For the past month or so I have been given invaluable research material by one of Reuben's descendants. Margaret Coffey Farley of Winston-Salem, NC has given me photos and family history that would have otherwise taken me years - if ever - to uncover.
Thank you, Margaret!
Margaret descends from Reuben Coffey and Sarah Scott. Reuben, a son of John and Jane Graves Coffey, were parents of at least 13 children, 12 of which have known descendants. Two of his sons, Jesse, born between 1775 and 1780, and Joseph, born c1785, are pretty much responsible for most of the Coffeys found in North Carolina today.
Many of Reuben's children moved out of North Carolina and headed west. Many of them settled in Missouri and Indiana. Jesse and Joseph remained pretty close to home.
- Reuben, Jr. married Naomi Hayes. Some of their children were born in NC and TN, but much of the family was in Indiana by the late 1820's.
- Jesse who married Margaret Edmiston, remained in North Carolina where they produced at least 10 children. His son Jesse married in Grainger Co., TN in 1838. At least one of son Jesse's children, Mary Jane, returned to North Carolina where she settled with husband Wyatt Hayes in Watauga County.
- Elizabeth married John Greene and produced at least 10 children, all of which are thought to have remained in NC. After John Greene died in 1853, Elizabeth married Thomas Roper and moved to Greene Co., IN. She is thought to have had at least one child with Thomas.
Nancy, one of the Greene children, married James Coffey, a son of Levi and Dolly Edmundson Coffey. Levi was a grand-nephew (as well as first cousin twice removed) to Reuben.
Many of Levi's descendants are also found in North Carolina today.
- Elijah married Polly Dyer. The first six of their 11 children were born in NC. In about 1816 or 17 they moved west. Their seventh child, Joel Anderson, was born in Tennessee, William Trimble, their eighth, was born in Kentucky, and the next three in Indiana. It seems that all of the children born in North Carolina eventually settled in and around Owen Co., IN.
- Sally married Samuel Curtis and had at least one child, Hezekiah, born c1810. Hezekiah later married Celia Coffey, a daughter of William and Annie Boone Coffey. William was nephew to Reuben. Some of the Curtis children are believed to have remained in Wilkes and Burke Counties.
- Joseph married Isabella Lindsay. They produced seven children, most of which remained in Caldwell County. Margaret Coffey Farley is his descendant through his son Zacheus (Zack) who married his first cousin, Margaret, daughter of Jesse who was Joseph's brother.
- James married Hannah Alloway Strange, producing at least seven children. Many of those children were born in Wilkes Co., but moved on with their parents to settle in Spencer and Owen Counties in Indiana.
- Nancy married Joel Anderson Dyer and raised at least nine children. Her first husband was a Durham but I know nothing of him. I have not looked at this family sufficiently to know where the Dyer children were born, but both Joel and Nancy died in Indiana; Joel in 1850 and Nancy in 1866.
- William, married Mary Faulkner and had at least two children. The family moved out of North Carolina sometime after 1812 and ended up in Owen Co., Indiana.
- Joel Benjamin married Saphronia Stepp/Stapp. They had at least seven children, one of which is know to have been born c1817 in Burke Co., NC. The remainder are thought to have been born in Monroe Co., IN. After reaching adulthood, many of Joel's children moved on to Gentry Co., MO.
- Thomas married Sarah Stokes and became mother to at least 12 children. I do not have a lot of information on any of them except Leven Stokes, born Dec. 4, 1819. He moved on to Meigs Co., TN where he married Celia Perry in 1844. He and his family eventually settled in Laclede Co., MO. Another of Thomas' sons, Joseph Alson, also settled in Laclede Co.
- And finally, Jane, Reuben and Sarah's last child. She married James Benjamin Webb. Little is known of them, but James died in 1827 in Overton, Shelby Co., TN.
I suppose it would be safe to say that if your surname is Coffey and your parents and grandparents were born in North Carolina, you are very likely to be a descendant of Reuben through either his son Jesse, or son Joseph.
Please contact me to add to or correct any of this information.
Showing posts with label Kentucky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kentucky. Show all posts
February 27, 2007
December 28, 2006
Coffey Facts You Might Not Know
Places of Origin:
Ireland ranks at the top.
Immigration:
The largest number of Coffey emigrants to the US came in 1852 when a total of 81 were recorded. There was a precipitous drop between 1861 and 1862, but peaked again in 1863 when 53 arrivals were recorded. Coffey emigrants continued to drop until about 1883 when 72 arrivals were recorded. Immigration dropped again between 1885 and 1891 and never again reached 1850-51 levels.
Civil War Service:
300 Coffey Confederates out of 1,050,000 total veterans
295 Coffey Union Soldiers out of 2,213,363 total veterans
Average life expectancy:
This is hard to believe. In 1944 average life expectancy for all Coffeys was 24 years. The general public was not much better off. It rose in 1946 to around 63 years and fluctuated around 50 to 55 until a general rise in the early 1960s. It reached a high in 1964 at 72 years, and has continued to trend generally upward ever since. There is not a large difference in life expectancy for the Coffey population compared to the general public.
Name distribution:
There are Coffeys in every state in the union, including Alaska and Hawaii. The largest concentration in the 1920s was in NY and IL. Go figure! I would have suspected states like Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky would have the largest concentration of Coffey families. California, TX, OK, MO, TN, KY, NC, SC, VA, OH, PA and MA contained the next largest population.
Occupation:
The top Coffey occupation in 1880 - as might be guessed - was farming. Thirty-eight percent of those families were farmers while only 35% of the general public were farmers.
Source: Family Facts, Ancestry.com
Ireland ranks at the top.
Immigration:
The largest number of Coffey emigrants to the US came in 1852 when a total of 81 were recorded. There was a precipitous drop between 1861 and 1862, but peaked again in 1863 when 53 arrivals were recorded. Coffey emigrants continued to drop until about 1883 when 72 arrivals were recorded. Immigration dropped again between 1885 and 1891 and never again reached 1850-51 levels.
Civil War Service:
300 Coffey Confederates out of 1,050,000 total veterans
295 Coffey Union Soldiers out of 2,213,363 total veterans
Average life expectancy:
This is hard to believe. In 1944 average life expectancy for all Coffeys was 24 years. The general public was not much better off. It rose in 1946 to around 63 years and fluctuated around 50 to 55 until a general rise in the early 1960s. It reached a high in 1964 at 72 years, and has continued to trend generally upward ever since. There is not a large difference in life expectancy for the Coffey population compared to the general public.
Name distribution:
There are Coffeys in every state in the union, including Alaska and Hawaii. The largest concentration in the 1920s was in NY and IL. Go figure! I would have suspected states like Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky would have the largest concentration of Coffey families. California, TX, OK, MO, TN, KY, NC, SC, VA, OH, PA and MA contained the next largest population.
Occupation:
The top Coffey occupation in 1880 - as might be guessed - was farming. Thirty-eight percent of those families were farmers while only 35% of the general public were farmers.
Source: Family Facts, Ancestry.com
December 7, 2006
Rev. Reuben A. Coffey
Rev. Coffey's life has been highlighted in the Summer and Fall 2006 issues of the Owen County History and Genealogy publication. A third part is planned for the Spring 2007 issue. Janet Amtower, a descendant of Reuben, has been researching Reuben's life, work and family and is sharing her findings with readers of that publication.
The articles are well written and documented.
In Part I Amtower writes about Reuben and his rise to the ministry in Wilkes Co., NC and subsequent move to Indiana.
Thomas, Reuben's father, had moved his family from Virginia to Wilkes Co., where they began what became a very large plantation. Thomas' family were members of the Yadkin Grove Baptist Church, which was situated on the grounds of the Coffey Plantation, and it was here where Reuben came to the ministry.
In 1815 Reuben was appointed "pastor of the Globe Mountain Church and many surrounding churches of Wilkes and Burke Counties..." He is also credited as a founding member of a Baptist college in Franklin, Indiana.
In 1832 Reuben and his family was granted "letters of dismission" from the Yadkin Grove church, and they headed off to resettle in Indiana. This relocation was ostensibly to give his children an opportunity to settle on new, cheap land and, to join the "great wave of emigration to southern Indiana by people from the southern states who did not believe in slavery." Indiana's state constitution forbade slavery.
In part II Amtower writes about the journey by wagon that took approximately six weeks. The route, as described by her, was "by way of Asheville, Morristown, Cumberland Gap, and along the Wilderness Road through Kentucky by way of Frankfort and Louisville, then called the Falls of the Ohio, to a place one hundred miles north of the Ohio River in southern Indiana."
Other Coffey families who had left North Carolina before Reuben had already settled in Monroe and Owen Counties in Indiana. Reuben and his family apparently settled somewhere "halfway between Spencer in Owen county and Bloomington in Monroe county."
