All Aboard!

Coffey Cousins' enjoyed the 3-hr dinner train ride out of Chadron. It gave everyone a chance to relax, enjoy a really good meal and lots of good conversation.

2006 Coffey Cousins' Group Photograph

Many of our early registrants were put off off by the potential for bad weather in the Nebraska panhandle. Others had sickness or other physical problems that prevented them from making the trip. As a result Chadron was not one of the better attended Coffey Conventions.

However, those that did attend - many of them regulars and long time supporters of Coffey Cousins - found great weather, comfortable facilities and great fellowship awaiting them.

Click on the image to enlarge. 

Book Recommendation

While attending the Coffey Cousins' Convention in Chadron, NE I had a chance to visit the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center. One of the purchases that I made there was a book authoried by Mari Sandoz.

The book is a softcover edition of The Cattlemen from the Rio Grande across the far Marias, 1958, University of Nebraska Press.

Quoting:

"This thundering book...is the story of the vast cattle industry of the American West; stupendous in length, concept, and achievement, it is the result of a lifetime of knowledge and research..."

"Here, tough as whang leather, nourishing as pemmican, turbulent as Dodge City on a Saturday night in the late 1870s is what time may well decide is the definitive history of the founding and flourishing of the cattle industry on this continent."

I have only read a few pages in this 498 page book, not including bibliography and index, but it has already captured my imagination. In my mind I see me riding the open prairies, and down through the draws seeking out lost cattle, while participating in long cattle drives.

Click on the title link to reach the University of Nebraska press.

More from the road!

My wife and I are in an RV park in Riverton, WY. After leaving Chadron, NE this morning (May 3) around 8 a.m., we had a leisurely ride over US20/US26 and arrived at Riverton around 1:30 p.m. I have a good wireless connection provided by the park manager so thought I'd write a short update in case anyone is interested in my comments concerning the Coffey Cousins' Convention in Chadron, and the Charles Franklin Coffee family who pioneered the area between Chadron and the Wyoming line.

The Chadron State College has begun building a permanent display of photographs, documents, and other artifacts pertaining to the Charles Franklin Coffee family. The display is housed at the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center on the campus.

My wife and I visited the center and took photographs of nearly everything currently on display, including a desk that C. F. used during his time as president of The Bank of Harrison, near Chadron.

We also visited the site of "Coffee Siding", a railway spur built by C. F. in Nebraska near the Wyoming border. The siding has long since been removed, but is marked by a Nebraska historical marker. The old raised bedding can still be seen, as well as brick culverts laid under the bed at streams.

I have a number of photographs that I will post later.

Chadron Coffey Cousins' Convention

We are now into the first full day of meeting and greeting old and new friends who are attending the 23th annual CC Convention.
This year we are meeting in beautiful,if rural Chadron , in the Nebraska panhandle.

There are 30+ in attendance with some coming from as far away as Virginia.

The weather had been a concern, but daytime temperatures have been in the high 60's with plenty of blue sky.

Chadron is a town of a bit more than 5000 people. It is somewhat of a tourist area with plenty of motels and other facilities that we travellers need and require.

If fear of bad weather and/or bad roads kept you away this year, then you fretted in vain, and have missed a great opportunity to see a beautiful part of our great country, not to mention meeting some wonderful Coffey Cousins.

I hope to be back at my regular keyboard by early June. In the meantime I'm typing this on my new Dell Axim X51v handheld computer.

[Edited to show correct anniversary. The 25th Anniversary will be celebrated at the 2008 convention in Virginia]

I'll be away for awhile!

My wife and I will be leaving in a few days for a week of camping with friends. After than we will entertain grandkids for a week or so over Easter. Then, it's off to the Coffey Cousins' Convention in Chadron, NE.

A nearly life-long friend with whom I served in the US Army in the late '60s will be joining us in Nebraska. From there we will motor home through the Rockies and the Bitterroots enroute to his home in Oregon. Several cousins from my maternal side also live in Oregon, and I'm looking forward to meeting them. I'm not sure when we'll make the return trip, but it probably won't be before the first week in June.

As a result of all this, I'll be away from the blog for about a month. I'll still be able to receive e-mail when I can find a wi-fi connection, but if you need to send me photos or large files, please hold them until I let you know I'm back home.

Until then....Cheers!

Jack

Coffey Cousins' Convention - Reminder

The deadline for reservations at the 2006 Coffey Cousins' Convention is fast approaching. Our meeting this year is being held at The Best Western Westhills Inn in Chadron, NE from April 27-30. If you have planned to attend, there are not many more days remaining to make hotel reservations, and book your family place at the table for the business meeting and banquet.

