(Published in History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains Vol. 3 by James H. Hawley 1920)
Sherman M. Coffin, a pioneer in the hardware trade at Boise, now sales manager and one of the stockholders of the Northrop Hardware Company, a large wholesale concern, has been well known in this line of business in the capital city since 1879. He came to Idaho in that year from Ottumwa, Iowa, where he was born on the 12th of February, 1860. He was named in honor of John Sherman, the Ohio statesman, and is a son of Thomas Chalkley Coffin and his second wife, who in her maidenhood was Sarah Myers. The mother is still living and makes her home in Boise at the advanced age of ninety-eight years, but notwithstanding the fact that she is closely approaching the centenarian mark, she is still quite active. The father died at Fort Kearney, Nebraska, in 1865 (1886), after having served his country as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war. He entered as a private and by reason of his loyalty and his capability was advanced to the rank of captain. The Coffin family has long figured as one of prominence and honor in Boise, where Frank R. Coffin, a half-brother of Sherman M., is the president of the Boise City National Bank, while others are prominent in business and community affairs.
Sherman M. Coffin was reared in Ottumwa, Iowa. He left school at the age of fifteen and became a clerk in a shoe store in his native city, thus making his initial step in the business world. He was employed in that connection until 1879, when he left Ottumwa and came to Boise, chiefly for the benefit of his health, which had become impaired. His brother, Frank R. Coffin, was already engaged in business here and Sherman entered his store as a clerk and thus learned the business. In 1884 a branch store was established at Caldwell, under the name of Coffin & Northrop, with Sherman M. in charge. Removing to Caldwell, he managed the store, of which he was part owner, for several years. In 1897 he returned to Boise and reentered the hardware store of Frank R. Coffin, there remaining until 1900. Through the succeeding thirteen years he was a traveling salesman, being on the road for the Marshall-Wells Hardware Company of Duluth, Minnesota, and throughout the entire period he made his home in Boise. In 1913 he purchased the hardware business of Loree & Son at No. 909 Main street and organized the S. M. Coffin Hardware Company, conducting the business until 1917, when he sold out to the Springer Hardware Company. He has since been financially and actively interested in the Northrop Hardware Company, the largest wholesale concern in this line in Idaho, being continuously represented on the road by six traveling salesmen. Its trade extends all over southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon. It is one of the principal wholesale concerns of Boise, and Mr. Coffin is the sales manager and also one of the stockholders. His long connection with the hardware trade has made him a familiar figure in this line of business in Boise, and his extensive experience indicates his fitness for the responsible position which he is now filling.
On the 15th of January, 1884, in Ottumwa, Iowa, Mr. Coffin was married to Miss Jessie Phelps, an acquaintance of his boyhood, and they have two sons: Vestal Phelps, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and now engaged in the practice of law at Pocatello, Idaho; and Thomas Chalkley, who is a graduate of the Phillips Exeter Academy and of Yale University and is now in England as a naval aviator in the service of the United States. He was formerly assistant attorney general of Idaho and is now twenty-nine years of age,, while the elder son has reached the age of thirty-one. Both sons prepared for the bar by the study of law at Yale and have become recognized as leaders among the younger representatives of the legal profession of the state.
Mr. Coffin is a prominent Mason and is a past grand master of the Grand Lodge of Idaho. He keeps physically fit by a thorough system of exercises, in which he engages every morning. In politics he is a republican and for two years served as city treasurer of Boise but has never sought nor desired public office. He recognizes and fully meets his duties and obligations of citizenship, however, and gives stalwart support to all movements for the general good.
Sherman M. Coffin, a pioneer in the hardware trade at Boise, now sales manager and one of the stockholders of the Northrop Hardware Company, a large wholesale concern, has been well known in this line of business in the capital city since 1879. He came to Idaho in that year from Ottumwa, Iowa, where he was born on the 12th of February, 1860. He was named in honor of John Sherman, the Ohio statesman, and is a son of Thomas Chalkley Coffin and his second wife, who in her maidenhood was Sarah Myers. The mother is still living and makes her home in Boise at the advanced age of ninety-eight years, but notwithstanding the fact that she is closely approaching the centenarian mark, she is still quite active. The father died at Fort Kearney, Nebraska, in 1865 (1886), after having served his country as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war. He entered as a private and by reason of his loyalty and his capability was advanced to the rank of captain. The Coffin family has long figured as one of prominence and honor in Boise, where Frank R. Coffin, a half-brother of Sherman M., is the president of the Boise City National Bank, while others are prominent in business and community affairs.