To read more about this fascinating man and his family, I suggest contacting the Owen County Historical and Genealogical Society (OCHGS), PO Box 569, Spencer, IN 47460. Membership is a cheap $10/year. Back issues are available for a fee.
More details can be obtained by contacting Vivian Zollinger.
The articles are well written and documented.
In Part I Amtower writes about Reuben and his rise to the ministry in Wilkes Co., NC and subsequent move to Indiana.
Thomas, Reuben's father, had moved his family from Virginia to Wilkes Co., where they began what became a very large plantation. Thomas' family were members of the Yadkin Grove Baptist Church, which was situated on the grounds of the Coffey Plantation, and it was here where Reuben came to the ministry.
In 1815 Reuben was appointed "pastor of the Globe Mountain Church and many surrounding churches of Wilkes and Burke Counties..." He is also credited as a founding member of a Baptist college in Franklin, Indiana.
In 1832 Reuben and his family was granted "letters of dismission" from the Yadkin Grove church, and they headed off to resettle in Indiana. This relocation was ostensibly to give his children an opportunity to settle on new, cheap land and, to join the "great wave of emigration to southern Indiana by people from the southern states who did not believe in slavery." Indiana's state constitution forbade slavery.
In part II Amtower writes about the journey by wagon that took approximately six weeks. The route, as described by her, was "by way of Asheville, Morristown, Cumberland Gap, and along the Wilderness Road through Kentucky by way of Frankfort and Louisville, then called the Falls of the Ohio, to a place one hundred miles north of the Ohio River in southern Indiana."
Other Coffey families who had left North Carolina before Reuben had already settled in Monroe and Owen Counties in Indiana. Reuben and his family apparently settled somewhere "halfway between Spencer in Owen county and Bloomington in Monroe county."
To read more about this fascinating man and his family, I suggest contacting the Owen County Historical and Genealogical Society (OCHGS), PO Box 569, Spencer, IN 47460. Membership is a cheap $10/year. Back issues are available for a fee.
More details can be obtained by contacting Vivian Zollinger.
November 14, 2006
Robert Whitesides and Elizabeth Coffey
James Coffey was the first son and eldest child of John Coffey and Jane Graves. He was born Jul. 4, 1729 in Essex Co., VA and died Oct. 1786 in Wilkes Co., NC. James married Elizabeth Cleveland, a daughter of Alexander and Mildred Presly Coffey [some researchers dispute this union*; others claim that Elizabeth was a niece of Alexanders], born Feb. 1727 and died about 1827 in Bedford Co., TN. They are thought to have married about 1750 in either Orange or Albamarle Co., VA.
James and Elizabeth are credited with producing at least 11 children. Their eldest was Elizabeth (Betty), born about 1751. According to the work Male Whiteside(s) names in the United States from selected sources ca. 1690-1849 : and Whiteside place names, compiled by Don Whiteside, and published in Ottawa, Canada in 1971, Robert Whiteside[s] married Elizabeth about 1770 in Albemarle Co., VA. Robert died in 1810 in Kentucky, and Elizabeth died about 1812 in Wayne Co., KY.
Many researchers credit them with being the parents of at least eight children:
James, born Jul. 21, 1771, died Apr. 24, 1848, married Betsy Dick.
William, born about 1773, died 1824, married Lavina Singleton
Jonathon, born Apr. 13, 1776 in Burke Co., NC, died Jul, 17, 1796 in Madison Co., KY, married Thankful Anderson Jul. 17, 1796 in Madison Co., KY
Henry, born about 1780, died 1806
Lewis, born 1782, died between 1840 and 1850, married Sarah Dunn
Robert [some researchers claim that it was Robert who married Betsy Dick]
Joel
Mary (Polly)
The Whiteside compilation mentioned above does not name the last three as being children of Robert and Elizabeth.
*I received the following e-mail in 2004:
Jack, Please be aware that some of the information you are posting for the Cleveland family is incorrect. John Cleveland who married Elizabeth Coffey was the son of Alexander Cleveland and his wife Mary. She was not named Milly or Mildred and her maiden name was not Presley. The Cleveland's originally lived in Abingdon Parish, Gloucester Co VA and the parish register has the births of Alexander and his known children, including John.
Part of my reply:
There are at least two different genealogies (Edmund James Cleveland, 1899, The Genealogy of the Cleveland Families, and George A. Martin, Virginia Cleveland Ancestor Discovered, National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 46, Sept., 1958) that attempt to straighten out the Cleveland lines.
Cleveland's work appears to confuse two different Cleveland families. He is the source of the Presley name for Alexander's wife, but offers no evidence however, that Alexander existed. Martin cites the Abingdon Register and indicates that Roger and Dorcas Cleveland were the parents of Alexander who was the father of Rev. John who settled in Orange Co.
Whether Alexander's wife was Mary or Milley, it appears that her maiden name was Presley. I'd be extremely interested in any information that you have uncovered that disproves that.
To which the following reply was received:
Alexander Cleveland's wife is listed in the Abingdon Parish register as Mary. To date, this is the only document I have found giving her name. Traditionally, she has been associated with the Presley family of Northumberland Co VA. But I have thoroughly researched that family and come to the conclusion that it is simply impossible. Presley researchers do not include her in their genealogies and there is nothing to tie that family to Gloucester Co. In addition, the father usually cited for her (Peter Presley) died around the time she was most likely born, but there are no orphan court records for her (there are orphan court records for Peter's minor son). The 1899 Cleveland genealogies are riddled with errors on the Virginia Cleveland's. Several children are attributed to Alexander that probably aren't his. The children that you listed are the only ones that can be proven as his. Others were apparently just "stray" Clevelands with no obvious parents who got lumped in. One child, Elizabeth m. James Coffey has recently been shown by a deed to be Alexander's granddaughter. There are lots of records in VA for Alexander, they are all over the place (due to changes in county boundaries). Beginning in 1724 I have found Alexander and his sons Alexander Jr. and John in the records of Spotsylvania Co, then in Orange Co, and then later in Albemarle Co, where Alexander probably died about 1775. For several years he lived with his son-in-law Edward Coffey Jr and Edward received payments from the parish for taking care of him. The last record in the parish vestry book is from 1774. I'm sure he was dead by 1778, otherwise his son John would have probably mentioned him in his will. The Abingdon Parish register also shows a John Cleveland having children in the 1790s. He was either a younger brother or a much older son to Roger Cleveland. It is believed now that the Cleveland's who show up in other parts of VA in the 1720s and later are probably his descendents, not Alexander's. This would include the Jeremiah Cleveland that you mention.
There was at least one further exchange, but nothing consequential.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has solid evidence that 1) Elizabeth was/was not the daughter of Alexander, and 2) that Alexander's wife was/was not Mildred Presly.
James and Elizabeth are credited with producing at least 11 children. Their eldest was Elizabeth (Betty), born about 1751. According to the work Male Whiteside(s) names in the United States from selected sources ca. 1690-1849 : and Whiteside place names, compiled by Don Whiteside, and published in Ottawa, Canada in 1971, Robert Whiteside[s] married Elizabeth about 1770 in Albemarle Co., VA. Robert died in 1810 in Kentucky, and Elizabeth died about 1812 in Wayne Co., KY.
Many researchers credit them with being the parents of at least eight children:
James, born Jul. 21, 1771, died Apr. 24, 1848, married Betsy Dick.
William, born about 1773, died 1824, married Lavina Singleton
Jonathon, born Apr. 13, 1776 in Burke Co., NC, died Jul, 17, 1796 in Madison Co., KY, married Thankful Anderson Jul. 17, 1796 in Madison Co., KY
Henry, born about 1780, died 1806
Lewis, born 1782, died between 1840 and 1850, married Sarah Dunn
Robert [some researchers claim that it was Robert who married Betsy Dick]
Joel
Mary (Polly)
The Whiteside compilation mentioned above does not name the last three as being children of Robert and Elizabeth.
*I received the following e-mail in 2004:
Jack, Please be aware that some of the information you are posting for the Cleveland family is incorrect. John Cleveland who married Elizabeth Coffey was the son of Alexander Cleveland and his wife Mary. She was not named Milly or Mildred and her maiden name was not Presley. The Cleveland's originally lived in Abingdon Parish, Gloucester Co VA and the parish register has the births of Alexander and his known children, including John.
Part of my reply:
There are at least two different genealogies (Edmund James Cleveland, 1899, The Genealogy of the Cleveland Families, and George A. Martin, Virginia Cleveland Ancestor Discovered, National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 46, Sept., 1958) that attempt to straighten out the Cleveland lines.
Cleveland's work appears to confuse two different Cleveland families. He is the source of the Presley name for Alexander's wife, but offers no evidence however, that Alexander existed. Martin cites the Abingdon Register and indicates that Roger and Dorcas Cleveland were the parents of Alexander who was the father of Rev. John who settled in Orange Co.
