COSTON
COTHEAL
Episcopal church, and a protege of Dr. Fell, from
whom Dr. Morgan inherited a large part of Fells
Point, Baltimore. She was educated by her
father, a man of means and leisure and a gradu-
ate of Edinburgh college, Scotland; and in the
best schools of Philadelphia, where her mother
made her home after the death of her husband.
She was married in 1844 to Benjamin Franklin
Coston, who died "in Philadelphia in 1848. His
night signals and color charts, to supplement the
chemically produced colored fires, were left in-
complete and his widow, then only twenty-two
years old, at once went to work to perfect them
and to carry out as best she could the work
marked out by her husband. After three years of
experiment and trials by boards of officers or-
dered by the secretary of the navy, during which
she received many adverse reports, she exhibited
the last result of her labor to the secretary of
the navy, Isaac Tousey, who ordered a board of
examiners w hich reported favorably to the adop-
tion of the signals by the U.S. navy, Jan. 27, 1859.
After she had secured a patent in April, 18.")9, the
civil war changed the navy department and no
further action was taken till Aug. 5, 1861, when
by act of congress Coston"s signal lights were
authorized to be used on all the vessels of the
navy during the war. Their use demonstrated
the value of the invention and Secretary Welles
pronounced them to have been of " incalculable
value throughout the war " especially in the cap-
ture of Fort Fisher, and the capture of blockade
runners. Aided by agents she introduced the use
of Coston's night signals in the French, Italian,
Danish and Dutch navies, in Brazil and most of
the countries of South America and of Euro])e.
The French minister of marine in 1898 in a letter
written that year to Mrs. Coston, acknowledged
their continued value and use in the French navy
for thirty -one years. The Coston night signals
proved the means of saving lives and pro])erty.
By the U.S. life-saving service twenty-seven lives
were saved from the turret of the first monitor
■R'hich sank off North Carolina in 18G3. Mrs.
Coston received medals and diplomas from vari-
ous world's fairs. She published A Signal Suc-
cess, an Antolnofiraphy (1886).
COSTON, Williain Franklin, inventor, was born at Washington navy yard, D.C., May 20, 1847; son of Benjamin Franklin and Martiia Jay (Hunt) Coston. He was educated in the United States and in Europe. He engaged with his mother in perfecting Co.ston's night signal and he aided the U.S. life-saving service on the or- ganization of that bureau in 187:3 ;ind prepared a code of signals. The board adopted the Coston signals and had in 1899 found no substitute. He also arranged the first night-signal chart and code applicable to the International flag-signal
code. This was adopted in 1873 by the leading
yacht clubs in the United States. Mr. Coston
was unanimously elected a member of the New
York yacht club, Feb. 4, 1874, and became a
life member in 1889. He was elected a member
of the Atlantic yacht club in 1895. His distin-
guishing night sig-
nals were also adopted
by the va,rious steam-
ship lines. His inven-
tions in connection
with the Coston tele-
graphic night signals
were approved by a
unanimous vote of
the New York cham-
ber of commerce, and
I'ecommended by that
body to the secretary
of the U.S. treasury,
Nov. 6, 1873. The in-
vention as improved
and patented in 1881 received a reindorsement
from that body in 1889. His system was in-
dorsed by the International society for the codi-
fication of the laws of nations, and he received
the gold medal of the Liverpool maritime exhibi-
tion in 1886 and from the World's Columbian ex-
position at Chicago in 1893, for his exhibit of
these signals. He improved the Coston signal by
a percussion attachment and by the addition of
an improved holder, patented in 1881 and 1896.
In 1898 his life-saving inventions were found of
great value in the prosecution of the war with
Spain as they were used on all transports convey-
ing troops to and from Cuba, Porto Rico and the
Philippines. The United States life-saving ser-
vice, the weather bureau, the revenue-cutter ser-
vice, the lighthouse board, and the army adopted
the night signals with all improvements. He died
in New Brighton, Staten Island, Aug. 17, 1901.
COTHEAL, Alexander Isaac, ethnologist, was born in New York city, Nov. 5, 1804; son of Henry and Phoebe R. (Warner) Cotheal ; grand- son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Evans) Cotheal; great-grandson of William and Charlotte (Dove) Cotheal; and of English descent. His grand- father, Isaac Cotheal, was a soldier in the Revo- lutionary army. Alexander was educated at private schools and from 1836 to 1849 was a mem- ber of his father's shipping firm, having charge of tlie French and Spanish business correspond- ence. His father's death in 1849 resulted in a dissoluticju of the firm and he spent three years in Eastern travel studying the Arabic, Turkish, Persian and other oriental tongues. In 1852 he went to Nicaragua and in 1871 he was appointed by the government of that country its consul general to the United States, which post he held
