Ill health, inability for prolonged mental application, shut out the
future correspondent, to his great grief, from all thoughts of
attempting a collegiate course. While incapacitated from mental or
physical labor he obtained a surveyor's compass, and more for pastime
than any thought of becoming a surveyor, he studied the elements of
surveying.

There were fewer civil engineers in the country in 1845 than now. It was
a period when engineers were wanted--when the demand was greater than
the supply, and anyone who had a smattering of engineering could find
employment. Mr. Coffin accepted a position in the engineering corps of
the Northern Railroad, and was subsequently employed on the Concord and
Portsmouth, and Concord and Claremont Railroad.

In 1846 he was married to Sallie R. Farmer of Boscawen. Not wishing to
make civil engineering a profession for life he purchased a farm in his
native town; but health gave way and he was forced to seek other
pursuits.

He early began to write articles for the Concord newspapers, and some of
his fugitive political contributions were re-published in _Littell's
Living Age_.

Mr. Coffin's studies in engineering led him towards scientific culture.
In 1849 he constructed the telegraph line between Harvard Observatory
and Boston, by which uniform time was first given to the railroads
leading from Boston. He had charge of the construction of the
Telegraphic Fire Alarm in Boston, under the direction of Professor Moses
G. Farmer, his brother-in-law, and gave the first alarm ever given by