Note also that the deadline for making reservations for the dinner train ride is April 12.

Click on the title link for more information.

The Wild Geese of Eire (Part III)

Part III (actually Part II as submitted by the author) appeared in the Dec., 1990 edition of Coffey Cousins' Clearinghouse newsletter:

My 85-year old father likes to tell a story concerning the mark of our ancestor Fielden Coffey (his great-grandfather) and how it related to a run-in with Pardee Butler along the Missouri River in the vicinity of the present Atchison, Kansas, where I was later born. The Atchison area was over-run by Missourians who were descendants of old-line Virginians. These Missourians, including my Fielden (who had been born in Kentucky), adhered to old mid-southern rules and customs, including occupying land by pre-emption which was technically not open to settlement. Fielden had placed his distinctive mark on a certain tree, intending to sometime cut it and make it into lumber. He was in no particular hurry to cut it, as everyone knew his mark and respected his claim on any trees so marked. Atchison had the first newspaper in the state, aptly named the Squatter Sovereign, one issue of which tells of the tarring and feathering of Pardee Butler, a northern free-soiler who was tied to a raft in his feathered state and sent on an ethereal flight down the Missouri River. My Fielden's encounter with Mr. Butler came when someone came rushing to Fielden's house with the disconcerting news that Butler was cutting down a tree with Fielden's mark on it! My father's interpretation of Fielden's response, although more visually demonstrated than by words, leaves little doubt that Fielden's adrenaline surged. Although short of stature and of generally agreeable disposition, on this occasion, when his distinctive mark was ignored, he was as if challenged in battle, and this proved to be one of the few occasions which he settled with assistance of a gun. I am assured by my father that he did not kill anyone, but that is all that he would say.

Although we see the strange M-like mark on Edward Coffey, Sr.;s personal papers, it takes little imagination to see that this would have been the mark by which he signed chits and notes for the plantation Moseley's Quarter. Today certificates representing enormous wealth in corporate stock are still "signed" by means of a cryptic mark made by the pen of the transfer agent in some financial back room. At the time Edward Coffey signed the M-like mark to his will, he had a vested interest in the plantation of "Mosley's Quarter" to say the least. To what extent his interest was so vested 16 years earlier, when he witnessed a document by signing the same M-like mark, is still a matter of conjecture. To make a different mark for his personal affairs than the mark he made for the plantation would have not only been confusing to all concerned but probably to himself as well. He obviously was known by his mark, which for historical reasons was associated with Moseley's Quarter, regardless of whether at any specific time he may have been overseer or owner.