Whether Alexander's wife was Mary or Milley, it appears that her maiden name was Presley. I'd be extremely interested in any information that you have uncovered that disproves that.
To which the following reply was received:
Alexander Cleveland's wife is listed in the Abingdon Parish register as Mary. To date, this is the only document I have found giving her name. Traditionally, she has been associated with the Presley family of Northumberland Co VA. But I have thoroughly researched that family and come to the conclusion that it is simply impossible. Presley researchers do not include her in their genealogies and there is nothing to tie that family to Gloucester Co. In addition, the father usually cited for her (Peter Presley) died around the time she was most likely born, but there are no orphan court records for her (there are orphan court records for Peter's minor son). The 1899 Cleveland genealogies are riddled with errors on the Virginia Cleveland's. Several children are attributed to Alexander that probably aren't his. The children that you listed are the only ones that can be proven as his. Others were apparently just "stray" Clevelands with no obvious parents who got lumped in. One child, Elizabeth m. James Coffey has recently been shown by a deed to be Alexander's granddaughter. There are lots of records in VA for Alexander, they are all over the place (due to changes in county boundaries). Beginning in 1724 I have found Alexander and his sons Alexander Jr. and John in the records of Spotsylvania Co, then in Orange Co, and then later in Albemarle Co, where Alexander probably died about 1775. For several years he lived with his son-in-law Edward Coffey Jr and Edward received payments from the parish for taking care of him. The last record in the parish vestry book is from 1774. I'm sure he was dead by 1778, otherwise his son John would have probably mentioned him in his will. The Abingdon Parish register also shows a John Cleveland having children in the 1790s. He was either a younger brother or a much older son to Roger Cleveland. It is believed now that the Cleveland's who show up in other parts of VA in the 1720s and later are probably his descendents, not Alexander's. This would include the Jeremiah Cleveland that you mention.
There was at least one further exchange, but nothing consequential.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has solid evidence that 1) Elizabeth was/was not the daughter of Alexander, and 2) that Alexander's wife was/was not Mildred Presly.
November 7, 2006
Elijah Coffey, son of Cleveland and Jane Witherspoon Coffey
Cleveland and Jane had at least eight children [no sources]:
Kitty
George W., born 1801, died Aug. 28, 1856, married Nancy LNU. Their children were Albert, Franklin, Martha, George, Jane, Nancy, Sally and Mary. All were born between 1825 and 1850 and probably in Adair Co., KY
Humphrey, born c1805; Elijah, born c1807, died c1876, married Lucy LNU, probably in Wayne Co., KY
Elijah - see below.
Walton, born c1810, married Margaret Green May 21, 1837 in Russell Co., KY. Children were Catharine, Green and George, all born between 1838 and 1844.
Lincy
Cleveland P.
Martha, married Gabriel Hayes, Jr., Dec. 23, 1813 in Adair Co. Children were Joseph, born Dec. 8, 1822, and D. L.
Elijah was born c1807, and died c1876. He is thought to have married Mariah or Mary Coffey May 18, 1826 in Russell Co., KY. Mariah is said to have been a daughter of Eli and Mary Coffey Coffey. She was born Jan. 17, 1802 in Kentucky, and died Oct., 1855 in Russell Co.
Their children were: Emily Caroline; Lucy Jane, born Jun. 27, 1831, died Jun. 6, 1907, married William T. Jackman, born Mar. 27, 1829 in Russell Co., died Sep. 7, 1891 in Adair Co.; Mary E., born c1833; Mariah, born c1838.
Some researchers have named Robert Pierce as a son, but he was a laborer on Elijah's farm in 1860, and was not related. He is likely the same Robert Pierce who married Elijah's daughter, Mary E., and found in the 1880 Casey Co., KY census. Robert Pierce was operator of a hotel in 1880, and probably the same hotel that Elijah, Sr. ran in Casey Co. in 1870.
Included in the 1880 census with Robert and Mary E. Pierce, was a widow Polly Coffey, age 50, and several Coffey children: Laura, age 15; Martha, age 16; Sarah, age 13; and Elijah, age 11.
I would apprciate hearing from anyone researching Cleveland and Jane, and especially their son Elijah.
Kitty
George W., born 1801, died Aug. 28, 1856, married Nancy LNU. Their children were Albert, Franklin, Martha, George, Jane, Nancy, Sally and Mary. All were born between 1825 and 1850 and probably in Adair Co., KY
Humphrey, born c1805; Elijah, born c1807, died c1876, married Lucy LNU, probably in Wayne Co., KY
Elijah - see below.
Walton, born c1810, married Margaret Green May 21, 1837 in Russell Co., KY. Children were Catharine, Green and George, all born between 1838 and 1844.
Lincy
Cleveland P.
Martha, married Gabriel Hayes, Jr., Dec. 23, 1813 in Adair Co. Children were Joseph, born Dec. 8, 1822, and D. L.
Elijah was born c1807, and died c1876. He is thought to have married Mariah or Mary Coffey May 18, 1826 in Russell Co., KY. Mariah is said to have been a daughter of Eli and Mary Coffey Coffey. She was born Jan. 17, 1802 in Kentucky, and died Oct., 1855 in Russell Co.
Their children were: Emily Caroline; Lucy Jane, born Jun. 27, 1831, died Jun. 6, 1907, married William T. Jackman, born Mar. 27, 1829 in Russell Co., died Sep. 7, 1891 in Adair Co.; Mary E., born c1833; Mariah, born c1838.
Some researchers have named Robert Pierce as a son, but he was a laborer on Elijah's farm in 1860, and was not related. He is likely the same Robert Pierce who married Elijah's daughter, Mary E., and found in the 1880 Casey Co., KY census. Robert Pierce was operator of a hotel in 1880, and probably the same hotel that Elijah, Sr. ran in Casey Co. in 1870.
Included in the 1880 census with Robert and Mary E. Pierce, was a widow Polly Coffey, age 50, and several Coffey children: Laura, age 15; Martha, age 16; Sarah, age 13; and Elijah, age 11.
I would apprciate hearing from anyone researching Cleveland and Jane, and especially their son Elijah.
September 3, 2006
Ransom Coffey
There are a number of Coffey men named Ransom.
There is:
- Ransom, born Nov. 1828 in North Carolina to Reuben and Rachel Hayes Coffey.
- Ransom, born Dec. 20, 1836 in Tennessee, son of Benjamin and Nancy Hayes Coffey
- Ransom Calton, born Feb. 18, 1870 in Wayne Co., Kentucky to Marvel T. and Elizabeth Abigail Jordan Coffey.
These are not all, but are the ones that I am most interested in at the moment.
Ransom, son of Reuben married Delphia Hartley in 1895. He was 66 years old; she was 30. Both of them had likely been previously married, but I have neither found a wife for Ransom nor a husband for Delphia.
Ransom, son of Benjamin married Malinda Delphia Cox in 1855, Grainger Co. His second wife was Mary Jane Coffey, who had been previously married to Ausborn Wolfe who died in 1893. She must have married Ransom in 1894 or early 1895 because the only known child born to her in that union was Artie Coffey, born Nov. 3, 1895.
These two Ransoms were third cousins, and Ransom Calton was a nephew of Ransom, the son of Benjamin.
It is interesting to note the two older Ransoms each married a woman named Delphia!
I need help finding descendants of the Ransom who married Delphia Hartley. I also need more information on Delphia; e.g., date and place of birth, date and place of death, and if she had been previously married. Please contact me if you can help.
Update Dec. 15, 2012: Delphia Hartley had one child with Ransom but it apparently died at birth. After Ransom died in 1909, Delphia married again, this time on Jan. 17,1912 in Watauga Co. to Charles H. Babb. They are not found yet in the 1920 census.
There is:
- Ransom, born Nov. 1828 in North Carolina to Reuben and Rachel Hayes Coffey.
- Ransom, born Dec. 20, 1836 in Tennessee, son of Benjamin and Nancy Hayes Coffey
- Ransom Calton, born Feb. 18, 1870 in Wayne Co., Kentucky to Marvel T. and Elizabeth Abigail Jordan Coffey.
These are not all, but are the ones that I am most interested in at the moment.
Ransom, son of Reuben married Delphia Hartley in 1895. He was 66 years old; she was 30. Both of them had likely been previously married, but I have neither found a wife for Ransom nor a husband for Delphia.
Ransom, son of Benjamin married Malinda Delphia Cox in 1855, Grainger Co. His second wife was Mary Jane Coffey, who had been previously married to Ausborn Wolfe who died in 1893. She must have married Ransom in 1894 or early 1895 because the only known child born to her in that union was Artie Coffey, born Nov. 3, 1895.
These two Ransoms were third cousins, and Ransom Calton was a nephew of Ransom, the son of Benjamin.
