Coan, Titus (1801-1882)

American missionary to Hawaii

Born in Connecticut and educated at East Guilford Academy, Coan went to western New York, where he was converted in a Charles G. Finney revival. After graduation from Auburn Theological Seminary and ordination in 1833, he explored the Argentine region of Patagonia on behalf of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). In 1834 he married Fidelia Church, sailed for Hawaii, and was stationed at Hilo. He made an extended evangelistic tour of the island in 1836, which produced dramatic results. In 1837 and 1838, thousands flocked to Hilo for days and nights of fervent preaching, prayer, and manifestations of the power of the Spirit. Prior to 1837, prospective church members were rigorously examined and less than 1,200 had been admitted. After that year admissions averaged nearly 2,000 annually. By 1853, in a native population of about 71,000, over 56,000 were Protestants. The ABCFM moved to declare Hawaii Christianized and terminate the mission. Coan advocated a mission by Hawaiians to the Marquesas Islands and made two voyages there as a delegate of the Hawaiian Missionary Society. In 1873 he married Lydia Bingham, daughter of Hiram and Sybil Bingham, his first wife having died in 1872. He wrote Adventures in Patagonia (1880) and Life in Hawaii (1882). He died in Hawaii.

David M. Stowe, “Coan, Titus,” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 139.

This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Bibliography

Digital Texts

Adamson, William. “Titus Coan: Pentecost at Hilo.” In Missionary Anecdotes Being a Collection of Interesting Incidents Illustrative of Work and Life in the Foreign Mission Field. William Adamson, 178. Glasgow: Thomas D. Morrison, 1896.

Anderson, Rufus. History of the Sandwich Islands Mission. Boston: Congregational Publishing Society, 1870.

Brain, Belle Marvel. The Transformation of Hawaii: How American Missionaries Gave a Christian Nation to the World…Told for Young Folks. Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, 1898.

Coan, Lydia Bingham. Titus Coan: A Memorial. Chicago: F.H. Revell, 1884.

Coan, Titus. Adventures in Patagonia: A Missionary’s Exploring Trip. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1880.

Coan, Titus. Life in Hawaii: An Autobiographic Sketch of Mission Life and Labors, 1835-1881. New York: Anson D.F. Randolph, 1881.

Gulick, Orramel Hinckley and Ann Eliza Clark Gulick. The Pilgrims of Hawaii: Their Own Story of Their Pilgrimage from New England and Life Work in the Sandwich Islands, Now Known as Hawaii. New York: Flemming H. Revell Company, 1918.

“The Late Dr. Coan: Brief Sketch of the Life of the Old Missionary.” In New York Times (January 5, 1883).

Primary

Coan, Titus. The Sailor’s Sabbath; or, A Word from a Friend to Seamen. n.p.: Hawaiian Tract Society, 1846.

_____. “On the Eruption of Mt. Mauna Loa, Hawaii, February 1852.” In The American Journal of Science and Arts 14 (November 1852): 219-224.

_____. The Appropriate Duties of Christian Females, in Public and Social Worship; An Essay Read Before the Hawaiian Evangelical Association. n.p.: n.p., 1862.

_____. Adventures in Patagonia: A Missionary’s Exploring Trip. New York: Dodd, Mead; 1880.

_____. Life in Hawaii: An Autobiographic Sketch of Mission Life and Labors, 1835-1881. New York: Anson D.F. Randolph, 1881.

_____. “Early Missionary Travels.” In A Hawaiian Anthology. Ed. Gerrit P. Judd, 45ff. New York: MacMillan, 1967.

Secondary

Adamson, William. “Titus Coan: Pentecost at Hilo.” In Missionary Anecdotes Being a Collection of Interesting Incidents Illustrative of Work and Life in the Foreign Mission Field. William Adamson, 178. Glasgow: Thomas D. Morrison, 1896.

Anderson, Rufus. History of the Sandwich Islands Mission. Boston: Congregational Publishing Society, 1870, chap. 21.

Brain, Belle Marvel. The Transformation of Hawaii: How American Missionaries Gave a Christian Nation to the World…Told for Young Folks. Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, 1898.

Brumaghim, Wayne H. “The Life and Legacy of Heneri Opukaha’ia, Hawaii’s Prodigal Son.” M.A. Thesis. University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2011.

Coan, Lydia Bingham. Titus Coan: A Memorial. Chicago: F.H. Revell, 1884.

Corr, Donald Philip. “Titus Coan: ‘Apostle to the Sandwich Islands.’” In The Role of the American Board in the World: Bicentennial Reflections on the Organization’s Missionary Work, 1810-2010. Ed. Clifford Putney and Burlin Paul. Eugene, Or: Wipf and Stock, 2012, pp. 244-268.

Creegan, Charles C. Great Missionaries of the Church. New York: T.Y. Crowell, 1895.

Garrett, John. To Live among the Stars: Christian Origins in Oceania. Geneva, Switzerland; Suva, Fiji: World Council of Churches, in association with the Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 1982, pp. 55-7.

Goodsell, F.F. When Faith Meets Faith. n.p.: n.p., 1961, pp. 281-2.

Gulick, Orramel Hinckley and Ann Eliza Clark Gulick. The Pilgrims of Hawaii: Their Own Story of Their Pilgrimage from New England and Life Work in the Sandwich Islands, Now Known as Hawaii. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1918.

Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society. Missionary Album: Portraits and Biographical Sketches of the American Protestant Missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu: Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, 1969, pp. 70-1.

Humphrey, Simon James. Titus Coan: Missionary and Explorer, 1801-1882. n.p.: n.p., [1890].

Kay, E. Allison. “Missionary Contributions to Hawaiian Natural History: What Darwin Didn’t Know.” Hawaiian Journal of History 31 (1997): 27-52.

Loomis, Albertine. To All People: A History of the Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ. The Hawaiian Conference of the United Church of Christ, 1970, pp. 16-9.

Lyman, Chester Smith. Around the Horn to the Sandwich Islands and California, 1845-1850: Being a Personal Record Kept by Chester S. Lyman. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1924.

Missionary Herald 81 (1885): 50-2.

Morris, Nancy J. “Coan, Titus.” In The Blackwell Dictionary of Evangelical Biography: 1730-1860. Ed. Donald M. Lewis, 234. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1995.

Piercy, LaRue W. Hawaii’s Missionary Saga: Sacrifice and Godliness in Paradise. Honolulu: Mutual Publishing Co., 1992.

“The Late Dr. Coan: Brief Sketch of the Life of the Old Missionary.” In New York Times (January 5, 1883).

Links

On “Hawaii’s Great Awakening: Titus Coan, God’s Servant” at website devoted to the ministry, writings, and legacy of Charles G. Finney.

Brief biographical sketch at website claiming “largest collection of digitised Revival and Pentecostal texts on the World Wide Web!”

Fifth installment in a series on Congregational missions by Dr. Phil Corr: “Titus Coan – Beloved Congregational Missionary” (2008). Contains several longer quotations from Missionary Album (1969) and Hawaii’s Missionary Saga (1992).

“Titus Coan Family Papers: A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress.” Prepared by Anita Nolen, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (2009). A research guide to 5,000 items in 31 containers: diaries and journals, family correspondence, general correspondence, miscellany, and printed matter (serial publications and books). Includes timeline of Titus Coan’s life.

Website of Haili Congregational Church, Hilo, Hawaii, est. 1824; see especially “Our history” page.

Portrait

A photograph found at many websites, including qwiki.com, who attributes http://commons.wikimedia.org.