Stephen COBURN, Congress, ME (1817-1882)

COBURN, Stephen, a Representative from Maine; born in Bloomfield (now Skowhegan), Maine, on November 11, 1817; attended Waterville and China Academies; was graduated from Waterville (now Colby) College, Waterville, Maine, in 1839; taught a plantation school in Tarboro, N.C., in 1839 and 1840; principal of Bloomfield (Maine) Academy 1840-1844; studied law at the Harvard Law School; was admitted to the bar in 1845 and commenced practice in Skowhegan; member of the State board of education in 1849 and 1850; delegate to several Republican State conventions; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth Congress on November 6, 1860, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Israel Washburn, Jr., and served from January 2 to March 3, 1861; was not a candidate for the Thirty-seventh Congress, that election having been held in September 1860, previous to his election to the Thirty-sixth Congress; member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war; resumed the practice of law; postmaster of Skowhegan from July 25, 1868, to January 23, 1877; was drowned in the Kennebec River, at Skowhegan, Maine, July 4, 1882; interment in South Cemetery, Skowhegan, Maine.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present