It is interesting to note the two older Ransoms each married a woman named Delphia!
I need help finding descendants of the Ransom who married Delphia Hartley. I also need more information on Delphia; e.g., date and place of birth, date and place of death, and if she had been previously married. Please contact me if you can help.
Update Dec. 15, 2012: Delphia Hartley had one child with Ransom but it apparently died at birth. After Ransom died in 1909, Delphia married again, this time on Jan. 17,1912 in Watauga Co. to Charles H. Babb. They are not found yet in the 1920 census.
August 10, 2006
German J. Coffey
German was a son of Nebuzaradan and Elizabeth Easley Coffey. Neb and Elizabeth were married Sep. 13, 1810 in Wayne Co., KY and apparently left Kentucky after about 1834 because most of their children were born in that state, the last in 1834. However, I have not found a reliable source for the birth of their last two children, Denton and Lowisa [sic]. Both Neb and Elizabeth died in Oregon and are buried in the Aumsville Cemetery in Marion Co., OR.
German was born Nov. 17, 1827 in Eadsville, Wayne Co., KY and died 1874 in Marion Co., OR. He married Mary Margaret Smith, place not known but probably Oregon. She was born Feb. 18, 1838 in Abingdon, Knox Co., IL and died May 3, 1922 in The Dalles, Wasco Co., AR. Six of their seven children were born in OR, and likely all seven.
Children were:
Mary L., born c1844
John Crittenden, born c1857, died Jun. 24, 1929, Salem, Marion Co., OR
Denton Darby, born Jun. 1859, died Jan. 13, 1921 in Portland, Multnomah Co., OR
Edith L., born c1864
Ellen, born c1866
Tecumseh Sherman, born c1869, died Nov. 4, 1930 in Wasco Co., OR
Frank Nebuzaradon, birth date and place not yet found
Click on the title link to view additional information about Neb's family. That info was submitted by Beverly Gilson of Aumsville, OR, and includes photographs of family headstones.
Please contact me if you can add to or correct any of this information.
German was born Nov. 17, 1827 in Eadsville, Wayne Co., KY and died 1874 in Marion Co., OR. He married Mary Margaret Smith, place not known but probably Oregon. She was born Feb. 18, 1838 in Abingdon, Knox Co., IL and died May 3, 1922 in The Dalles, Wasco Co., AR. Six of their seven children were born in OR, and likely all seven.
Children were:
Mary L., born c1844
John Crittenden, born c1857, died Jun. 24, 1929, Salem, Marion Co., OR
Denton Darby, born Jun. 1859, died Jan. 13, 1921 in Portland, Multnomah Co., OR
Edith L., born c1864
Ellen, born c1866
Tecumseh Sherman, born c1869, died Nov. 4, 1930 in Wasco Co., OR
Frank Nebuzaradon, birth date and place not yet found
Click on the title link to view additional information about Neb's family. That info was submitted by Beverly Gilson of Aumsville, OR, and includes photographs of family headstones.
Please contact me if you can add to or correct any of this information.
June 16, 2006
John D. and Mary Margaret Walton Coffey
John was born in Kentucky in Jan. 1862, a son of John T. and Elizabeth Jane Walton Coffey. He married Mary Margaret Walton (relationship to Elizabeth not known) Oct. 10, 1889 in Estill Co., KY. Mary was born in KY in May, 1870. John died Dec. 3, 1909 in Estill Co. Mary Margaret's death date is unknown.
The family can be found in the 1900 Estill Co., Red Lick, Dist. 6, ED28, Sheet 7A, dwelling 120, family 121. Margaret can be found in the 1910 Estill Co., Red Lick, Dist. 5, ED47, Sheet 11B, dwelling/family 217 where she was enumerated as a widow with 11 children in the home.
In each of the above census records, the family name is spelled Coffee.
Mary gave birth to at least 12 children:
Dillard J., born Apr. 1893
David C., born Aug., 1894
Berty L. (son), born Nov., 1895
James A., born Oct., 1896
Mirty A., born Oct., 1896
Hobart, born May, 1899
Betty F., born c1902
Alma, born c1903
Clark W., born c1904
George P., born c1907
Robert H., born c1908
Beulah B., born c1910
The only child for whom I have additional information is Clark W. He married Selma Lee Marshall on Jan. 22, 1925. She was born Oct. 12, 1904 in Madison Co., KY. Clark died in 1984; Zelma in 1974. Together they had at least two children: Louise, born c1926 and William, born c1927. This family can be found in the 1930 Madison Co., KY census, Union Twp., ED10, Sheet 2A, dwelling/family 31.
Please contact me if you have additional information on this family.
The family can be found in the 1900 Estill Co., Red Lick, Dist. 6, ED28, Sheet 7A, dwelling 120, family 121. Margaret can be found in the 1910 Estill Co., Red Lick, Dist. 5, ED47, Sheet 11B, dwelling/family 217 where she was enumerated as a widow with 11 children in the home.
In each of the above census records, the family name is spelled Coffee.
Mary gave birth to at least 12 children:
Dillard J., born Apr. 1893
David C., born Aug., 1894
Berty L. (son), born Nov., 1895
James A., born Oct., 1896
Mirty A., born Oct., 1896
Hobart, born May, 1899
Betty F., born c1902
Alma, born c1903
Clark W., born c1904
George P., born c1907
Robert H., born c1908
Beulah B., born c1910
The only child for whom I have additional information is Clark W. He married Selma Lee Marshall on Jan. 22, 1925. She was born Oct. 12, 1904 in Madison Co., KY. Clark died in 1984; Zelma in 1974. Together they had at least two children: Louise, born c1926 and William, born c1927. This family can be found in the 1930 Madison Co., KY census, Union Twp., ED10, Sheet 2A, dwelling/family 31.
Please contact me if you have additional information on this family.
March 31, 2006
Ananias Coffey (1785-~1850)
I previously wrote about Pauline Orr Coffey and her marriage to Cabiness Coffey, a son of Ananias and Jane Hindman Coffey. Annanias and Jane have a history as follows:
Ananias appeared before the Court of Adair County Kentucky on Monday, Jul. 6, 1807 to answer a complaint by Jane Hindman, a single woman, who charged Ananias "for getting her with Child." Ananias was ordered to pay $100 for the maintenance of the said bastard child.1
Based on the judgement of the court, it appears that Ananias had a change of heart and married on August 24, 1807.2
The marriage produced at least 10 children:
- Nancy, born Apr. 11, 1809
- Zidner, born Jun, 15, 1810
- Cabeius (Cabicus or Cabiness), born Nov. 6, 1811
- Harriett, born Mar. 17, 1813
- Mary, born Dec. 14, 1814
- Eliza, born Oct. 10, 1815
- Marshall, born Apr. 28, 1819
- John David, born Sep. 16, 1821
- Emily Jane, born Aug. 7, 1824
- Louise Caroline, born May 26, 1827
As noted in the footnotes, there is some descrepancy between Bible records and public records as pertains to the marriage of Ananias and Jane. Published records give the marriage date as 24 Aug. 1809.
The Coffey/Hindman Bible record does not list a child born before 1809. That begs the question of whether someone "enhanced" the Bible record or, if the "bastard child" died and was omitted from the Bible record.
1 Adair Co. KY Court Orders, Vol. B, p20
2 Marriage records of Green Co, Book A, p109, as published in the Green County Historical Society. The Bible record records date of marriage as 24 Aug. 1807, and the Green Co. publication lists marriage date as 24 Aug. 1809
[Additional information can be found in Coffey Cousins' Newsletter, Dec., 1991, p4]
Ananias appeared before the Court of Adair County Kentucky on Monday, Jul. 6, 1807 to answer a complaint by Jane Hindman, a single woman, who charged Ananias "for getting her with Child." Ananias was ordered to pay $100 for the maintenance of the said bastard child.1
Based on the judgement of the court, it appears that Ananias had a change of heart and married on August 24, 1807.2
The marriage produced at least 10 children:
- Nancy, born Apr. 11, 1809
- Zidner, born Jun, 15, 1810
- Cabeius (Cabicus or Cabiness), born Nov. 6, 1811
- Harriett, born Mar. 17, 1813
- Mary, born Dec. 14, 1814
- Eliza, born Oct. 10, 1815
- Marshall, born Apr. 28, 1819
- John David, born Sep. 16, 1821
- Emily Jane, born Aug. 7, 1824
- Louise Caroline, born May 26, 1827
As noted in the footnotes, there is some descrepancy between Bible records and public records as pertains to the marriage of Ananias and Jane. Published records give the marriage date as 24 Aug. 1809.
The Coffey/Hindman Bible record does not list a child born before 1809. That begs the question of whether someone "enhanced" the Bible record or, if the "bastard child" died and was omitted from the Bible record.
