Mercer Maid Links
Mercer Maids:
Josephine & Georgianna Pearson:
Aurelia "Lillie" Colman Coffin was born November 24, 1843 in Nantucket, Massachusetts to Thomas Jefferson and Deborah Chase(Colman)Coffin.
Two hundred years earlier Lillie's great-great-great-grandfather, James Coffin, arrived in America. At age 2 he was the youngest of 5 children of Tristram and Dionis Coffin who had brought their family to America from Devonshire, England and settled near Newbury, Massachusetts.
In the 1850 census for Plymouth, Middleboro Co., Massachusetts, Thomas Coffin, his wife and two daughters were living in the home of Aurelia Coleman, his mother-in-law. Thomas' occupation was listed as mariner.
In 1864 Lillie was in Lowell, Massachusetts when Asa Mercer recruited ladies to go to Washington Territory to work as teachers. She arrived in Seattle with the others in May of that same year.
Lillie obtained a teaching position at Pt. Ludlow and on November 25th of 1865, at the home of Henry Yesler, Lillie married Parker Hinkley, of Port Ludlow, Washington Territory.
In 1879 the Hinkley family is the Oakland, California city directory where Parker's occupation is listed as a bookkeeper.
In the 1880 census for Oakland, Alameda Co., California the family is living at 404 E. 16th St. in East Oakland. There are three sons;
Freddie age 10, born California
John Parker age 5, born California
Walter C. age 3, born California
Also listed is Kates Agnes, a servant/cook, age 17.
In the 1881 city directories I have found Parker Hinkley still living in Oakland and His mother-in-law, Deborah Coffin (widow), living in San Francisco.
I found Parker Hinkley and family in the 1882 Oaklnad city directory where they lived at 1318 Seventh Ave. Parker was working as a bookkeeper in a San Francisco door company.
Parker's mother-in-law continued to be listed in the city directory for San Francisco through 1888.
Thanks to a dear genealogy friend I now know where this family went when they left California.
My friend, Luci Baker, was in Salt Lake City, Utah when she located the death records for Parker & Aurelia in Cook County Illinois. After doing a little more digging she was able to find that Parker & Aurelia were living in the city of Chicago in 1887. They continued to live there the rest of their lives.
Aurelia (Lillie) died in November of 1889 and Parker lived another 8 years dying in 1897. They are both buried at the Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.
Peri Muhich
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