Descendants of Joel Coffey and Martha Stapp have noted that the names "Woodson Coffey" or "Joel Woodson Coffey" appear in the lines of at least two of Joel's children, although no Woodson ancestor is readily apparent in published genealogies. If only one of Joel's children had named a son Woodson, we might shrug it off, saying that the child must have been named for a highly respected neighbor or godfather of no blood relation. But even in parallel cases in other families, such neighbors or godparents, upon further research, often prove to be blood relations. Woodsons proliferated from Virginia through the South and West and were sometimes Coffey neighbors although no blood relationships have been previously suggested. Let us examine the family of Joel and Martha, as there is evidence that their children may be triple Coffeys in the sense of being descended from Edward Coffey, Sr. in three lines: 1) Edward Coffey, Jr., and a wife who may have been a daughter of a Chesley Martin, 2) Martha Coffey and Joshua Stapp, through their grand-daughter Martha Stapp; and 3) Elizabeth Coffey and John Cleveland through their daughter Jane Cleveland. I am reserving details of these genealogical interpretations for another discussion. (I am myself a descendant of this triple Coffey line through Celia, the daughter of Joel and Martha, but my line is further complicated by a descent through Celia's marriage to Fielding, son of Isaac Nebuzaraden Coffey, of yet uncertain ancestry, but undoubtedly going back again to Edward Coffey, Sr.) The tripling in the Joel-Martha line, for one thing, would magnify the likelihood that any Woodson connection would be in a Coffey line merely because there are fewer non-Coffey lines to contend with. We need to analyze the heritage of Joel's family. Joel has all the appearances of having inherited his parents' wealth under the British primogeniture system. His 14 slaves appearing in the 1787 Wilkes County, North Carolina, census are ten times the average for Wilkes County families of the period. Nebuzaraden has only one and many Coffeys none at all. Only Jane (Graves) Coffey, the widow of John Coffey, came close with 7. Her wealth was preserved by her failure to re-marry. Colonial custom was to leave the estate to the wife only until she re-married or died. Thus, Edward, Jr., and John Coffey (rather than their mother who re-married) inherited Moseley's Quarter. Upon the death of their mother Ann, she willed her possessions to her sons by her last husband (Dooley) and to her daughter or daughter-in-law, Annister, rather than to her earlier sons by Edward Coffey, Sr. Joel's wealth is further confirmed by the lands appearing in his name on tax lists of the period. Joel was likely the prime heir of his father, Chesley Coffey, Sr., who may have died young but was probably the eldest son and prime heir of Edward Coffey, Jr., thought by Coffey genealogists to have been the twin brother of John Coffey, the twins being the inheriting sons of the original Edward Coffey, Sr. That Joel Coffey's full name may have been perpetuated by his grandson Joel Woodson Coffey is suggestive, although only that. Under the British primogeniture system (which was repudiated with the success of the American Revolution), the elder branch of a family was the depository for tradition. A father passed not only his wealth to his oldest son, but a responsibility to be head of the entire group of related families descending from the father. This family headship was in a sense that we can barely comprehend today. It was the senior son who not only inherited the vast proportion of the estate, but who also had an obligation to help junior families out if the fell on hard times. We believe that Irish families adhered to primogeniture, as well. This is all in way of explaining how we would expect Joel to have been trained in family traditions forward. It would not be unusual, therefore, for him to have known the name of his great grandfather of his wife, Martha Stapp. Did anyone in the lineages between the original Edward's mother and Joel or Martha have Woodson as a middle name? Or did they have a Bible record of a Woodson ancestor? Remember, Joel's grandson was named Joel Woodson Coffey and two other grandchildren had Woodson incorporated into their names in some way. Was there a Woodson in Joel's ancestry? If such a Woodson ancestry were in colonial Virginia rather on the other side of the Atlantic, it would have had to have been in the very early generations of the Virginia Woodson family. The patriarch of the Virginia Woodsons settled in the Jamestown colony in 1619 and was killed by Opechanchanough's brutal massacre of 1644, but Mrs. Woodson protected two sons by hiding them, one in a tub, the other in a potato pit. Genealogists have married off the descendants of these two sons to account for the Woodsons living in America between 1619 and the present, although little attention was given to the female lines. We should look for a Woodson daughter of an extremely early generation who may have had an early marriage but was remembered by genealogists only for a second marriage to a person with property. Sarah Woodson, daughter of Robert Woodson and Sarah Ferris, is the likely candidate, particularly since the Ferris family was intermarried with the Washingtons and one of Joel's grandsons was named Meredith Washington Coffey. Is this sheer speculation? Not at all! Although genealogies commonly state that this Sarah Woodson married Edward Mosby, Henry Morton Woodson in his book Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections states that this was Edward Moseley and that the line is untraced. Sarah's father was Robert, one of the little Woodson boys saved from the Indians by being hidden by his mother. Sarah's brother John is known to have been a carpenter. There is evidence that many Coffey connecting families were carpentering families who followed building booms at the edge of settlement, but this topic is reserved for another discussion. Such books spread from the Jamestown colony eventually to Henrico County, up to old Rappahanock (Essex), to Spotsylvania, to Orange, to Albemarle, and eventually into the back country of the Carolinas and from there south and west.

[Frank believed in writing long paragraphs!]

If Edward Coffey was not a Wild Goose in the sense of the 1691 exodus, what was he? It is commonly said that "birds of a feather flock together." Graves women who married Coffeys in two widely separated lines both seem to be descended from Captain Thomas Graves of Jamestown colony. It is significant that a Thomas Graves signed as security for Edward Coffey, Sr.'s widow when she administered Edward's estate. Was he descended from the Captain Thomas Graves mentioned above? If there is a Woodson connection, the progenitor again would be an old-line Jamestown colony Virginian. Could our Coffey ancestors go back this far as well? Descendants of colonial Virginia Coffeys have tried to trace their ancestry by looking at dates when people with names similar to those of their ancestors were supposedly imported to America. Recent research indicates that landgrants given by Virginia for importing settlers often were fraudulently issued, the supposed importees merely being ship's crews who returned to England. It is axiomatic that Coffeys supposedly imported seem to have left no descendants. Paradoxically, Coffeys tracing back to colonial Virginia can find no ancestor who unquestionably was the one who immigrated. Do the Edward Coffey and Peter Coffee lines track back to a common ancestor as some long-deceased Coffeys once claimed? [Recent DNA testing reveals that Peter and Edward were related, but not closely] Descendants of Peter Coffee now have evidence that he was not the Peter Coffee of importation records. Carpentering tendencies of the Peter Coffee line led to John Coffee's boatbuilding which led to a water-freighting partnership with Andrew Jackson, then to the Coffee-Jackson victory in the Battle of New Orleans, and finally to the election of a President. The carpentering connection between the Edward and Peter lines may be partly because of carpentering being a Graves characteristic. This would not explain carpentering in the line of Edward Coffey, Jr., however. Perhaps the Graves met the Coffeys through carpentering in relation to Coffeys and their connections, which is found in another discussion, also explains why these carpenters excelled in the military.