1 Adair Co. KY Court Orders, Vol. B, p20
2 Marriage records of Green Co, Book A, p109, as published in the Green County Historical Society. The Bible record records date of marriage as 24 Aug. 1807, and the Green Co. publication lists marriage date as 24 Aug. 1809
[Additional information can be found in Coffey Cousins' Newsletter, Dec., 1991, p4]
March 24, 2006
Francis M. Coffey Mustered Out
The oldest resident of Soldier, F. M. Coffey, passed away Sunday, January 13, 1933. He was almost ninety-three years of age. Until a fall he had five weeks ago, he was in remarkable good health for one of his age. Three years ago Mr. and Mrs. Coffey moved from Havensville to Soldier. Mr. Coffey was born at Jamestown, Kentucky, March 27, 1840. He was married May 26, 1865 at Stanford, Kentucky to Parmelia Jane Hughes, so this aged couple were in the sixty-eighth year of their companionship.
They were parents of ten children who are:
Charles H. Coffey of Hutchinson, Kansas
Annie C. Fisher of Florence, Kansas
Minnie E. Clapperton of Los Angeles, California
Margaret Differu of Vallejo, California
Francis T. Coffey of Los Angeles, California
Mary A. Achenbach of Soldier, Kansas
James G. Coffey of Leavenworth, Kansas
Arthur K. Coffey of Leavenworth, Kansas
Pearle D. Titsworth of Kansas City, Missouri
Belle Huffman who preceded her father in death
Mr. Coffey was a veteran of the Civil War, a Union Soldier of the 19th Kentucky Infantry, Co., I. He served three years and six months, was engaged in thirteen battles, among which were Bull Run, Shiloh, Vicksburg. He could tell many thrilling experiences of the war. Two brothers were with him in the service.
He came to Kansas in 1880, locating first at Peabody, then living successively at Florence, Holton, America City, Havensville, and Soldier. He was a good husband and father, a friend and neighbor, a brave soldier and a Christian. He united with the Baptist Church at young manhood. He was a member of the Christian Church at Havensville and then at Soldier. He passed away with full confidence of the Christian faith and hope. Besides his wife and children he is survived by thirty-seven grandchildren, forty great grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
The funeral was held in the Soldier Christian Church January 17th, the pastor Rev. Mayfield speaking; Rev. Station assisting. Fred Armstrong and John Whistler of America City, singers who Mr. Coffey liked so much to hear, provided the music. Confederate veteran, R. R. Brooks, caring[carrying] the G.A.R.'s American flag, funeral service, firing the salute and sounding Taps at the grave in Soldier Cemetery.
And so was laid to rest the last of the Union Veterans of the town of Soldier, Kansas. His surviving comrade of this community is P. H. Reed, who was not able to attend the service.
[Source: Coffey Cousins' Clearinghouse Newsletter, Sep., 1992, No. 48, pp18-19; Francis Marion Coffey was the son of James and Martha "Patsy" Tucker Coffey]
They were parents of ten children who are:
Charles H. Coffey of Hutchinson, Kansas
Annie C. Fisher of Florence, Kansas
Minnie E. Clapperton of Los Angeles, California
Margaret Differu of Vallejo, California
Francis T. Coffey of Los Angeles, California
Mary A. Achenbach of Soldier, Kansas
James G. Coffey of Leavenworth, Kansas
Arthur K. Coffey of Leavenworth, Kansas
Pearle D. Titsworth of Kansas City, Missouri
Belle Huffman who preceded her father in death
Mr. Coffey was a veteran of the Civil War, a Union Soldier of the 19th Kentucky Infantry, Co., I. He served three years and six months, was engaged in thirteen battles, among which were Bull Run, Shiloh, Vicksburg. He could tell many thrilling experiences of the war. Two brothers were with him in the service.
He came to Kansas in 1880, locating first at Peabody, then living successively at Florence, Holton, America City, Havensville, and Soldier. He was a good husband and father, a friend and neighbor, a brave soldier and a Christian. He united with the Baptist Church at young manhood. He was a member of the Christian Church at Havensville and then at Soldier. He passed away with full confidence of the Christian faith and hope. Besides his wife and children he is survived by thirty-seven grandchildren, forty great grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
The funeral was held in the Soldier Christian Church January 17th, the pastor Rev. Mayfield speaking; Rev. Station assisting. Fred Armstrong and John Whistler of America City, singers who Mr. Coffey liked so much to hear, provided the music. Confederate veteran, R. R. Brooks, caring
And so was laid to rest the last of the Union Veterans of the town of Soldier, Kansas. His surviving comrade of this community is P. H. Reed, who was not able to attend the service.
[Source: Coffey Cousins' Clearinghouse Newsletter, Sep., 1992, No. 48, pp18-19; Francis Marion Coffey was the son of James and Martha "Patsy" Tucker Coffey]
February 28, 2006
Isaac G. and Malinda Caroline Coffey Franklin
Malinda Caroline was the 10th child of Elijah and Polly Dyer Coffey. She was born Mar. 6, 1825 in Indiana, and probably in Owen Co. I have not found a death date for her. She and Isaac were married May 5, 1845 in Owen Co. 1 Their children, all born in Owen Co., were:
- Mary E. Franklin, born c1846
- Nancy Jane Franklin, born c1848
- Rosetta C. Franklin, born c1851
- William Franklin, born Jan. 29, 1854
- Susan Franklin, born c1857
According to the Franklin Family Researchers United (FFRU) publication, Isaac "Ike" Franklin was born in Kentucky c1823, and served in the Army during the Civil War. Apparently he served from Missouri, because he was there in 1845 to marry Malinda. The family appeared there in the 1850 Clay Township census. After the war Issac and his family moved to Putnam Co. in Missouri where they were enumerated in the 1860 census in Elm Township.
Vivian Zollinger, who submitted this Franklin family information to FFRU, wrote that Franklin deserted his family sometime before 18 October 1873. Malinda is said to have married a second time on that date to a Dr. Joshua Webb in Owen Co., IN. There is no indication in the publication why she returned to Indiana from Missouri. If the Malinda who married Joshua Webb is Malinda Coffey, she may have returned to Owen Co. to be near children who had remained there after she and Isaac moved to Missouri.
The Franklin Family newsletter may be useful to current or future Franklin family researchers. Click on the title link to view the PDF file. It is quite large, and takes a minute or so to download even at broadband speeds. Dial-up accounts will experience even longer download times.
1 Indiana State Library Genealogy Database: Marriages through 1850, online [http://199.8.200.229/db/marriages_search.asp]
- Mary E. Franklin, born c1846
- Nancy Jane Franklin, born c1848
- Rosetta C. Franklin, born c1851
- William Franklin, born Jan. 29, 1854
- Susan Franklin, born c1857
According to the Franklin Family Researchers United (FFRU) publication, Isaac "Ike" Franklin was born in Kentucky c1823, and served in the Army during the Civil War. Apparently he served from Missouri, because he was there in 1845 to marry Malinda. The family appeared there in the 1850 Clay Township census. After the war Issac and his family moved to Putnam Co. in Missouri where they were enumerated in the 1860 census in Elm Township.
Vivian Zollinger, who submitted this Franklin family information to FFRU, wrote that Franklin deserted his family sometime before 18 October 1873. Malinda is said to have married a second time on that date to a Dr. Joshua Webb in Owen Co., IN. There is no indication in the publication why she returned to Indiana from Missouri. If the Malinda who married Joshua Webb is Malinda Coffey, she may have returned to Owen Co. to be near children who had remained there after she and Isaac moved to Missouri.
The Franklin Family newsletter may be useful to current or future Franklin family researchers. Click on the title link to view the PDF file. It is quite large, and takes a minute or so to download even at broadband speeds. Dial-up accounts will experience even longer download times.
1 Indiana State Library Genealogy Database: Marriages through 1850, online [http://199.8.200.229/db/marriages_search.asp]
February 16, 2006
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.]
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.]
February 6, 2006
Salathiel (Sail) Coffey
Salathiel Coffey was born in Russell county, Kentucky, April 20, 1812. His father, Eli, was born in North Carolina, May 8, 1775, moved to Kentucky when a young man and there died July 18, 1833. He was a boot and shoe maker by trade and spent most of his early life in the shoe shop, but after going to Kentucky turned his attention to farming and distilling. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary Coffey. She was born in North Carolina, September 7, 1782, and died in Kentucky about 1873. She born him twelve children, the fifth of whom, Salathiel, was reared in Kentucky on the home farm and in his father's distillery. In 1855 Salathiel came to Texas and in 1857 settled on the farm where he now resides. He is an extensive farmer and a large land-owner; although he came to Texas poor and has dug what he has out of the ground. August 20, 1835, he married Miss Nancy Danbar
Salathiel Coffey was the son of Eli and Mary (Polly) Coffey. Mary was the daughter of Nathan and Mary Saunders Coffey. She and Eli were first cousins because Nathan and Salathiel, the father of Eli, were brothers.
