For twenty years Levi and Catharine Coffin’s home in Newport, Indiana had been a stop for hundreds of slaves on the Underground Railroad. In 1847 the Coffin’s moved to Cincinnati. Even though the Coffin’s expected to be through with the Underground Railroad, the family quickly became involved with the abolition movement in Cincinnati. The family home once again became a stop on the Underground Railroad. While sheltering slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad, Catharine Coffin noticed that many of the slaves arrived in destitute conditions; tattered clothing and barefoot. Organizing other benevolent ladies, such as Elizabeth Coleman and Sarah Ernst, the Anti Slavery Sewing Society was formed. The ladies met often at the Coffin home until the beginning of the Civil War when the Coffin’s switched efforts to assist liberated slaves.*

Levi and Catharine Coffin. University of Cincinnati.

*Coffin, Levi. Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, the reputed President of the Underground Railroad, p.316