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Here at the OBF we need few excuses to talk about Martha Coston, at all. Thus, to celebrate Women’s Equality Day (August 26th) we knew she would be the perfect example to feature in this article. Indeed, she is a fascinating example of a woman who overcame prejudice and inequality to achieve her goals. Her groundbreaking invention not only played a crucial role in the Union's victory during the American Civil War but also led to a life-saving device that remains in use today. But who was Martha Coston, what was her invention, and what is her connection to Bald Head Island? This month’s article seeks to answer just that!
Martha Jane Hunt was born on December 12, 1826, in Baltimore, MD. After her father’s death, her family relocated to Philadelphia.(1) At the age of 14, Martha met Benjamin Franklin Coston (BFC), her future husband. They married shortly after and had four children together.(2) BFC, true to his namesake, was an inventor. He began his career as a Master in the U.S. Navy’s laboratory before becoming head of the Boston Gas Company. Sadly, his work with chemical gasses led to his early death on November 24, 1848. As a widow, Martha returned to Philadelphia with her four children and her late husband’s preliminary notes on his ambitious project—a color-coded flare system.
Additional tragedy drove Martha to turn her plans into a viable invention. First, she lost her mother and two of her children. Then, a relative “misplaced” her fortune.(3) With the dual pressure of completing her late husband’s work and a pressing financial need to support her family, Martha found the plans to be “not only incomplete, but apparently economically unfeasible and overly complicated.”(4) Undeterred, she spent the next ten years collaborating with chemists and pyrotechnicians to develop a workable color-coded flare. In 1859, she was granted a patent under her deceased husband’s name, as the US Patent Office refused to issue patents in a woman’s name. Unfortunately, inventing the Coston flare was only half the battle.
Navies around the world were slow to recognize the significance of the Coston flare, with many dismissing it simply because it was introduced by a woman. Undeterred by the skepticism of the US Navy, Martha Coston traveled abroad to advocate for her invention to any government willing to listen. She only returned home in 1861, when the American Civil War erupted, to support the Union. Upon her return, she was pleased to find the US Navy more receptive to her flares, eager to embrace anything that could provide an advantage over the Confederacy.
In the summer of 1861, Martha Coston received a significant order from the US Navy for millions of her flares.(5) These flares were invaluable for nighttime communication between ships and for signaling back to shore. They burned in three distinct colors with such brilliance that they were visible from up to 20 miles away. The Coston flares proved especially useful for the Union Navy's blockade off the coast of North Carolina. They enabled the Union to communicate and locate blockade runners attempting to enter the Cape Fear River under the cover of darkness. Additionally, the flares played a crucial role in the Union Navy's bombardment and subsequent capture of Fort Fisher in 1865.
Coston Night Signals supplied the Union with flares at cost throughout the war, despite the rising material costs due to wartime inflation. After the war, Martha Coston sought $120,000 in compensation but was awarded only $15,000 after years of negotiations. Reflecting on her experience, Coston remarked, "It was the most bitter thing to find… men [in the Navy] so small-minded that they begrudge a woman her success, though achieved after long years of struggle and patient industry."(6) While the Coston flares were used exclusively by the US Navy during the war, they were later adopted by navies and lifesavers worldwide, including the United States Life-Saving Service on Bald Head Island.
The US Life-Saving Service (USLSS) relied on Coston flares in several important ways. They used the flares to warn mariners away from hazards like the Frying Pan Shoals and to signal those who had run aground that help was on the way. For example, in November 1885, USLSS Keeper Dunbar Davis used a flare to alert the crew of the Vapor that assistance was en route. Davis recalled, “I concluded from the position of the light that the vessel showing it was in distress or danger. I burnt a patrol signal and launched the surf boat.”(7) One can only imagine the relief of seeing that flare bright the distance after hours stranded at sea.
Over time, Coston's flares have been refined and improved, but the basic concept remains unchanged. Today, flares are still used by mariners, airport ground crews, unlucky drivers, and first responders to accidents. For this enduring legacy, we owe a debt of gratitude to Martha Jane Hunt Coston.
2 BFC jr (unknown birth maybe 1845-1851), Edward Parks Coston (unknown – 1849) Captain Henry Coston (1844-
1896), and William F Coston (1847- 1901).
4 Coston, Martha J. A Signal Success: The Work and Travels of Mrs. Martha J. Coston, J.B Lippincot Co. Philadelphia.
5 For half the cost as she was a woman.
6 Coston, Martha.
7 Davis, Dunbar. Wreck Report Life Saving Station Cape Fear District No. 6. November 11, 1885. OBF.
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