In addition to Salathiel (Sale), Eli and Mary were parents of at least 11 additional children: Mariah, born Jan. 17, 1803; Willis, born May 2, 1804 married Lotty, last name unknown; Elizabeth, born Aug. 14, 1807, married Jacob Wolford; Nancy, born Oct. 14, 1809; Serene (or, Serena), born Aug. 9, 1814; Nathaniel J., born Jan. 30, 1817; Stanton P., born Dec. 4, 1819; William S., born Jul. 10, 1821; Newton Eli, born May 2, 1827, died Jan. 13, 1890, married Martha Louise Vermillion; Mary Ann, born c1828; and Reuben, born c1830.
This family moved to Sangamon, then Shelby and finally to Christian Co., IL.
Salathiel (Sale) and his families can be found in the 1850 Russell Co., KY census. From 1860 until 1880 they are in Collin Co., TX.
Please e-mail me if you can add to or correct any of this information.
1 Biographical Souvenir of the State of Texas Illustrated, Fannin County TXGen Web (The TXGenWeb Project) online [http://www.rootsweb.com/~txfannin/s.html], accessed Feb. 2005
January 19, 2006
US Genweb Archives
The US GenWeb project actually began in 1996 by Jeff Murphy in Kentucky and Bill Couch in Arkansas. I joined with Bill in providing information for Hempstead Co., AR. Almost immediately a controversy developed. Without going into details, Bill and Jeff's ideas were apparently "pirated." To stay out of the controversy and the battles that were raging, I removed myself from their project and began my own.
Whatever the pains felt by those pioneers in the US Genweb project, their efforts have now become premier research sites on the web. I think most, if not all states have a presence under the Genweb flag. Volunteers have "adopted" counties and formed teams of other volunteers who have extracted and prepared for our use wills, deeds, census records, obituaries, cemetery lists, biographies and literally thousands of other documents that now rest in the dust free archives of Genweb. And, they can be freely accessed!
I have been using Rootsweb and Genweb archives for a number of years. Without the work of those volunteers in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky - as well as other states - I would not have been able to "collect" as much information as I have about the various Coffey families, and those families they are allied with. The extraction work by Wayne Coffey has been of particular help to me.
Volunteers also prepare and send out daily updates via e-mail of files that have been added to the archives.
Most researchers should know about Genweb and Rootsweb. If you don't, click on the title link to begin your search.
Whatever the pains felt by those pioneers in the US Genweb project, their efforts have now become premier research sites on the web. I think most, if not all states have a presence under the Genweb flag. Volunteers have "adopted" counties and formed teams of other volunteers who have extracted and prepared for our use wills, deeds, census records, obituaries, cemetery lists, biographies and literally thousands of other documents that now rest in the dust free archives of Genweb. And, they can be freely accessed!
I have been using Rootsweb and Genweb archives for a number of years. Without the work of those volunteers in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky - as well as other states - I would not have been able to "collect" as much information as I have about the various Coffey families, and those families they are allied with. The extraction work by Wayne Coffey has been of particular help to me.
Volunteers also prepare and send out daily updates via e-mail of files that have been added to the archives.
Most researchers should know about Genweb and Rootsweb. If you don't, click on the title link to begin your search.
November 17, 2005
WWII Enlistment Records - US Army
Ancestry.com, a "for fee" genealogical research site, has begun to add the nearly 8.3 million enlistment records for men and women who enlisted in the US Army during WW2.
I did a quick check for the Coffey surname and found these:
US Army WWII Enlistment Records
Name - Birth Year - Native State - Enlistment Date - State - Enlistment State
Alfred Coffey 1925 Texas 23 Jun 1943 Texas Texas
Andrew J Coffey Jr 1919 Texas 27 Mar 1941 Texas Texas
Beauford C Coffey 1917 Texas 12 Mar 1942 Texas Texas
Carl W Coffey 1913 Oklahoma 24 Mar 1944 Texas Oklahoma
Carroll W Coffey 1927 Texas 2 Feb 1946 Texas California
Charley R Coffey 1923 Texas 23 Aug 1944 Texas Texas
Covis W Coffey Jr 1919 Texas 29 Jan 1942 Texas Texas
Earner C Coffey 1920 Texas 25 Nov 1940 Texas Texas
Eugene Coffey 1912 Texas 18 Feb 1942 Texas Texas
Frank D Coffey 1928 Texas 1 Mar 1946 Texas Texas
Fred A Coffey 1921 Oklahoma 11 May 1943 Texas Texas
Garland W Coffey 1920 Texas 3 Dec 1941 Texas Texas
Horace M Coffey Jr 1915 North Carolina 1 Aug 1942 Texas Texas
J E Coffey 1921 Oklahoma 20 Jul 1942 Texas Texas
James H Coffey 1915 Texas 11 Mar 1942 Texas Texas
James L Coffey 1918 Texas 14 Nov 1942 Texas Texas
James O Coffey 1922 Texas 6 Nov 1942 Texas California
Jesse L Coffey 1913 Texas 18 Jun 1942 Texas Texas
Joe A Coffey 1918 Texas 20 Mar 1941 Texas Texas
John M Coffey 1902 Texas 10 Jul 1942 Texas Texas
John S Coffey Jr 1911 Texas 17 Jan 1941 Texas Texas
Joseph M Coffey 1909 Illinois 16 Jan 1941 Texas Texas
Joseph P Coffey 1917 3 Apr 1942 Texas Texas
Kendall L Coffey 1926 Texas 27 Jan 1946 Texas
Knox Coffey 1900 Texas 22 Jul 1942 Texas Texas
Leroy F Coffey 1922 Texas 25 Jan 1944 Texas Texas
Louis G Coffey 1918 Texas 30 Jul 1941 Texas Texas
Lowell W Coffey 1918 Texas 9 Jun 1942 Texas Texas
Lucy F Coffey 1906 Texas 3 Apr 1943 Texas Texas
Malcolm A Coffey 1913 Virginia 11 Jun 1942 Texas Texas
Malvin S Coffey 1916 Texas 30 Nov 1942 Texas Texas
Malvin S Coffey 1916 Texas 10 Nov 1941 Texas Texas
Mary F Coffey 1902 Texas 17 Jul 1944 Texas Texas
Paul Coffey 1907 Texas 19 Sep 1942 Texas Texas
Robert N Coffey 1923 Indiana 3 May 1941 Texas Texas
Romey J Coffey Jr 1917 Texas 3 Feb 1942 Texas Texas
Rufus T Coffey 1917 Texas 20 Nov 1942 Texas Texas
Thaddeus E Coffey Jr 1922 Texas 8 Dec 1944 Texas Texas
Thomas Coffey 1906 Texas 23 Feb 1942 Texas Texas
Vernon G Coffey 1921 Texas 26 Jul 1942 Texas Texas
Walter J Coffey 1920 Texas 19 Oct 1944 Texas Texas
Weldon H Coffey 1920 Texas 25 Nov 1940 Texas Texas
William D Coffey 1921 Texas 25 Nov 1940 Texas Texas
William H Coffey Jr 1925 Texas 28 Jul 1943 Texas Texas
William M Coffey 1918 Texas 25 Nov 1940 Texas Texas
William R Coffey 1921 Texas 1 Nov 1942 Texas Texas
Woodrow Coffey 1919 Kentucky 6 Aug 1942 Texas Kentucky
Contact me for additional information about this database.
Coffee surnames to follow at a later date.
