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January 28, 2007

Enoch Coffey

Enoch Coffey, born c1812 in Burke Co., NC, was a son of Joseph and Isabella Lindsay Coffey. Joseph and Isabella were parents of at least nine children and Enoch was the first son and second oldest child. Enoch died in 1893.

His first wife was Prudence Gragg with whom he likely had a child or two. However, I have been unable to determine which of his children were by Prudence and which were born to his second wife, Martha Calloway.

Between those wives he fathered at least seven children:

Lucinda, believed born Sep., 1829
Levi, born c1837
Mary, born c1838
Sarah A., born Jun., 1840
Joseph, born c1843
Elizabeth, born c1846
Martha, born c1848


Lucinda is thought to be the Coffey child enumerated in the household with Enoch's sister, Matilda Verlincia Coffey Perkins in the 1850 Johns River, Caldwell Co., NC census. Verlincia had married James Thaddeus Warsaw Perkins in about 1843. He apparently died before 1850. The widow Valencia and her children were in the Johns River district up until 1880. The Lucinda Coffey enumerated with that family in 1850 was seven* years old, indicating that she was born in 1843. However, in each of the following three available census records, she gave her age as 49 (1880), 71 (1900) and 78 (1910), indicating that she was born (on average) in 1830. Based on this large descrepancy it is quite possible that Lucinda with Verlincia in 1850 is not the Lucinda who married 1) Stanhope Whisenant/Whisenhunt and 2) Francis M. (Frank) Herald.

I have not yet found any family information on Enoch's next two children, Levi and Mary.

Sarah married Johnson P. Gragg in 1866 in Caldwell Co. Johnson had previously married Nancy Jane Cuthbertson c1847. Nancy and Johnson had a number of children, several of which married their Coffey cousins. I do not yet know if he sired any children by Sarah.

Joseph married Nancy J. Gragg. I have not yet determined who Nancy's parents were.

The last two of Enoch's children have not yet been researched.

Please send additions and/or corrections to me at the above e-mail address.

*Ben Coffey brought to my attention that what I read in the 1850 census as a very large 7 for Lucinda's age is actually a very large 17. This explains the discrepancies in her age over the next few census years.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Johnson P. Gragg and Sarah A. (Sally) Coffey were married on June 1, 1886 NOT 1866 after the death of wife #1, Nancy Jane Cuthbertson. There were no children to the marriage between Johnson Gragg and Sally Coffey.

Joseph Coffey's wife, Nancy Gragg, was the daughter of John Gragg and Malinda Morris Curtis.