Although our Coffey immigrant ancestor may not have a Wild Goose in the restricted meaning of the 1691 sense, today the term is used for practically any ancestor who fled from Ireland at any date, as shown by the recent article in Town and Country magazine. These Wild Geese intended to fly home to Ireland when conditions permitted. That our ancestor was a Wild Goose in the broad sense of having fled from Ireland is taken for granted from the very Irishness of the name Coffey, for what true Irishman would have willingly left the emerald Isle unless forced by circumstances to do so? Coffey is a true old Irish name, not a "Scotch-Irish" name, and not an Irish name of English origin.

In reviewing the document whereby Ann, the widow of Edward Coffey, Sr., was granted administration of Edward's estate, the very Irishness of the names of all involved simply flows out from the paper. Here was Ann Powell who had become a Coffey, with a Thomas Graves signing as security together with a John Hart. The Irish family of Powell as an alias for MacFullafoil, a Gaelic name freely translated as a "devotee of St. Paul," the Paul part of the name inspiring use of the name "Powell." Hart is exactly equivalent to the family of O'Hart to which belonged the author of the book which takes the Coffey pedigree back to Adam. Graves was a family in the 1659 census of Counties Dublin, Meath and Louth. The Graves family was noted for certain prominent clergymen, one the Anglican Bishop of Limerick. John Graves was sheriff of Limerick. Arthur Graves wrote the ever popular sons "Father O'Flynn."

Historians are intensely interested in early Irish settlers in Virginia prior to the coming of the Scotch-Irish to the Great Valley of Virginia. Of interest is whether the very early Irish existed as isolated families who lost their Irishness amid the predominant English, or whether they associated together with some social binding so as to make an ethic group. If they did make a group, however so small, historians would like to know if they had any effect on development of the country. If Coffeys can ever sort out and document their family history, there may prove to have been significant influence by descendants of early Irish who settled in the Tidewater region of Virginia, long before coming of the Scotch-Irish.

My interest in my ancestor Fielden Coffey being a traveling merchant led me to research traveling merchants in colonial Virginia. There was great interest by historians in a diary of a traveling merchant written shortly after 1800 which revealed that he belonged to a secret society or brotherhood of Irishmen in Virginia which met something like the Masons. Unfortunately no one has discovered who wrote the diary or anything about the society other than that no one had suspected that the Irish had such social connections in Virginia at such an early date. The merchant's route closely corresponded to some of the territory where Coffeys lived. In the Tye river area of old Albemarle County (now Nelson County), with its Coffey connections, he mentioned coming to Crosthwait's as if it were an old stopping point or way-station, which it probably was. Descendants of colonial Virginia Crosthwait/Crosswhites have never discovered whether they are of the English or Irish branch of the family, only that their ancestor came down from Pennsylvania to Spotsylvania County about 1732, possibly descending from the Charles Crosthwayte who settled near Boston in the previous century. Charles had descendants in West Jersey prior to 1700 who were living on the opposite side of the river from the point where the new town of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was being built. If Crosthwaits were of the Irish branch, they would, like the Coffeys, be very early examples of Irish immigrants. A Thomas Crosthwaite once served as Governor of the Bank if Ireland and High Sheriff of Dublin. This is mentioned because a Coffey presently is Minister of Finance of Ireland and has served as Governor of the Bank of Ireland, an interesting parallel. I am reserving an analysis of the fiduciary or "treasurer" meaning behind the surname Coffey for another discussion.

