John S. Coffman (1848-1899)

Title: John S. Coffman fonds

Dates of creation: 1882-1897

Physical description: 1 cm of textual records (photocopies)

Biographical sketch: John S. Coffman, pioneer Mennonite (Mennonite Church) evangelist, was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, 16 October 1848, and died in Elkhart, Indiana, 22 July 1899.

But it was as an evangelist that Coffman made his greatest contribution to the Mennonite Church. He began evangelistic meetings in the 1880s. He made a profound impact in Ontario with several visits in the 1890s. His son, Samuel (S. F.) Coffman was longtime bishop and conference leader in Vineland, Ontario.

Custodial history: The photocopies were donated to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario in November 2008 by Len Friesen. The original pamphlets were added in 2018; they were found during Archives processing of S.F. Coffman papers.

Scope and content: The fonds consists of photocopied extracts of typescript transcriptions of John S. Coffman's diaries as they relate to his visits to Ontario. These are derived from the originals at the Archives of the Mennonite Church U.S.A. in Elkhart, Indiana, HM 1-19. Requests for copies need to be addressed to that Archives.

The pamphlets are:
"A Statement of Christian Doctrine," Mennonite Publishing House, Scottdale, Pa.

"The Medicine Plus the Missionary: A Paper Read at the Chattisgarh Missionary Conference" / Ada McNeil. Calcutta: Methodist Publishing House, 1903.

"Bible Readings" / J.S.C. [John S. Coffman]. - An outline of Bible readings arranged and used for meetings at Berlin, Ontario, Jan 1891.

Notes: Original archival description created December 2008 by Sam Steiner and updated 2018 by Laureen Harder-Gissing.