Pages

Showing posts with label Catlett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catlett. Show all posts

November 16, 2011

Coffey & Campbell in Nelson Co., VA

According to his Oct. 1, 1823 will*, Francis J. and Isabell Catlett Campbell had four children.
IN THE NAME OF GOD! AMEN.  I FRANCIS CAMPBELL in the County of Nelson.  Being weak in  body but sound in mind and memory, and considering the uncertainty of this mortal life, do make  and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following (that is to say)  principally and first.
I recommend my soul into the hands of God who gave it, and my body to the Earth to be buried  in a Christian like manner, at the discretion of my Executors here and after named and first,  I request that all my just debts shall be paid; and as touching the residue of my worldly  estate as God hath blest me with.  I do leave in the manner and form following ______:
I leave and bequeath to my beloved wife Is(a)bell Campbell the third of my Estate during her  natural life at the discretion of my Executors.  The residue of my estate to be equally  divided between my two sons and two daughters viz. Francis Campbell; Polley Gregory, Joel  Campbell, and Rachel Gregory, share and share alike, only I give and bequeath to my son Joel  Campbell my house existing nary all which is to them and their heirs forever; - and further  it is my will and desire that the line made by myself and John Masters (between him and myself)  to stand forever.  And lastly I do appoint my sons Francis and Joel my sole Executors of this  my last will and Testament, hereby revoking and disannulling all former wills by me made and  declare this my last will and testament.  In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and  seal this first day of October eighteen hundred and twenty-three.
                                              His
                                     Francis   X   Campbell (Seal)
                                             Mark
Signed, sealed and delivered by the above named Francis Campbell to be his Last Will and Testament
Benjamin Hatter
John Coffey
Edmund F. Coffey
Francis J. Campbell II appears to be the eldest, born c1780 in VA, died 1855 in Nelson Co.  He married Nancy Coffey, said to be a daughter of Edmond S., Sr. and Nancy Barnett Coffey, on Feb. 26, 1806 in Amherst Co.**  He was followed by Mary "Polly" Campbell, Joel, born c1790, and Rachel.

Joel also married a Nancy Coffey, said to be a sister to Edmond S., Jr. whose parents were Edmond Sr. and Tildy Fitzgerald Coffey.

It gets more confusing!

Joel and Nancy had a number of children, believed to be as follows:

Rachel A., born c1821, died Dec. 1881, Nelson Co.
Reuben Lee, born c1828
Joel, also born c1828
Matilda, born c1830
Nancy, born c1832
Francis Vanvert, born c1836
Henry, born c1837
William, born c1841

The family appeared in the 1850 Nelson Co census as follows:
1850 Nelson Co., Page 560, dwelling/family 915, Joel Campbell, age 60, male, farmer, $700, born VA; Nancy, age 40, female, born VA; Joel, age 22, male, born VA; Lilly, age 17, female, born VA; Nancy, age 18, female, born VA; Rachel, age 25, female, born VA; Matilda, age 20, female, born VA; Reuben, age 18, male, born VA; Henry, age 16, male, born VA; Francis, age 14, male, born VA
The placement of children makes it appears to me, at least, that either Joel or Nancy had been previously married.  First clue is that Joel is 20+ years older than Nancy.  Further, the daughter Rachel is said to have married Washington "Wash" Coffey in 1842 yet she is still at home in 1850.  A marriage record for Wash names his wife as Rhoda.¹

Interesting to note that the marriage record for Francis J. Campbell names his bride as Nancy Campbell, not Nancy Coffey.***

The Nancy Coffey, daughter of Edmond, Jr. and Tildy, is said to have been born c1779; her spouse Joel in 1790.

Francis and his Nancy Coffey wife are said to have had a number of children, some of which were named Joel, and Rachel, born last in that family.  Two of the first three children born to Joel and his Nancy Coffey wife were named Rachel and Joel.

I am thinking that the two Nancy's might be the same people.  She may have first married a Campbell, perhaps Francis and, when he died she married his brother Joel.  Because dates are so inconclusive, we cannot be sure when any of the Campbell sons or either of their Coffey wives was born.  At least I cannot be certain!

In any event, there are enough inconsistencies and lack of source data about this Campbell-Coffey family for us to be suspicious of any genealogy that includes them with any implication that it is accurate.

