Levi Coffin
Coffin, Levi (1789-1877), a United States abolitionist. Coffin, a devout Quaker, was one of the best-known figures in the anti-slavery movement. He gave aid, it is reported, to more than 3,000 runaway slaves bound for Canada and was popularly called the "president of the Underground Railroad."
Coffin was born in New Garden, North Carolina. Although he had little formal education, he occasionally taught school, including a Sunday school for slaves. In 1826 he moved to Newport (later Fountain City), Indiana, where he became a prosperous merchant and set up a key depot on the Underground Railway route. During and after the Civil War, he was active in aiding freed slaves.