Background

Levi Coppin was born on December 24, 1848, in Cecil County, Maryland. He was the son of Jane Lily and John Coppin. Coppin had six siblings.

Education

Levi Coppin's mother taught him to read and write at an early age. At the age of 17, he began to study the Scriptures and became motivated to seek higher education. Coppin graduated from the Protestant Episcopal Divinity School in 1887. Also, he attended Wilberforce University.

Career

Levi Coppin moved to Wilmington at age twenty and joined the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Before it, he served as a teacher at a church school in Maryland in 1865 and Smyrna in the 1870s. In 1877 he became a minister. By 1879 Coppin was placed in charge of the Philadelphia City Mission, a circuit of smaller missions in the area operated by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. After two years of service, Coppin transferred to Baltimore, where he became the pastor of the Baltimore Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Besides, Coppin was a preacher of the City Mission in 1877 and a pastor of Bethel Church in 1880-1881, Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1884-1888, and Bethel Church (also known as Mother Bethel Church) in 1896-1900 in Philadelphia. For a time, he worked as a brick-maker and operated an Hour store in Wilmington.

In 1888 in Baltimore that Levi Coppin became the editor of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, which reported on significant political, religious, and social issues. He remained the editor until 1896, the same year in which he was announced as a candidate for the bishopric at the African Methodist Episcopal General Conference. He did not receive it. Four years later, Coppin was again up for the candidacy, and this time secured it. Besides, Coppin was a leader of the District of South Carolina and Alabama in 1904-1908, and Baltimore, Virginia, and North Carolina, based in Washington, in 1904-1908. He also was the president of the educational board in 1908-1912, president of the church extension board in 1912-1920. In 1916, he was assigned to the district for the Midwestern United States and parts of Canada.

In 1902 Coppin was assigned to Cape Town, South Africa. While in Cape Town, he organized the mission house Bethel Institute, and he and his second wife, Fanny Jackson Coppin, traveled to the African interior setting up numerous smaller mission houses for African natives. They founded the Bethel Institute in South Africa. The Coppins remained in South Africa until 1912.

Levi Coppin also was a writer. He was the author of the autobiography, Unwritten History, which was published in 1919. Of the nine chapters, the first five concentrate on Cecil and Kent counties and his life here. Levi Coppin died five years later at his home in Philadelphia.

Achievements

• Levi Coppin was well known as a clergyman, educator, and writer. In 1877 he became the 30th Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a religious leader of the District of South Carolina, Alabama, Baltimore, Virginia, and North Carolina, based in Washington. He also was the president of the educational board and church extension board. Levi Coppin, with his wife Fanny Coppin, founded the Bethel Institute and numerous smaller mission houses for African natives in South Africa.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Relation Of Baptized Children To The Church 1890
  • Unwritten History 1919
  • The Key to Scriptural Interpretation 1895

Religion

Levi Coppin was very religious, which influenced him greatly.

Membership

• Levi Coppin was a board member (some sources say president) of the Sunday School Union.

  Sunday School Union , United States

  1884 - 1888

Connections

Levi Coppin's first wife was Martha Grinnage. They married in September 1875. Their only child, a boy, Octavius Valentine, died nine months after birth and his wife died only eighteen days later in 1877. Coppin's second wife was Fanny Muriel Jackson, who passed away in 1913. They married on December 21, 1881. His third wife was Evelyn Thompson, whom he married on August 14, 1914. They had a daughter, Theodosia.

Father:

John Coppin

Mother:

Jane Coppin

Jane Coppin's maiden name was Lilly.

late wife:

Martha Grinnage

Martha Grinnage was Levi Coppin's first wife. She passed away in 1877.

late wife:

Fanny Jackson Coppin

Fanny Coppin was Levi Coppin's second wife. She was a writer, missionary, and educator. She was born a slave but became a pioneer educator toward the end of the Civil War. A graduate of Oberlin College, Coppin opened a night school for freed slaves and later served as principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia.

Wife:

M. Evelyn Thompson

M. Evelyn Thompson was Levi Coppin's third wife.

Daughter:

Theodosia Coppin

Son:

Octavius Valentine Coppin