*Lynn Vanderherchen, http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/nelson/wills/w-cam01.txt
**Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940, database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org), index entries derived from copies of originals housed in various repositories throughout Virginia. [n.b. According to another source Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850 (Dodd, Jordan R.) the marriage too place on 28 Feb., 1806.  Perhaps 26 Feb. was the license date. This source names the bride as Nancy Campbell.
***Marriage Register, Nelson Co., VA - Part 1 is from Marriage Register, Book No. 2, 1854 - 1926 and and only includes entries for Coffey surnames thru 1899. See the files located at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/nelson/vitals/marr0001.txt, Part 2, Page 33, Line 2.
¹groom's name: Washington Coffey groom's birth date: groom's birthplace: groom's age: bride's name: Rhoda [sic] Campbell bride's birth date: bride's birthplace: bride's age: marriage date: 20 Nov 1842 marriage place: Nelson County, Virginia groom's father's name: groom's mother's name: bride's father's name: bride's mother's name: groom's race: groom's marital status: groom's previous wife's name: bride's race: bride's marital status: bride's previous husband's name: indexing project (batch) number:M86879-0 system origin: Virginia-EASy source film number:32734 reference number :p 44

May 30, 2008

William Webster Davis and his two Coffey wives

William Webster Davis was born Jan. 26, 1837 in Amherst Co., VA and died there on Apr. 10, 1909. He first married Sarah Jane Coffey c1860 in Amherst Co. This union produced two sons, John, born c1861 and Henry c1863. Sarah likely died in childbirth because she disappeared immediately after Henry's birth.

Sarah Jane was the daughter of John Jack and Elizabeth Susan Duff Coffey. John Jack and Henry, father of William Davis' second wife, Avarila Coffey, were brothers. John Jack and Henry were sons of Jordan Coffey.

William married Avarila Coffey on Sep. 14, 1865 in Pedlar Dist., Amherst Co. She was born Mar. 2, 1846 to Henry F. and Elizabeth (Betsy) McDaniel Coffey. Henry is often thought of as a son of Jordan and Elizabeth Rippetoe Coffey, but may have been the son of one of Jordan's daughters out of wedlock.

John Taylor, a Coffeytown researcher, had this to say about Henry:

"...although Henry Coffey shows for the first time in the 1850 Census as the head of a household, he may have been one of 2 boys his age living with Jordan and Elizabeth in 1840. According to Census reports, Henry was born around 1817. He married, at the age of 31, Elizabeth (McDaniel) (Ogden) Coffey, who was slightly older than Henry, and she had several children of her own from a previous marriage to Zachariah Ogden. Henry seems to have acted as guardian to her older children and they took his surname, at least for the census reports, but, except for Paulin, they are believed to have used their own surnames later. Henry F. Coffey died 10 June 1871 of Colic, in Amherst County, according to the Amherst County death records. The information on the death record, including naming his parents as Charles and Jane Coffey of Nelson County, was given by Henry's son, Henry L. Coffey. His place of burial is unknown, but is probably up on the hill behind Embree Crawford's house [Coffeytown], in an unmarked grave, perhaps with Elizabeth."

William and Sarah's children were John Davis, born c1861, and Henry, born c1863.

Children by Avarila were:

Virginia Anne (Jenny) Davis, born 1866, died 1941. She married Arthur Coffey, a once removed first cousin and son of William (Billy) and Sarah G. (Sally) Crawford Coffey. Billy was a son of Jordan and Elizabeth.

Arthur Coffey Arthur Coffey

Arthur and Jenny's children were: Hallie Pearl, born c1881, married John Houston Crawford; Hiram Randolph, born Feb. 26, 1886, died Sep. 17, 1924, married Susie A. Catlett; Mabel Irene, born Jan. 3, 1885, married Emmett Boyd Humphries; Ernest Webster, born Feb. 5, 1888, died 1982, married Ethel McClung Stratton, daughter of George Baxter and Elianna [Eleanor?] Coffey. Elianna was the daughter of Charles Edward and Sarah Jane Ogden Coffey.

The next child born to Arthur and Jenny was Alma Gertrude, born c1891, married Thomas Powell Crawford; Fletcher Beadles, born Oct. 3, 1893, died Aug. 11, 1975, married Maggie Lee Harris; Mina Lee, born Jan. 10, 1895, died Feb. 1, 1979, married first to Thompson Massie Davis; second to James William Gibson.

Sally, born c1897, followed Mina. She married first Wallace Earl Palmer and second, Glenn Wyatt; Leonard Carlyle, born May 13, 1903, died Aug. 23, 1959, married Mary Elsie Coffey, a daughter of Hiter Webster and Mary Higginbotham Coffey. Hiter was also a son of Charles Edward and Sarah Jane Ogden Coffey.

Leonard and Mary Elsie Coffey Coffey

Leonard Carlyle and Mary Elsie Coffey Coffey

The last child of Arthur and Virginia was Essie Rose, born Apr. 4, 1907, died Jun. 19, 1999. She married Emmett Lewis Sale.

The remaining children of William Webster and Avarila Coffey Davis were:

Ida Penn, born c1867; Cornelia Catherine, born c1869, married Thomas H. McDaniel; Elizabeth Pendleton, born about Apr. 1870; Amanda Ellen, born c1873; Houston Carlyle, born c1874; Mary Lee, born c1877; Callie Tucker, born Sep. 1881; Tully Ashby, born Mar. 8, 1883; Chester Cleveland, born Jan. 11, 1885; Royal Wilbur, born Oct. 10, 1886; and Edna Belle, born Apr., 1891.

Please contact me at the above e-mail address with additions and/or corrections.