Titus Coan
Titus Coan | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | |
Nationality | United States |
Occupation | Missionary |
Spouse(s) | Fidelia Church Lydia Bingham |
Children | Titus Munson, Harriet Fidelia, Sarah Eliza, Samuel Latimer |
Titus Coan (1801–1881) was an early American Christian Missionary to the Hawaiian Islands.
Early life and family
Titus Coan was born on February 1, 1801 in Killingworth, Connecticut, the son of Gaylord Coan and Tamza Nettleton. In June, 1831, he entered the Auburn Theological Seminary in Auburn, New York, and was ordained in April, 1833. In August of that year he sailed on a mission to Patagonia for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. In 1834 he returned and married Fidelia Church. In December 1834 they left on the merchant ship Hellespont, part of the seventh company from the American Board to the Hawaiian Islands, then known as the "Sandwich Islands", arriving on June 6, 1835.[1]
Their son Titus Munson Coan, born in 1836, became a physician in the American Civil War and died in 1921. Daughter Harriet Fidelia was born in 1839 and died in 1906. Daughter Sarah Eliza was born in 1843 and died in 1916. Son Samuel Latimer Coan was born 1846 and died in 1887. Fidelia died in September, 1872.[2] His second marriage was to Lydia Bingham, daughter of the Rev. Hiram Bingham I (an earlier missionary) on October 13, 1873. He completed his autobiography in 1881, the year he died. His book was digitized in 1997 by his great-great grandson Edward J. Coan.[3]
Work
The Coans arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii in June 1835, and sailed to Hilo, Hawaii in July, where they stayed most of the rest of their lives. He learned the Hawaiian Language and helped educate the residents of the area and recruit them into the church. When the United States Exploring Expedition visited Hilo in 1840–1841, Coan met the geologist James Dwight Dana, and would send him observations of eruptions over the next four decades.[4] These would help Dana develop the Hawaii hotspot theory for the geologic evolution of the island chain.
His book includes descriptions of the heavy tropical rains, eruptions of the Kīlauea volcano, earthquakes, and tsunamis such as the one caused by the 1868 Hawaii earthquake. Coan was known as "the bishop of Kilauea" and his observations were invaluable to subsequent scientists. Both Fidelia and his second wife Lydia wrote a piece about the volcano, as well as his sons, Titus M. and Samuel.[4] Fidelia Coan was among the first American women to publish in a scientific journal: a 1852 article in the American Journal of Science.[5]
He directed the construction of Haili Church from 1855 to 1859. He visited the Marquesas Islands in 1860 and 1867 and gave an extensive speaking tour of the United States with Fidelia Coan in 1870-71.[6]
References
- ^ Orramel Hinckley Gulick (1918). The pilgrims of Hawaii: their own story of their pilgrimage from New England. Fleming H. Revell company. p. 344.
- ^ Etta A. Emens (1920). Descendants of Captain Samuel Church, of Churchville. Higginson Book Company.
- ^ Coan, Titus (1882). Life in Hawaii. New York: Anson Randolph & Company.
- ^ a b E. Allison Kay (1997). "Missionary Contributions to Hawaiian Natural History: What Darwin Didn't Know". Hawaii Journal of History. Vol. 31. Hawaiian Historical Society, Honolulu. pp. 27–52. hdl:10524/170.
- ^ Fidelia C. Coan (1852). "Eruption from the summit of Mauna Loa, Hawaii". Vol. 14. American Journal of Science, 2nd series. pp. 106–107.
- ^ "The late Dr. Coan; Brief Sketch of the Life of the Old Missionary" (PDF). New York Times archives. January 5, 1883.
7. See Corr, Donald Philip, "Titus Coan: 'Apostle to the Sandwich Islands'" in Putney, Clifford and Burlin Paul, The Role of the American Board in the World: Bicentennial Reflections on the Organization's Missionary Work, 1810-2010 (Eugene, Or: Wipf and Stock, 2012) https://wipfandstock.com/store/The_Role_of_the_American_Board_in_the_World_Bicentennial_Reflections_on_the_Organizations_Missionary_Work_18102010
External links
- Haili Congregational Church official web site