Sherman M. Coffin was reared in Ottumwa, Iowa. He left school at the age of fifteen and became a clerk in a shoe store in his native city, thus making his initial step in the business world. He was employed in that connection until 1879, when he left Ottumwa and came to Boise, chiefly for the benefit of his health, which had become impaired. His brother, Frank R. Coffin, was already engaged in business here and Sherman entered his store as a clerk and thus learned the business. In 1884 a branch store was established at Caldwell, under the name of Coffin & Northrop, with Sherman M. in charge. Removing to Caldwell, he managed the store, of which he was part owner, for several years. In 1897 he returned to Boise and reentered the hardware store of Frank R. Coffin, there remaining until 1900. Through the succeeding thirteen years he was a traveling salesman, being on the road for the Marshall-Wells Hardware Company of Duluth, Minnesota, and throughout the entire period he made his home in Boise. In 1913 he purchased the hardware business of Loree & Son at No. 909 Main street and organized the S. M. Coffin Hardware Company, conducting the business until 1917, when he sold out to the Springer Hardware Company. He has since been financially and actively interested in the Northrop Hardware Company, the largest wholesale concern in this line in Idaho, being continuously represented on the road by six traveling salesmen. Its trade extends all over southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon. It is one of the principal wholesale concerns of Boise, and Mr. Coffin is the sales manager and also one of the stockholders. His long connection with the hardware trade has made him a familiar figure in this line of business in Boise, and his extensive experience indicates his fitness for the responsible position which he is now filling.
On the 15th of January, 1884, in Ottumwa, Iowa, Mr. Coffin was married to Miss Jessie Phelps, an acquaintance of his boyhood, and they have two sons: Vestal Phelps, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and now engaged in the practice of law at Pocatello, Idaho; and Thomas Chalkley, who is a graduate of the Phillips Exeter Academy and of Yale University and is now in England as a naval aviator in the service of the United States. He was formerly assistant attorney general of Idaho and is now twenty-nine years of age,, while the elder son has reached the age of thirty-one. Both sons prepared for the bar by the study of law at Yale and have become recognized as leaders among the younger representatives of the legal profession of the state.
Mr. Coffin is a prominent Mason and is a past grand master of the Grand Lodge of Idaho. He keeps physically fit by a thorough system of exercises, in which he engages every morning. In politics he is a republican and for two years served as city treasurer of Boise but has never sought nor desired public office. He recognizes and fully meets his duties and obligations of citizenship, however, and gives stalwart support to all movements for the general good.
(Published in History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains Vol. 3 by James H. Hawley 1920)
Sherman M. Coffin, a pioneer in the hardware trade at Boise, now sales manager and one of the stockholders of the Northrop Hardware Company, a large wholesale concern, has been well known in this line of business in the capital city since 1879. He came to Idaho in that year from Ottumwa, Iowa, where he was born on the 12th of February, 1860. He was named in honor of John Sherman, the Ohio statesman, and is a son of Thomas Chalkley Coffin and his second wife, who in her maidenhood was Sarah Myers. The mother is still living and makes her home in Boise at the advanced age of ninety-eight years, but notwithstanding the fact that she is closely approaching the centenarian mark, she is still quite active. The father died at Fort Kearney, Nebraska, in 1865 (1886), after having served his country as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war. He entered as a private and by reason of his loyalty and his capability was advanced to the rank of captain. The Coffin family has long figured as one of prominence and honor in Boise, where Frank R. Coffin, a half-brother of Sherman M., is the president of the Boise City National Bank, while others are prominent in business and community affairs.
Sherman M. Coffin was reared in Ottumwa, Iowa. He left school at the age of fifteen and became a clerk in a shoe store in his native city, thus making his initial step in the business world. He was employed in that connection until 1879, when he left Ottumwa and came to Boise, chiefly for the benefit of his health, which had become impaired. His brother, Frank R. Coffin, was already engaged in business here and Sherman entered his store as a clerk and thus learned the business. In 1884 a branch store was established at Caldwell, under the name of Coffin & Northrop, with Sherman M. in charge. Removing to Caldwell, he managed the store, of which he was part owner, for several years. In 1897 he returned to Boise and reentered the hardware store of Frank R. Coffin, there remaining until 1900. Through the succeeding thirteen years he was a traveling salesman, being on the road for the Marshall-Wells Hardware Company of Duluth, Minnesota, and throughout the entire period he made his home in Boise. In 1913 he purchased the hardware business of Loree & Son at No. 909 Main street and organized the S. M. Coffin Hardware Company, conducting the business until 1917, when he sold out to the Springer Hardware Company. He has since been financially and actively interested in the Northrop Hardware Company, the largest wholesale concern in this line in Idaho, being continuously represented on the road by six traveling salesmen. Its trade extends all over southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon. It is one of the principal wholesale concerns of Boise, and Mr. Coffin is the sales manager and also one of the stockholders. His long connection with the hardware trade has made him a familiar figure in this line of business in Boise, and his extensive experience indicates his fitness for the responsible position which he is now filling.
