He wrote to Maria, in December, 1831, " This good brother and sister of yours do everything in their power to smooth the latter end of our path through life, and ap- parently with as much satisfaction as if it was their own on which they were bestowing the attention." And in March of the following year, writing to the same, "Our neighbors on the hill (the Gilmans) continue their constant attention and kindness. Yesterday we dined with them and I walked home on crutches. Greatly as the necessity of their at- tention has lessened we shall hardly know how to part with them. But I find I touch a tender cord which easily vibrates ; the tear starts, and, though I say this to one of them, I cannot refrain from saying, O, How are we Blessed in our Children I" At a time when it seemed probable that Mr. Gilman might be induced by better business prospects to leave 60 DANIEL LATHROP COIT Norwich, he wrote, "I need not say how much we shall be affected by his leaving us, for with all his kind- ness and attention he has caused us to lean upon him, — perhaps too much." And to his son, — "We have great satisfaction, my son, in the connections which all your sisters have formed. I believe it is a rare instance that all the females of a family have been so fortunate." "There is much reason for satis- faction, my son, in the present cir- cumstances and prospects of our family and I hope there may be no want of grateful sensations on that account." It is to be wished that these ex- tracts might be supplemented by an ample selection from his letters, printed verbatim. They are, uncon- sciously to himself, his autobiogra- phy, not edited and revised for pub- lication, but proclaiming him as a DANIEL LATHROP CUIT CI man who had "a right judgment in all things." They contain not a syllable that might have been better omitted, not a word of unkindly comment on the men or affairs that he spoke of freely in the confidence of domestic and friendly correspond- ence. He had nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to conceal. Had he then no faults? If he had any, they were known only to his own conscience and to his Maker. After carefully scrutinizing these letters, "the Accusing Spirit," might give them in at heaven's chancery without a blush, and "the Record- ing Angel" would find not a word to be "blotted out with a tear." He was not unconscious of the physical infirmities that rested heavi- ly upon him in the last two years of his life, nor did he attempt to con- ceal them from himself or his friends, but it was his endeavor to bear them with such cheerful fortitude as would relieve those who were about him, as 62 DANIEL LATHROP COIT far as possible, from undue solicitude. Writing to his daughter whom he sometimes addressed as " My dearly beloved Maria," he said, "But your troubles did not cease it seems when you reached the steamboat which was so very much crowded. We are fre- quently reminded that we are not to expect unmixed enjoyment in any station or employment : amidst con- stant changes it would be strange if we did not at times get jostled and experience some inconveniences, which, after they are over, are par- tially made up by the pleasure we have in laughing at them, provided they are not of too serious a nature, such as losing our baggage and hav- ing to return twenty miles for it ; or getting a serious fall, and breaking a limb that will take a twelve month to mend it ! Now I think the tendency good to reflect in the midst of our petty disquietudes, how much worse they might have been, and draw all the consolation possible from DANIEL LATHROP COIT 63 misfortunes that they admit of. I do not think our good friend, Mrs. C, exactly calculated to seek much for this sort of consolation. She is alive to the evil, and determined to regard it as such to its full extent, without favor or affection, while her daughter, if I mistake not, would rather laugh it off, and make light of it!" It was at no time his custom, as it was of some excellent men and women of his day, to speak and write freely of his own inward spiritual and religious convictions. He was one of those "who owned the covenant," and all his children were "admitted to baptism" in the first church of Norwich ; yet possibly, some of his friends wished that he was less reticent. Be that as it may, however desirable it is that a man shall confess with his mouth, it is still better to believe in the heart, and, inasmuch as he lived a godly, righteous and sober life, so it cannot 64 DANIEL LATHROP COIT be doubted that he was gathered to his fathers having the testimony of a good conscience, in favor with God and in perfect charity with the world. The words of his son, Joshua, have already been