Sarah Mackey, wife of Joel Coffey

While working on another project [Stratton], I discovered several new [to me] pieces of information about the parents of Sarah Mackey, wife of Joel Coffey.  This Joel is said to be a son of Chesley Coffey, Jr., and his wife Margaret Baldwin.

Sarah was the daughter of William Lewis Mackey and Elizabeth Ashbrook. 

"William Lewis Mackey, the youngest [of Alexander and Susannah Lewis Mackey], was born in Rutherford county, N.C., about 1773.

Elizabeth Ashbrook, whom he married in Rutherford county, N.C., about the year 1792, was born in 1769 in Rutherford county, N.C.

Wm. L. Mackey was about six feet in height, of fair complexion, with black hair and blue eyes, and weighed one hundred and sixty pounds. After his marriage he remained in Rutherford county until after the birth of his two eldest children. In 1795 he emigrated to Tennessee through the wilderness without a road or a guide, in company with one or two other families, and settled in Christian county. From thence he moved to Robertson county, then to Smith, then to Bedford, and finally settled in Maury county, where he died in 1862 or 1863. He worked a short time at Tuscumbia, Ala., and helped to put up the first log-cabin that was built at that now flourishing city. While engaged in putting up this log-cabin, above mentioned, he cut his knee with an ax.

After his death the following obituary notice was published at Columbia, Tenn.:

William Lewis Mackey, the subject of this obituary, was born in Rutherford county, N.C., near what is called 'the foot of the mountain,' in 1773.

Death is at all times fearful to behold, in whatever form he may appear, yet he may be dissolved of many terrors by a holy, consistent life. Such was the case with the present subject. He was a worthy citizen, upright in all his dealings - in a word, an honest man, the 'noblest work of God' Though not a member of the church, he entertained no fears of hereafter, but spoke often, calmly and with resignation of his departure. Having lived the life of a good man, the king of terror was disarmed, and he could look with an eye of faith to the haven of eternal rest, where, free from the trials of earth, the 'weary find rest and the wicked cease to trouble' It is a source of unmistakable gratification to his surviving friends to feel, after having fought the battles of life, he is at rest, and that if faithful they may one day meet the kind friend on the banks of everlasting deliverance, in the pure realm where parting is unknown. May each member of his family be constrained to follow in his footsteps, imitate his worthy example in all things, emulate his noble virtues, and, when called hence, may no fears arise, no lowering clouds obscure the horizon, but with the armor of faith sustain by hope the peaceful anchor of the soul. May they launch their barks on the tempestuous waves, feeling sure of safely anchoring at home."

"Obituary of Mrs. Elizabeth Mackey.


Died, In Maury county, Tenn., on the 17th of January, Mrs. Elizabeth Mackey, wife of William L. and mother of Alexander Mackey, Jr., in the eighty-seventh year of her age. The deceased was a native of North Carolina, where she embraced the Christian religion and connected herself with the Baptist church, in the faith of which she died, confidently anticipating a blissful immortality beyond the grave. A Friend"

Unfortunately, I was unable to find a death year for Elizabeth.

Click on the title link of this blog to read a previous entry for Joel and Sarah Mackey Coffey.



Source for this information is Lewis, Wm. Terrell, Genealogy of the Lewis family in America (Louisville, KY: Courier-Journal Job. Print Co., 1893)

Joel Coffey

There are at least 23 men in my Coffey database named Joel. There are undoubtedly more, and many researchers have a difficult time keeping them separate. This is especially true when there are cousins in the same area and all were born around the same time.

The Joel I am writing about today was born Jun. 15, 1789, probably in Tennessee and died Dec. 10, 1855 in Oregon or perhaps in Camas, Clark Co., WA. He married Sarah Mackey, daughter of William Lewis and Elizabeth Ashbrook Mackey, Apr. 19, 1818 in Maury Co., TN.

Joel is said to be the son of Chesley, Jr. and Margaret Baldwin Coffey. Chesley, Jr. implies that there was a Chesley, Sr., but no one has ever been successful in location Chesley, Sr., or even proving his existance.

Some research that I have seen indicates that Joel took his family to Oregon in 1852 where they settled near Vancouver in what is now Washington state. Some writers claim that he and Sarah were parents of 10 children, but a number of them died young. Three of the children are said to have been buried in the family plot with Joel in Camas. Two of their children, twins Terral M. and Alexander L., born Mar. 15, 1831, are said to have become "noteworthy." Terral went to Umitilla Co., OR where he became a prominent farmer near Pendleton. Alexander became the county surveyor in Adams Co., WA.

In his book Genealogy of the Lewis family in America, published 1893 in Louisville, KY, William Terrell Lewis wrote that "Sarah Mackey, daughter of Wm. L. Mackey, was born in Rutherford county, N.C. in 1795. She married Joel Coffey, had three children and died in Missouri. The names of her children are as follows: William, Chesley and Derindia. After the death of Mrs. Sarah Coffey and her three children, Mr. Coffey moved to Oregon."

In addition to the three children named above, others most often described as being those of Joel and Sarah are:

Alexander L., born Mar. 15, 1831, died Aug. 8, 1913
Terral Mackey, married Mary E. Patterson, was born Mar. 15, 1831
Mary Louise, married Webster Abbott, was born 1833, died 1922
Elizabeth Angeline, married Lewis Van Fleet, was born May 8, 1836, died Apr. 12, 1905

Did Sarah Mackey die before the family left for Oregon? If so, who was the mother of the remaining four children?

Contact me with additions or corrections.