124 THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY 



The vote was carried unanimously by a show of 

 hands. At an earlier date the society had signified its 

 appreciation of these generous gifts, in bestowing its 

 gold medal upon each of these benefactors, and by 

 electing them as honorary members. 



In 1821 the trustees ordered an importation of two 

 pairs of the breed of Leicester sheep. In the same 

 year an imported bull was presented to the society by 

 John Hubbard of Boston. In 1822 an Arabian ram, 

 of the long-wooled breed, was presented by D. L. 

 Pickman of Salem. In 1823 three sheep from the 

 province of Astrachan, in Russia, a breed remarkable 

 for their excellence as mutton, were received by gift 

 from Francis Peabody of Salem. An importation of 

 a bull and three cows of the Ayrshire breed was made 

 by the trustees in 1835, at a cost of $1,170. Two 

 instances of bringing swine from foreign lands appear 

 in the record of these early years, one in 1818, and one 

 in 1823. It may be noted as evidence of the impor- 

 tance in which these undertakings were held by the 

 trustees, that, in several instances during the period 

 thus referred to, medals were voted by the trustees to 



that cautious youthful voyages were made in some frail canoe along the 

 shore now marked, in a general way, by Harrison avenue, with occa- 

 sional bolder ventures across the cove to the shore of Dorchester 

 Heights, now First street, South Boston. 



John Coffin was born in 1751, and died in New Brunswick, in 1838. 

 In early manhood he entered the British army and was with the body 

 of troops that fought at Bunker Hill. As a captain and major he made 

 a military reputation in campaigns in the southern colonies during the 

 war. He continued in the service and became a colonel in 1797; major 

 general, in 1803; lieutenant general, in 1809; and general, in 1819. 

 After retiring from the army he was a member of the legislative 

 assembly of New Brunswick. 



Isaac Coffin was born in 1759, and died in Cheltenham, Eng., in 1839. 

 He entered the British navy as a midshipman, in 1773, and had a long 

 and varied experience in the service, including several naval encounters 

 in the war of the Revolution. He became a lieutenant in 1778; com- 

 mander, in 1789; rear admiral, in 1804; vice admiral, in 1808; admiral, 

 in 1814. In 1804 he was made a baronet and was a member of par- 

 liament In 1818 and 1826. 



