Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford
| Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Phebe Ann Coffin May 6, 1829 Siasconset, Massachusetts |
| Died | June 2, 1921 (aged 92) Rochester, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Phebe Ann Hanaford |
| Occupation | minister and writer |
Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford (May 6, 1829 — June 2, 1921) was a Christian Universalist minister and biographer who was active in championing universal suffrage and women's rights. She was the first woman ordained as a Universalist minister in New England and the first woman to serve as chaplain to the Connecticut state legislature.
Phebe Hanaford was born on May 6, 1829 in Siasconset on Nantucket Island to Phebe Ann (Barnard) Coffin (who died a month later) and George W. Coffin, a shipowner and a merchant. Phebe's father remarried the following year, to Emmeline Cartwright; from this union, Phebe gained an older step-brother and seven younger half-siblings. The Coffins were a Quaker family descended from the early Nantucket European settlers Tristram Coffin, Peter Foulger, and Mary Morrill; further back, her ancestry traces to Degory Priest, pilot of the Mayflower.
Hanaford received an advanced education both at home and in public and private schools on Nantucket, studying math and Latin at home. She left school at the age of 17 to care for her paternal grandmother.
At the age of 20, Hanaford began teaching school in Siasconset. In 1849, she married Joseph H. Hanaford, a physician who was also a teacher. They had two children, Florence and Howard. In 1857, the couple moved to Massachusetts, eventually settling in Reading.
During the Civil War, Hanaford become an abolitionist. She was an active suffragist as well, becoming a member of the American Equal Rights Association, which advocated for both black and female suffrage. She spoke at suffrage meetings at the state and national levels and served as vice president of the Association for the Advancement of Women in 1874.
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