I did a quick check for the Coffey surname and found these:
US Army WWII Enlistment Records
Name - Birth Year - Native State - Enlistment Date - State - Enlistment State
Alfred Coffey 1925 Texas 23 Jun 1943 Texas Texas
Andrew J Coffey Jr 1919 Texas 27 Mar 1941 Texas Texas
Beauford C Coffey 1917 Texas 12 Mar 1942 Texas Texas
Carl W Coffey 1913 Oklahoma 24 Mar 1944 Texas Oklahoma
Carroll W Coffey 1927 Texas 2 Feb 1946 Texas California
Charley R Coffey 1923 Texas 23 Aug 1944 Texas Texas
Covis W Coffey Jr 1919 Texas 29 Jan 1942 Texas Texas
Earner C Coffey 1920 Texas 25 Nov 1940 Texas Texas
Eugene Coffey 1912 Texas 18 Feb 1942 Texas Texas
Frank D Coffey 1928 Texas 1 Mar 1946 Texas Texas
Fred A Coffey 1921 Oklahoma 11 May 1943 Texas Texas
Garland W Coffey 1920 Texas 3 Dec 1941 Texas Texas
Horace M Coffey Jr 1915 North Carolina 1 Aug 1942 Texas Texas
J E Coffey 1921 Oklahoma 20 Jul 1942 Texas Texas
James H Coffey 1915 Texas 11 Mar 1942 Texas Texas
James L Coffey 1918 Texas 14 Nov 1942 Texas Texas
James O Coffey 1922 Texas 6 Nov 1942 Texas California
Jesse L Coffey 1913 Texas 18 Jun 1942 Texas Texas
Joe A Coffey 1918 Texas 20 Mar 1941 Texas Texas
John M Coffey 1902 Texas 10 Jul 1942 Texas Texas
John S Coffey Jr 1911 Texas 17 Jan 1941 Texas Texas
Joseph M Coffey 1909 Illinois 16 Jan 1941 Texas Texas
Joseph P Coffey 1917 3 Apr 1942 Texas Texas
Kendall L Coffey 1926 Texas 27 Jan 1946 Texas
Knox Coffey 1900 Texas 22 Jul 1942 Texas Texas
Leroy F Coffey 1922 Texas 25 Jan 1944 Texas Texas
Louis G Coffey 1918 Texas 30 Jul 1941 Texas Texas
Lowell W Coffey 1918 Texas 9 Jun 1942 Texas Texas
Lucy F Coffey 1906 Texas 3 Apr 1943 Texas Texas
Malcolm A Coffey 1913 Virginia 11 Jun 1942 Texas Texas
Malvin S Coffey 1916 Texas 30 Nov 1942 Texas Texas
Malvin S Coffey 1916 Texas 10 Nov 1941 Texas Texas
Mary F Coffey 1902 Texas 17 Jul 1944 Texas Texas
Paul Coffey 1907 Texas 19 Sep 1942 Texas Texas
Robert N Coffey 1923 Indiana 3 May 1941 Texas Texas
Romey J Coffey Jr 1917 Texas 3 Feb 1942 Texas Texas
Rufus T Coffey 1917 Texas 20 Nov 1942 Texas Texas
Thaddeus E Coffey Jr 1922 Texas 8 Dec 1944 Texas Texas
Thomas Coffey 1906 Texas 23 Feb 1942 Texas Texas
Vernon G Coffey 1921 Texas 26 Jul 1942 Texas Texas
Walter J Coffey 1920 Texas 19 Oct 1944 Texas Texas
Weldon H Coffey 1920 Texas 25 Nov 1940 Texas Texas
William D Coffey 1921 Texas 25 Nov 1940 Texas Texas
William H Coffey Jr 1925 Texas 28 Jul 1943 Texas Texas
William M Coffey 1918 Texas 25 Nov 1940 Texas Texas
William R Coffey 1921 Texas 1 Nov 1942 Texas Texas
Woodrow Coffey 1919 Kentucky 6 Aug 1942 Texas Kentucky
Contact me for additional information about this database.
Coffee surnames to follow at a later date.
October 5, 2005
Joshua and Mary "Polly" Coffey Oatts
Mary, a daughter of Lewis Russell and Bidant "Biddy" Moore Coffey, was born Oct. 19, 1800 in North Carolina, and died at age 54 on Mar. 29, 1855 in Wayne Co., KY. According to the Oatts family Bible, she married Joshua Oatts on Jan. 4, 1821. The location is not given.
Joshua was born Jul. 5, 1791 in Virginia, and died Jul. 4, 1858 in Wayne Co. The family Bible indicates that he died in 1856.
At least 8 children were born to Mary and Joshua:
Cleveland, born c1829; Emily B., born c1832; John R., born c1835; Safrona, born c1836; Lewis C., born c1840; Thomas J., born c1842; Shelby C., born c1844, and Russell W., born c1845. Safrona (or, Safronia) seems to be the only one of those children to marry.
Cleveland is found in the 1860 and 1870 Wayne Co. census records as a single man residing in the household with William H. Oatts. Emily, John, Lewis, Thomas, Shelby and Russell remained together in the same household through 1870. Some remained through the 1880's with John as "manager" of the household.
Lewis and Thomas, along with the above William H. enlisted in the 6th Kentucky Cav. Regiment. The brothers enlisted together on Jan. 14, 1862, and William enlisted the following Feb. Lewis was wounded at Greasy Creek, KY on May 20, 1863, and again on Jul. 19, 1863 at Buffington Island, OH.**
Safron(i)a married Cleveland L. Coffey, believed to be her uncle. her mother's brother.
The Oatts Family*
Roger Oatts, the first of the name in Wayne County, was there before 1800. Thereafter he was prominently identified with the life of the county.
He had the first tavern in Monticello. He served several years as Justice. He came from Southwest Virginia.
Roger Oatts is noted as a juror in Fincastle County, Virginia, in 1793. He was son of William Oatts, a Revolutionary soldier. He married Mary Jones, daughter of Joshua Jones, in 1790. His oldest son, Joshua, married Polly Coffey. Their children were: Cleveland; James, married Harriet Worsham; Cosby, married (1) Irene Frisbie, (2) Marietta Frisbie; William; John R.; Lewis; Russell, married Emily Hardin; Emily, married Eben Jones; T. J., married Nancy Ingram; Sophronia.
Roger Oatts; descendants have been noted for their high qualities of citizenship and business acumen.
From the Oatts Bible
Roger Oatts, born 1760, died 1837
Mary Jones, born 1772, died 1840
They were married in 1790
Joshua Oatts, born 1791, died 1856
Polly Coffey, born 1800, died 1855
They were married in 1821
T. J. Oatts, born 1837, died 1913
Nancy Ingram, born 1860
They were married in 1888
I would like to hear from anyone researching this family and their descendants.
*Johnson, Augusta Phillips, A Century of Wayne County, Kentucky, 1800-1900 (Louisville, KY: Standard Print Co., c1939)
**Military Records of Individual Civil War Soldiers. [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 1999-. Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA from the following list of works. Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 -
Joshua was born Jul. 5, 1791 in Virginia, and died Jul. 4, 1858 in Wayne Co. The family Bible indicates that he died in 1856.
At least 8 children were born to Mary and Joshua:
Cleveland, born c1829; Emily B., born c1832; John R., born c1835; Safrona, born c1836; Lewis C., born c1840; Thomas J., born c1842; Shelby C., born c1844, and Russell W., born c1845. Safrona (or, Safronia) seems to be the only one of those children to marry.
Cleveland is found in the 1860 and 1870 Wayne Co. census records as a single man residing in the household with William H. Oatts. Emily, John, Lewis, Thomas, Shelby and Russell remained together in the same household through 1870. Some remained through the 1880's with John as "manager" of the household.
Lewis and Thomas, along with the above William H. enlisted in the 6th Kentucky Cav. Regiment. The brothers enlisted together on Jan. 14, 1862, and William enlisted the following Feb. Lewis was wounded at Greasy Creek, KY on May 20, 1863, and again on Jul. 19, 1863 at Buffington Island, OH.**
Safron(i)a married Cleveland L. Coffey, believed to be her uncle. her mother's brother.
The Oatts Family*
Roger Oatts, the first of the name in Wayne County, was there before 1800. Thereafter he was prominently identified with the life of the county.
He had the first tavern in Monticello. He served several years as Justice. He came from Southwest Virginia.
Roger Oatts is noted as a juror in Fincastle County, Virginia, in 1793. He was son of William Oatts, a Revolutionary soldier. He married Mary Jones, daughter of Joshua Jones, in 1790. His oldest son, Joshua, married Polly Coffey. Their children were: Cleveland; James, married Harriet Worsham; Cosby, married (1) Irene Frisbie, (2) Marietta Frisbie; William; John R.; Lewis; Russell, married Emily Hardin; Emily, married Eben Jones; T. J., married Nancy Ingram; Sophronia.
Roger Oatts; descendants have been noted for their high qualities of citizenship and business acumen.
From the Oatts Bible
Roger Oatts, born 1760, died 1837
Mary Jones, born 1772, died 1840
They were married in 1790
Joshua Oatts, born 1791, died 1856
Polly Coffey, born 1800, died 1855
They were married in 1821
T. J. Oatts, born 1837, died 1913
Nancy Ingram, born 1860
They were married in 1888
I would like to hear from anyone researching this family and their descendants.
*Johnson, Augusta Phillips, A Century of Wayne County, Kentucky, 1800-1900 (Louisville, KY: Standard Print Co., c1939)
**Military Records of Individual Civil War Soldiers. [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 1999-. Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA from the following list of works. Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 -
September 24, 2005
Calvin and Elizabeth Fine Coffey
Calvin Coffey was a son of Nathan and Elizabeth Fine Coffey. He was born July 5, 1805 in Kentucky, and died Jan. 10, 1889 in Maury Co., TN. He married Elizabeth Fine, born Jun. 13, 1809, died Nov. 8, 1882 in Mary Co. The date of their marriage is not yet known.