freely quoted, and bor- rowing from them once more this memoir may now fitly be closed. "In his social and domestic rela- tions his character was singularly attractive and exemplary. Thought- ful and unwearied in preparation for every duty, he was resolute and firm in execution. Unassuming and punctilious in rendering to every one the dues and courtesies of life, noth- ing could surpass his forbearance and indulgence for the failings and weak- nesses of others ; while his disinter- estedness, his sincerity, his freedom from prejudice, united with a judg- ment ripened by a wide intercourse with mankind, gave a weight and sanction to his counsels that were DANIEL LATHROP COIT G5 often sought and were unobtrusively rendered. "In politics, he was a federalist of the old school, satisfied that our form of government was the one best adapted to our circumstances, only requiring to be administered by up- right men, and in such a manner as to interfere as little as practicable with the legitimate pursuits of the private citizen. But he took no active part in public affairs further than in systematically voting at elections, and serving two terms in the office of Representative in the State Legislature ; obligations he con- sidered equally due by the citizen to the public when called upon, for himself preferring the repose and unobtrusive pursuits of private life. "He had the satisfaction to sur- vive until he had seen all his six children established in life ; and he died on the 27th of November, 1833, in a ripe old age, before time had impaired the powers of his richly G6 DANIEL LATHROP COIT stored and disciplined mind ; with the consolations of a firm, religious faith, not presumptuous or ostenta- tious, but in keeping with his charac- ter, — calm, deliberate, and resigned. "His widow, who survived him by thirteen years, and died March 8, 1846, was endeared to her family and a numerous circle of friends by her benevolence, her unpretending piety and the undeviating sweetness of her disposition, qualities that cheered and brightened the closing years of his life. "Both are buried in the old bury- ing-ground in Norwich Town. Their portraits, painted by Fisher, are still preserved in the family." DANIEL LATHROP COIT G7 Their gravestones bear the follow- ing inscriptions : Daniel L. Coit. Born September 20, 1756. Died November 27, 1833. Death bursts the involving cloud and all is day. Elizabeth Coit. Born May 14, 1767. Died March 8, 1846. Whose life evinced the sincerity of her christian profession, and whose death was cheered by an unwavering trust in a blessed immortality. 68 DANIEL LATHROP COIT A well-known writer represents a traveler as weeping at the tomb of Adam because his great ancestor never knew him ! Not all of us are equal to all things at all times, but, if we shed no tears as we go with pansies and rosemary to our grandfather's grave in the old up-town burying-ground, we never- theless hold him in pious memory, and indulge vain regrets that it was not our privilege to see him face to face, in his habit as he lived. His eldest granddaughter, in a charming, familiar letter, recorded her impressions of him and his do- mestic life as she received them in her early childhood ; and to his son's filial appreciation of his character it is superfluous to add a single word. But this prolonged study of his life and the perusal of his corre- spondence continued for more than half a century, have brought us into DANIEL LATHROP COIT G9 relations of such affectionate in- timacy with him that his portrait, which has looked upon us benignant- ly all our days, is no longer paint and canvas but is transformed into a veritable, living personage. We sit by his fireside, interested listeners, as he reads aloud to our grandmother, or tells of his long journeys in this and in foreign lands. We walk with him in his gardens, his orchards and meadows, and ac- company him in all weathers to "the landing," when the roads are rougher and the miles are longer than those that are known to most of the younger generation. We see him riding away on his pony to visit his brothers at Canter- bury or New London, or, seated with his wife in the old-fashioned chaise, on a leisurely journey to Hartford or New Haven. At times we find him engrossed with affairs, yet always maintaining a quiet dignity that repels undue fa- 70 DANIEL LATHROP COIT miliarity, and a gracious courtes}^ that wins and cements enduring friendships ; and, finally, in an old age serenely bright, we see him beautifully exemplifying the tradi- tional legend of his family Virtus Sola Nobilitas. w. c. G. ■■■ -I Cf< THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. Series 9482 3 1205 02528 6905 AA 000 876112 4