On the 15th of January, 1884, in Ottumwa, Iowa, Mr. Coffin was married to Miss Jessie Phelps, an acquaintance of his boyhood, and they have two sons: Vestal Phelps, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and now engaged in the practice of law at Pocatello, Idaho; and Thomas Chalkley, who is a graduate of the Phillips Exeter Academy and of Yale University and is now in England as a naval aviator in the service of the United States. He was formerly assistant attorney general of Idaho and is now twenty-nine years of age,, while the elder son has reached the age of thirty-one. Both sons prepared for the bar by the study of law at Yale and have become recognized as leaders among the younger representatives of the legal profession of the state.
Mr. Coffin is a prominent Mason and is a past grand master of the Grand Lodge of Idaho. He keeps physically fit by a thorough system of exercises, in which he engages every morning. In politics he is a republican and for two years served as city treasurer of Boise but has never sought nor desired public office. He recognizes and fully meets his duties and obligations of citizenship, however, and gives stalwart support to all movements for the general good.
Sherman M. Coffin, a pioneer in the hardware trade at Boise, now sales manager and one of the stockholders of the Northrop Hardware Company, a large wholesale concern, has been well known in this line of business in the capital city since 1879. He came to Idaho in that year from Ottumwa, Iowa, where he was born on the 12th of February, 1860. He was named in honor of John Sherman, the Ohio statesman, and is a son of Thomas Chalkley Coffin and his second wife, who in her maidenhood was Sarah Myers. The mother is still living and makes her home in Boise at the advanced age of ninety-eight years, but notwithstanding the fact that she is closely approaching the centenarian mark, she is still quite active. The father died at Fort Kearney, Nebraska, in 1865 (1886), after having served his country as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war. He entered as a private and by reason of his loyalty and his capability was advanced to the rank of captain. The Coffin family has long figured as one of prominence and honor in Boise, where Frank R. Coffin, a half-brother of Sherman M., is the president of the Boise City National Bank, while others are prominent in business and community affairs.
Sherman M. Coffin was reared in Ottumwa, Iowa. He left school at the age of fifteen and became a clerk in a shoe store in his native city, thus making his initial step in the business world. He was employed in that connection until 1879, when he left Ottumwa and came to Boise, chiefly for the benefit of his health, which had become impaired. His brother, Frank R. Coffin, was already engaged in business here and Sherman entered his store as a clerk and thus learned the business. In 1884 a branch store was established at Caldwell, under the name of Coffin & Northrop, with Sherman M. in charge. Removing to Caldwell, he managed the store, of which he was part owner, for several years. In 1897 he returned to Boise and reentered the hardware store of Frank R. Coffin, there remaining until 1900. Through the succeeding thirteen years he was a traveling salesman, being on the road for the Marshall-Wells Hardware Company of Duluth, Minnesota, and throughout the entire period he made his home in Boise. In 1913 he purchased the hardware business of Loree & Son at No. 909 Main street and organized the S. M. Coffin Hardware Company, conducting the business until 1917, when he sold out to the Springer Hardware Company. He has since been financially and actively interested in the Northrop Hardware Company, the largest wholesale concern in this line in Idaho, being continuously represented on the road by six traveling salesmen. Its trade extends all over southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon. It is one of the principal wholesale concerns of Boise, and Mr. Coffin is the sales manager and also one of the stockholders. His long connection with the hardware trade has made him a familiar figure in this line of business in Boise, and his extensive experience indicates his fitness for the responsible position which he is now filling.
On the 15th of January, 1884, in Ottumwa, Iowa, Mr. Coffin was married to Miss Jessie Phelps, an acquaintance of his boyhood, and they have two sons: Vestal Phelps, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and now engaged in the practice of law at Pocatello, Idaho; and Thomas Chalkley, who is a graduate of the Phillips Exeter Academy and of Yale University and is now in England as a naval aviator in the service of the United States. He was formerly assistant attorney general of Idaho and is now twenty-nine years of age,, while the elder son has reached the age of thirty-one. Both sons prepared for the bar by the study of law at Yale and have become recognized as leaders among the younger representatives of the legal profession of the state.
Mr. Coffin is a prominent Mason and is a past grand master of the Grand Lodge of Idaho. He keeps physically fit by a thorough system of exercises, in which he engages every morning. In politics he is a republican and for two years served as city treasurer of Boise but has never sought nor desired public office. He recognizes and fully meets his duties and obligations of citizenship, however, and gives stalwart support to all movements for the general good.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
