Thomas Coupe

{{short description|Canadian-born American 19th century sailor}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Thomas Coupe

|image = Thomas_Coupe.jpg

|caption =

|birth_name =

|birth_date = c. 1818

|birth_place = New Brunswick, Canada

|death_date = {{death-date|December 27, 1875}}

|death_place = Whidbey Island, Washington

|death_cause =

|resting_place =

|resting_place_coordinates =

|nationality = American

|other_names =

|known_for = Captain of several sailing ships, early settler of Whidbey island

|education =

|employer =

|occupation = Ship's Captain

}}

Captain Thomas Coupe (c. 1818 – December 27, 1875) was a ship's captain and early settler of Whidbey Island.

Thomas Coupe was born in New Brunswick, Canada1870 US Census and began going to sea at the age of 12. Coupe sailed the North American Atlantic Coast until the early 1850s. Coupe sailed to the Puget Sound area in 1852 on the sailing vessel Success, a ship in which he was half owner.Lewis & Dryden's marine history of the Pacific Northwest, E. W. Wright, 1895

Under the Donation Land Claim Act, Coupe established a 320-acre claim in the central part of Whidbey Island upon which the present town of Coupeville now stands.

He is the only captain known to have sailed a square-rigged ship through Deception Pass.{{cite book|title=Exploring Washington's Past: A Road Guide to History|first=Ruth|last=Kirk|page=264|publisher=University of Washington Press|year=1995|isbn=9780295974439}} The town of Coupeville was named after him;{{cite book|title=Glimpses in Pioneer Life on Puget Sound|page=78|first=A.|last=Atwood|publisher=Denny-Coryell|year=1903}} there, he built a house in 1854, from Californian redwood.

Coupe was also the sailing master on the Jefferson Davis, the first revenue cutter on Puget Sound. Coupe retired to his farm on Whidbey Island, remaining there until his death in 1875. He is buried in the Sunnyside Cemetery in the central Whidbey Island area.{{cite web |url=http://www.sunnysidecemetery.org/ |title=Home |website=sunnysidecemetery.org}}

Coupe had sons, Thomas Coupe and George M. Coupe.{{cite book|title=Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Review of the Growth and Development of the Maritime Industry, from the Advent of the Earliest Navigators to the Present Time, with Sketches and Portraits of a Number of Well Known Marine Men|year=1895|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_16505|publisher=Lewis & Dryden Printing Company|first=E.|last=W. Wright|page=[https://archive.org/details/cihm_16505/page/n217 185]|isbn=9780665165054}}