[I hope readers have enjoyed this dissertation by Frank Crosswhite. He never again submitted such work to Coffey Cousins for publication, and I understand that he died within a few years of this publication. That is too bad! Many, if not most researchers today are simply satisfied with copying and/or citing the work of others. Besides the obvious problem with that, neither one has cited a credible source for any of the information. If anyone would like to submit such scholarly work as this paper, please contact me or Bonnie Culley. I was unable to reproduce Edward's "distinctive mark" here, but imagine this: A printed letter E, tilted slightly to the right where it almost appears like the printed letter M, except that the legs of the M do not dip in the middle, but rather go straight across like the spine of the E.]

New Webpage Design

Chris, my youngest child and son, volunteered to re-design and simplify the Coffey Cousins' webpage. Some readers may have already noticed the change. If not, click on the title link to view the updated site.

Please take a critical view of the overall design and send appropriate comments/suggestions to me.

Edward & Ann Powell CDs

Several readers have asked me when I plan to update the Edward and Ann Powell Coffey webpages again.

I try to update them on average about every six months. I hope to update again in the spring, just prior to taking off the the Coffey Cousins' Convention in late April.

It takes a moderate amount of time and effort to make the updates, even though my genealogy software automatically prepares the pages. However, before I can update the on-line files, I have to input the new info that I have received. Most of that information comes to me from other reseachers, and it takes time to go through their data, ask for more facts or sources, and finally make changes or additions. I also like to research the census for families to verify names, ages, etc. before posting updates.

Some readers have asked if they could perhaps get a CD of the entire database. It does not take too long to create a CD. In fact, it takes more time for me to drive from the country to the post office than it does to create it.

So, in order to accomodate the readers that want the CD I have added a link to the bottom of this page that will (hopefully) make it easy for them do that. I have had a PayPal account for several years, so I've just added a link button to that account. For a $5 "donation" per CD you can get a CD with your choice of how the info is presented. I can create a CD with one large PDF file, or perhaps you want a GEDCOM, or even an "autostart" program created by my Roots Magic software. Any format you choose will include all of the source data and collected photos.

This is not a money making venture. The "donation" is meant to cover cost of the CD, jewel case, envelope and postage...not to mention driving to the post office to mail the packet.

Click on the link to order. If it doesn't work like you expect, cancel the transaction and e-mail me.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

While looking around for a Christmas gift idea for my wife, I found the website for "Quilt Camp." This group, headquartered in Olympia, WA books sea cruises for quilters! Sounds like a lot of fun, but something my sister would probably enjoy more than my wife.

The decorated tree quilt photo is from their site, and is so beautiful.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of my Coffee/Coffey cousins, and I look forward to having much more new information to pass along in the coming year. You can help by allowing me to use your old family photographs and a brief family history to share with others. Write to me

God Bless Us, Each and Everyone

Name Change

I have decided to change the name of this e-newsletter. Except for the fact that I belong to Coffey Cousins', this e-newsletter really does not have anything to do with that organization.

The information provided here comes mostly from information provided to me by others, or from my own files, and may not appear in the quarterly paper edition of the Coffey Cousins' newsletter. I try to not duplicate information that Bonnie Culley, editor of the paper edition, may use. But, sometimes I will often pass on to her the articles that I believe are of sufficient interest to our members who may not subscribe to this e-newsletter.

I may yet again decide to change the name. I am subject to whim now and then.

Coffey Cousins' Clearinghouse Weblog: The Coffey Family Settlers of "Coffeytown" - Part 2

I have been informed by John Taylor that he is updating and correcting this paper. In light of that I will wait on the updated version before continuing with the Coffeytown history.

Coffey Cousins' Convention Reminder

If you have plans to attend the Coffey Cousins' Convention in Chadron, NE next year, please visit the convention website. Pay particular attention to the train ride. Everyone who plans to take that ride should let me know ASAP.

Genealogy Exchange

I've been thinking that perhaps I would end this blog, and expand/improve on it by creating a "Genealogy Exchange" blog to which anyone can post questions, or write public responses. I could also decide to continue this blog just to share with readers the miscellaneous Coffee/y data that I have in my personal files.

This "Genealogy Exchange" would be limited in scope to those families who descend from Edward and Peter Coffey lines. Otherwise there would be no limits. All families within the descendants list of those two men can be discussed. To be a bit more clear: All peripheral families can be discussed.

Everyone would HAVE to recognize at the outset that any information posted without verifiable sources sould be considered speculation. For the most part, any information that I post will NOT have been independently verified by me unless it is from my personal family file(s).

