John F. Coughlin was born on 19 June 1837 in Williamstown, Orange County Vermont, into a large Irish family. Both of his parents, Daniel & Margaret (O’Neill) Coughlin had immigrated to the United States by 1834, settling in Williamstown Vermont area where his older brother Jeremiah was born. By 1850 the Coughlin family had moved to Manchester, New Hampshire. John probably attended at least a few years of school, as he was literate. By 1860 when he was 23 years old she is shown in Manchester’s City Directory as selling liquor at Emerald Block on Elm Street, and the same year census shows him living with his brother-in-law Michael Gillis who owned a grocery business.

Even before the Civil War, John Coughlin was highly regarded as a competent, popular, leader–being elected by the City of Manchester’s 5th Ward as Alderman in 1861 , and as a member of the House of Representatives from Manchester in 1862. By the fall of that year, he and others had organized a mainly Irish regiment–the Tenth New Hampshire.

The Farmer’s Cabinet, a regional newspaper in Amherst NH announced the following:
“Previous to the departure of the Tenth New Hampshire Regiment from Manchester Monday for the seat of war, horses were presented to the field officers by their friends. Below is a roster of the regiment:
FIELD OFFICERS–Michael T. Donahue, Colonel; John Coughlin, Lieut. Colonel; Jesse F. Angell, Major.
STAFF OFFICERS–John Faxton, Adjutant; Thomas Sullivan, Quartermaster; John Ferguson, Surgeon; H.J. Harwood, John Haynes, Assistant Surgeons.
NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF–I.S

Bartlet, Sergeant Major; Richard H. Short, Commissary Sergeant; Timothy Cahill, Hospital Seward; M. McSweeney, Quartermaster Sergeant.

COMPANY OFFICERS.
A–John M. Caswell, Thomas C. Trumbull, A.L. Day
B–T.B. Crowly, Geo. Edgecomb, M. Moran
C–W. M. Kelly, Chas W. Johnson, Chas H. Gardner.
E–A.B. Cook, W.H. D. Cochrane, C.W. Woodbury
F–John L. O’Brien, Michael Corcoran, John L. Henan
G–Geo. W. Towle, Geo. E. Hodgman, Simon R. Marston
H–George H. Hubbard, Foster Kimball, John Hubbard
I–Darius G. Harriman, Richard Cody, Jas. Nott
K–James Madden, Patrick Doyle
RANK OF CAPTAINS. Caswell, Crowly, Harriman, O’Brien, Hubbard, Cook, Towle, Strain, Kelly, Madden.
RANK OF FIRST LIEUTENANTS. Trumbull, Cody, Edgecomb, Doyle, Hodgman, Cochran, Kimball, Welch, Corcoran, Johnson
RANK OF SECOND LIEUTENANTS. Moran, Day, Hubbard, Maguire, Nott, Henan, Woodbury, Marston, Gardner

From the obituary printed in the Portsmouth Herald (Portsmouth NH) 28 May 1912 we learn: “At the close of the war he settled in Washington where he engaged in the drug business for many years. He retired from business several years ago because of impaired health and during the last three years has spent much of his time among his old comrades in New Hampshire. His body will be given a military burial. His only near relative is his sister, Mrs. Cody. Of late years since his return from Washington, he has been a frequent visitor to this city [ie Portsmouth NH], being the guest of his old comrade, Capt. J. Albert Sanborn.”

John F. Coughlin died while staying at 219 Massabesic Street in Manchester, New Hampshire 27 May 1912, age 74 years 11 months and 8 days old. His body was removed to Arlington National Cemetery, to be buried with honors. He never married, and had no children, so my genealogy below will mention his parents and the descendants of his siblings.