Coffman Wagon Exhibit, North House Museum, West Washington Street, Lewisburg, WV
– Click on the image to enlarge or purchase –
One of the exhibits on the grounds of the North House Museum in Lewisburg, West Virginia is the Coffman Wagon exhibit. This is a permanent display built in 1992 when the Greenbrier Historical Society became the owner of the property.
The wagon first arrived in West Virginia’s Greenbrier Valley in 1788 with early settler Isaac Kauffman (the spelling changed over the years). Unlike the covered wagons we see on the Hollywood movies taking the settlers west, the primary use of this wagon was for the movement of freight. Raw materials were brought from the outlying areas into the city with finished goods carried on the return journey. Between 1815 and 1830, John Coffman and his family made annual trips between Lewisburg and New York via Richmond, Alexandria, Baltimore and Philadelphia.
The wagon was donated to the museum in 1988 by Edwin C Coffman, a sixth-generation descendent of the wagon’s first owner.
Also on display are early examples of tools and cooking equipment as well as the luggage seen in the image below that would have been used by the early settlers moving into the frontier areas of western Virginia and beyond.
Coffman Wagon Exhibit, North House Museum, West Washington Street, Lewisburg, WV
– Click on the image to enlarge or purchase –
I wanted to reach out to you, because my cousin and I are Coffman’s and this wagon was donated by our great-great grandfather. We are doing our best to preserve the history of our family and have many documents that will help you piece together the Coffman lineage. Feel free to contact me when you have time. Thank you!
Steven Samuel Coffman
Dear Steven Samuel Coffman,
I too am a Coffman, but our line comes from Harrison County, WV. Our ancestor, John G. Coffman, also had a Conestoga Wagon, which is said he proudly drove from Robinson Run to Clarksburg when on business. I am interested to know if your documents may show the link between our two families. John G.’s father was Henry Coffman, but the only facts we know is that he arrived in Harrison County sometime around the early 1800s and married Elizabeth Robinson, daughter of Major Benjamin Robinson, in 1804. It is said Henry came from Smithfield, PA which could have been part of western Virginia or Pennsylvania at that time. We are trying to find Henry Coffman’s father, who might have been a Jacob Coffman from Pennsylvania, but I have seen Isaac Kauffman’s name and wonder if the connection could actually have been Isaac instead of with a Jacob. If you have any information on Coffmans in Harrison County, please let me know. I would really appreciate it!
Brenda Coffman Gamboa