John S. Coffman
Menonite Church leader
John S. Coffman (October 16, 1848 – July 22, 1899) was a leader in the Mennonite Church in the late 19th century. He promoted evangelical and progressive reform through his positions in the Mennonite Publishing Company, revival meetings, and as chairman of the Elkhart Institute (a forerunner to Goshen College).
Early life
John S. Coffman was born on October 16, 1848, in Rockingham County, Virginia. His parents were Samuel and Frances Weaver Coffman. He was baptized at age 16 and soon fled to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, to avoid being drafted into the Confederate Army.
On November 11, 1869, he married Elizabeth J. Heatwole. Over the course of their marriage, they had seven children. One of their children, Samuel F. Coffman, was a significant church leader in his own right. They purchased a 30-acre farm on Gravelly Hill. Having returned to Virginia, he obtained a teaching certificate despite limited formal education and taught at several local schools.
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This entry incorporates text from “John S. Coffman” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.