- Stephen Coburn
The Peace Conference of 1861
In February 1861, following the inauguration of Lincoln and the secession of seven states from the Union, a convention of 131 politicians from the remaining states met in Washington, D. C., at the Willard Hotel. They aimed to prevent civil war, and the secession of further states, by proposing an amendment to the Constitution that would protect the existence and practice of slavery, within certain parameters, by enshrining them in constitutional law. An amendment was eventually agreed and recommended to Congress, where it was not passed.
Stephen Coburn
Quill platform ID: p15951.
(November 11, 1817 — July 4, 1882) Stephen Coburn, 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, 1774 - Present,” available at https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/C000559]
Member of Maine Delegation—The Peace Conference of 1861, Maine Delegation—The Road to Civil War.
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