Notable Cousin · via the maternal line
1818-1889 · The first American woman astronomer and the first woman professor of astronomy (Vassar). Discovered a comet in 1847. “Miss Mitchell’s Comet”, and was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Relationship
Maria Mitchell is the 5th cousin, 6 times removed of John, Perry, and Patrick Long.
Through Tristram Coffin (1609-1681), founder of Nantucket. Maria Mitchell descends from the Nantucket Coffin-Folger families; the family descends through Tristram’s son James Coffin (via his daughter Hannah, parentage resolved 2026-05-30) and the Gardner → Macy → Folger → Perry line.
Tristram Coffin (1609-1681). founder of Nantucket; the shared ancestor. This is the single shared ancestor that connects Maria Mitchell to John, Perry, and Patrick. FamilySearch PID: L8BH-G24.
Both lines descending from the most recent common ancestor, Tristram Coffin. Research-in-Progress markers flag generations not yet enumerated. Click any PID to open the FamilySearch record.
Computed at 5th cousin, 6 times removed under the FS-verified 12-step depth, from the Phase-6 walk, at the boundary of the archive’s ≤5th-cousin inclusion filter, so graded SOURCED rather than VERIFIED and stated with that caution. The shared anchor Tristram Coffin (L8BH-G24) and the family’s own line are verified; Maria’s own record is L6LD-14C; her intermediate Coffin/Folger generations are not re-enumerated PID-by-PID here and none are invented. This page supersedes the earlier ‘tradition tier’ listing on /famous.