Coffman, Samuel (1822-1894)
Samuel Coffman, Dayton, Virginia, was a bishop in the Middle District of the Virginia Mennonite Conference (Mennonite Church) from 1861 to 1894. The seventh child of Christian and Anna Wenger Coffman, he was born in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, and moved to Virginia in 1847, where he died 28 August 1894.
He married Frances Weaver on 11 November 1847. They lived first in Augusta County, then in Rockingham County on Beaver Creek, at Dale Enterprise during the Civil War, and then on Dry River near the Bank Mennonite Church.
Coffman united with the Mennonite Church in 1848. Four years later he was ordained to the ministry and in 1861 to the office of bishop. He took a firm stand for the principles of the church during the Civil War. He was inclined to permit the changes which later were associated with the great awakening in the Mennonite Church.
He was the father of twelve children. Two became preachers—John S. Coffman, the pioneer Mennonite evangelist, and Joseph W. Coffman. A daughter, Mary, married L. J. Heatwole, who served the Virginia church as minister and bishop.
| Author(s) | Harry A Brunk |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Brunk, Harry A. "Coffman, Samuel (1822-1894)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Coffman,_Samuel_(1822-1894)&oldid=112841.
APA style
Brunk, Harry A. (1953). Coffman, Samuel (1822-1894). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Coffman,_Samuel_(1822-1894)&oldid=112841.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 634. All rights reserved.
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