The Coffin home in Fountain City, Wayne County, Indiana, is a museum, sometimes called the Underground Railroad's "Grand Central Station".

His family immigrated to Indiana in 1826, avoiding slaveholders' increasing persecution of Quakers, whose faith did not permit them to own slaves and who assisted freedom seekers.

His financial position at the bank and standing in the community also helped supply food, clothing and transportation for Underground Railroad operations in the region.

At the urging of friends in the anti-slavery movement, Coffin moved southward to the important Ohio River port city of Cincinnati in 1847, where he ran a warehouse that sold only free-labor goods.

Despite making considerable progress with the business, the free-labor venture proved unprofitable; Coffin abandoned the enterprise after a decade.

Meanwhile, during this 1847 through 1857 period, Coffin assisted hundreds of runaway slaves, often by lodging them in his Ohio home across the river from Kentucky and not far downriver from Virginia.

In his final decade, Coffin traveled around the Midwest, as well as overseas to France and Great Britain, where he helped form aid societies to provide food, clothing, funds and education to former slaves.

[1] Coffin's father was born in Massachusetts during the 1760s and migrated from Nantucket to North Carolina, where he farmed with other Quakers in the New Garden community.

Coffin's parents probably met Woolman in 1767 during religious meetings held near their New Garden home with other non-slaveholding Quaker families.

His cousin, Vestal Coffin, probably attended the meeting and beginning as early as 1819, became one of the earliest Quakers to help slaves escape from North Carolina.

[3][10] As persecution worsened, thousands of Quakers left North Carolina for what had been the Northwest Territory in Coffin's childhood, where slavery had been prohibited since the country's founding, then affirmed by the states created there.

[13][14] Like her husband, Catherine actively assisted fugitive slaves, including providing food, clothing, and a safe haven in the Coffin home.

The Coffin home became the convergent point of three major escape routes from Madison and New Albany, Indiana, and Cincinnati, Ohio.

[22] Coffin, who was deeply moved by his religious convictions, later explained his rationale for continuing the effort: After listening quietly to these counselors, I told them that I felt no condemnation for anything that I had ever done for the fugitive slaves.

Because the Levi Coffin House, its present-day name, had so many fugitives passing through it, the home became known as the "Grand Central Station" of the Underground Railroad.

A secret door installed in the maids' quarters on the second floor provided access for fourteen people to hide in a narrow crawlspace between the walls.

Coffin continued to take an active role in assisting escaping slaves, and the following year the Quaker society expelled him from membership.

Coffin's wife, Catherine, who was also dedicated to the effort, organized a sewing society that met at their home to produce clothing to give to the runaways.

Through his travels Coffin learned of organizations in Philadelphia and New York City that only sold goods produced with free (non-slave) labor.

[29] In 1845 a group of abolitionist businessmen opened a wholesale mercantile business in Cincinnati and the Free Produce Association raised $3,000 (~$93,336 in 2023) to help stock the new warehouse with goods.

[30] Different groups continued to pressure Coffin to accept a position as the new business's director, claiming there were no other western abolitionists qualified to manage the enterprise.

Reluctantly, he finally agreed to oversee the warehouse for five years, in which time he could train someone else to run it, and in 1847 Levi and Catherine Coffin moved to Ohio.

[3][30] The problem of obtaining good-quality free-labor products forced Coffin to travel south to seek out plantations that did not use slave labor to produce their goods.

[34] Cincinnati already had a large anti-slavery movement who had violent conflicts with slavery proponents in the years before Coffin moved to the city.

The most frequent disguise was a Quaker woman's attire; its high collar, long sleeves, gloves, veil, and a large, wide-brimmed hat could completely hide its wearer when their head was tilted slightly downward.

After receiving food, clothing, new shoes, and shelter from Stowe's fictional Quaker couple, Simeon and Rachael Halliday, Eliza continued her journey to freedom in Canada.

[3][45] Coffin did not enjoy being in the public eye and considered his job soliciting financial aid as begging for money, which he thought to be demeaning.

Coffin became concerned about giving money freely to all blacks, some of whom he believed would never be able to care for themselves unless adequate education and farms were provided.

[48] Known for his fearlessness in assisting runaway slaves, Coffin served as a role model who encouraged his neighbors to help contribute to the effort, although many were wary of providing them with a safe haven in their homes as he and his wife did.

)[15][51] When questioned about his motives for aided fugitive slaves, Coffin once replied: "The Bible, in bidding us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, said nothing about color, and I should try to follow out the teachings of that good book."