The "Genealogy Exchange" is by invitation only. Everyone will have to register with Blogger.com in order to participate. Send me your name, e-mail address, USPS address, and the particular Coffee/y line being researched, and I'll see that an invitation is sent.

In the meantime, visit the above link to Coffey Cousins', then click on the "Genealogy Exchange" link near the bottom middle of the page.

Comments appreciated.

A Privacy Issue?

Recently, I received an e-mail from someone demanding that they be removed from my database, and from a genealogy website that I own (not Coffey Cousins'). Not satisfied with merely making the demand, they insinuated that an attorney relative had assured him I had no legal right to use his name on the web.

It was apparent that the writer - a very young man according to my records - was using the old "I'll get my attorney onto you" ploy, or had one that had failed the bar exam! I reminded the young man that "public records" means that the records belong to the public. Births, deaths, marriages, divorces, property transfers, and the like appear in newspapers, and on the web. Many of those notices are posted by the person(s) involved. Except for some remote possibility of copyright infringement, there is nothing illegal about using that type of "public" information in a genealogy file.

Most family historians recognize that some people are paranoid that others may find out about them. My wife tears our names and address off envelopes before discarding them. I have often reminded her that our name and address is listed in several area telephone directories, not to mention the city directory, and such websites as Switchboard.com! I am not always happy about removing someone from my files; that has happened perhaps three or four times in the years that I have been researching family. But, I do it no matter how reluctant I am. I do understand privacy issues, and make every effort to restrict public postings of living people to their names only.

Fortunately, I had already published a book that contains the young man's ancestry. The book can be found in several Arkansas and Louisiana libraries, and future generations of his family will not wonder why their ancestors did not appear in the family history.

I would be interested in learning the views of other researchers on this subject.

2006 Coffey Cousins' Convention - Update III

New convention information has been added to the Coffey Cousins' website. Pay particular attention to the information concerning the train ride/dinner. Space is limited. If you want to ride, be sure and get your reservation to me early. Your checks will not be submitted for payment until much later, but they will hold the seats you need for you and your family.

2006 Coffey Cousins' Convention - Update II

I've added more information to the 2006 Convention page. This addition pertains to a dinner ride aboard the Nebkota Railway NRI Dining Car. Click on the above link to view the info.

2006 Coffey Cousins' Convention - Update

The 2006 Convention webpage has been updated to include information about hotel reservations. We will be headquartered at the Best Western Westhills Inn. We will meet there from April 27 through April 30, 2006.

Be sure and follow directions for making reservations. You must call the hotel directly (both local and toll free numbers provided) to receive the quoted convention rate.

Links have been added to many of the area's historical sites.

Check the convention webpage often. I will be adding more information on a regular basis.

Use the above link to visit the webpage.

2006 Coffey Cousins' Convention - Early Planning

My wife and I have taken on the responsibility of hosting the 2006 Coffey Cousins' Convention. Normally, this is not a big responsibility: reserve a block of rooms in a local hotel, arrange for a meeting room and dinner, prepare information packets for the guests, and make sure everything runs smoothly for a couple of days.

We have done this twice in the past; once in Baton Rouge, LA, and again in Vicksburgs, MS. We lived in Baton Rouge at the time, and the convention was held at the Holiday Inn just a couple of miles from our home. The one in Vicksburg was handled with one in-person visit to the hotel, and the remainder was handled via telephone and e-mail.

The 2006 will be held in Chadron, a small town located in the NW corner of the Nebraska panhandle. I'm hoping to be able to handle most things through the tourist bureau there, including getting hotel recommendations.

I realize that the trip will be long for those living in the southeast and eastern parts of the US, but may draw in Coffee/y researchers from western areas that we haven't been able to visit in the 23 years that Coffey Cousins' has held a convention.

That part of Nebraska was home to several sons of John Trousdale Coffee, a descendant of Peter Coffee. There are a number of historical homes there which were built by these Coffee families. I don't know yet if any of their descendants still live in Chadron, but perhaps there are and they will attend with information to share with othere Peter Coffee researchers.

The above link will take the reader to a preliminary webpage describing some of the attractions in the area. Personally, my wife and I will make a long vacation out of the trip and use the opportunity to see some of America's most treasured landmarks.

Nebraska weather promises to be unpredictable in late April-early May, the traditional time of our convention. That may require moving the convention to a later date in May. We won't make that decision for a few weeks yet, as we get more input from members, and locals in Chadron.

In the meantime, I would like for readers to visit the website, and perhaps pass along the information to other Coffee/y researchers. Comments and suggestions are requested.