Much of the children’s information, including dates of birth, marriage, death and burial information is from the website owned by researchers Bill and Juanita Flippin Hyde.
Calvin and Elizabeth* were the parents of 11 children:
Green, born c1825, married Sarah Sutton; Isaac Hamilton, born 1828, married Emily West; William Fine, born 1830, married Druscilla Homan; Nancy C., married Michael C. Rolen; Charlotte Catherine, born 1835, married Granville P. Willcoxson; Calvin J., born 1839, died 1849**; Mary L., born 1842, died 1896, married Isaah Gilbreath; Martha, born 1842, died 1898, married Martin V. West; Sarah, born 1845, died 1887, married William Thomas Sands; Virginia Isabel, born 1853, died 1860***; and Leullen, born c1857.
Click on the title link to visit the Hyde page, and read more about this family and their collateral lines.
Census and other sources:
1850 Maury Co., Dist. 11, dwelling/family 1485, Calvin Coffee, age 45, male, farmer, $1000, born KY; Elizabeth, age 43, female, born AL; Isaac H., age 21, male, born TN; William F., age 20, male, born TN; Nancy, age 18, female, born TN; Catharine, age 15, female, born TN; Mary, age 9, female, born TN; Martha, age 7, female, born TN; Sarah E., age 5, female, born TN; Wm. Johnson, age 16, male, farmer, born TN; Green Coffee, age 25, male, trader, born TN
1860 Maury Co., Dist. 11, Spring Grove PO, Dist. 11, Page 37, dwelling/family 255, age 55, male, farmer, $2000, $10,000, born KY; Elizabeth, age 51 <?>, female, born AL; Isaac H., age 32, male, farmer, born TN; Mary, age 18, female, born TN; Martha, age 16, female, born TN; Sarah E., age 14, female, born TN; Virginia, age 7, female, born TN; Savilla (Luellen), age 3, female, born TN [The 1860 Maury Co. census also contains entry for William G. Coffee, age 52, born SC, Elizabeth, age 50, born SC, in household with John Gilbrreath, age 82, and Wm. Gilbreath, age 23. Other Coffee members in household are: Agnes, age 25, Martha, age 17; Franklin, age 15; Sarah, age 12, and Esther, age 75]
1870 Maury Co., Dist. 11, Mt. Pleasant PO, Page 38, dwelling 244, family 255, Coff <sic>, Calvin, age 65, male, white, farmer, %4800, $3150, born KY, Elizabeth, age 62, female, white, keeping house, born AL; Lewellen, age 15, female, white, at home, born TN; Elizabeth Green, 18, female, white, cook, born TN; Fine, Spencer, age 63, male, white, at home, born AL; West, Martin, age 27, male, white, at home, born TN; Martha, age 25, female, white, at home, born TN; Isaac, age 2, male, white, born TN
1880 Maury Co., Dist. 11, ED167, page 24, dwelling 165, family 167, Coffee, Calvin, white male, age 74, married, farmer, born KY, parents born NC; Elizxabeth, white female, wife, married, housekeeper, born AL, parents born AL; Black, Acie <?>, black female, age 12, servant, single, houssegirl, born TN, parents born TN
*From Maury Co., TN Cemeteries and The Coffee/Coffey Scrapbook, Vol. 1, Gene Brewington [1970], Elizabeth, wife of Calvin, born Jun. 13, 1809, died Nov. 8, 1882, buried Gilbreath-Morrow Cemetery on old Morrow Place on the Scotts Mill to Southport Road.
**ibid: Calvin, born Mar. 28, 1839, died Aug. 7,, 1849; buried Gilbreath-Morrow Cemetery on old Morrow Plae on the Scotts Mill to Southport Road
***ibid: Virginia, daughter of Calvin, born Jan. 14, 1853, died Dec. 6, 1860, buried Gilbreath-Morrow Cemetery
ibid: Also buried in Gilbreath-Morrow is Isaac Coffee, born Jun. 19, 1828, died Feb. 18, 1868; masonic emblem on stone
Much of the children’s information, including dates of birth, marriage, death and burial information is from the website owned by researchers Bill and Juanita Flippin Hyde.
Calvin and Elizabeth* were the parents of 11 children:
Green, born c1825, married Sarah Sutton; Isaac Hamilton, born 1828, married Emily West; William Fine, born 1830, married Druscilla Homan; Nancy C., married Michael C. Rolen; Charlotte Catherine, born 1835, married Granville P. Willcoxson; Calvin J., born 1839, died 1849**; Mary L., born 1842, died 1896, married Isaah Gilbreath; Martha, born 1842, died 1898, married Martin V. West; Sarah, born 1845, died 1887, married William Thomas Sands; Virginia Isabel, born 1853, died 1860***; and Leullen, born c1857.
Click on the title link to visit the Hyde page, and read more about this family and their collateral lines.
Census and other sources:
1850 Maury Co., Dist. 11, dwelling/family 1485, Calvin Coffee, age 45, male, farmer, $1000, born KY; Elizabeth, age 43, female, born AL; Isaac H., age 21, male, born TN; William F., age 20, male, born TN; Nancy, age 18, female, born TN; Catharine, age 15, female, born TN; Mary, age 9, female, born TN; Martha, age 7, female, born TN; Sarah E., age 5, female, born TN; Wm. Johnson, age 16, male, farmer, born TN; Green Coffee, age 25, male, trader, born TN
1860 Maury Co., Dist. 11, Spring Grove PO, Dist. 11, Page 37, dwelling/family 255, age 55, male, farmer, $2000, $10,000, born KY; Elizabeth, age 51 <?>, female, born AL; Isaac H., age 32, male, farmer, born TN; Mary, age 18, female, born TN; Martha, age 16, female, born TN; Sarah E., age 14, female, born TN; Virginia, age 7, female, born TN; Savilla (Luellen), age 3, female, born TN [The 1860 Maury Co. census also contains entry for William G. Coffee
1870 Maury Co., Dist. 11, Mt. Pleasant PO, Page 38, dwelling 244, family 255, Coff <sic>, Calvin, age 65, male, white, farmer, %4800, $3150, born KY, Elizabeth, age 62, female, white, keeping house, born AL; Lewellen, age 15, female, white, at home, born TN; Elizabeth Green, 18, female, white, cook, born TN; Fine, Spencer, age 63, male, white, at home, born AL; West, Martin, age 27, male, white, at home, born TN; Martha, age 25, female, white, at home, born TN; Isaac, age 2, male, white, born TN
1880 Maury Co., Dist. 11, ED167, page 24, dwelling 165, family 167, Coffee, Calvin, white male, age 74, married, farmer, born KY, parents born NC; Elizxabeth, white female, wife, married, housekeeper, born AL, parents born AL; Black, Acie <?>, black female, age 12, servant, single, houssegirl, born TN, parents born TN
*From Maury Co., TN Cemeteries and The Coffee/Coffey Scrapbook, Vol. 1, Gene Brewington [1970], Elizabeth, wife of Calvin, born Jun. 13, 1809, died Nov. 8, 1882, buried Gilbreath-Morrow Cemetery on old Morrow Place on the Scotts Mill to Southport Road.
**ibid: Calvin, born Mar. 28, 1839, died Aug. 7,, 1849; buried Gilbreath-Morrow Cemetery on old Morrow Plae on the Scotts Mill to Southport Road
***ibid: Virginia, daughter of Calvin, born Jan. 14, 1853, died Dec. 6, 1860, buried Gilbreath-Morrow Cemetery
ibid: Also buried in Gilbreath-Morrow is Isaac Coffee, born Jun. 19, 1828, died Feb. 18, 1868; masonic emblem on stone
September 12, 2005
Iowa Biographies Project
This project is another in a series of Rootsweb projects taken on by volunteers. This particular project is modeled on the US Biographies Project which was modeled on the earlier Kentucky Biographies Project, which apparently no longer exists.
The following biography was found on the Iowa site (click on title link), and was taken from Past and Present of Hardin County, Iowa, edited by William J. Moir, Indianapolis, published by B.F. Bowen, 1911:
Robert Coffee, pp. 638-639
Among the well known and representative farmers of Hardin county, where he spent twenty-five years of active life in honest and honorable toil, is Robert Coffee. By diligence in his occupation he gained a competency and is now living in honorable retirement, spending his later years in the society of his friends. In all the situations in which has has been placed, whether as a soldier on the field of battle or a farmer performing some seeming hunble task, he as done his duty.
Robert Coffee was born on February 5, 1838, in Logan county, Ohio, the son of Abraham and Hannah (Dunn) Coffee. His sisters and brothers were Mary, Sarah, William, Isaiah, Hannah and Charles, the latter of whom has lived in Hardin county for about eight years. Robert received his education in the common schools in Ohio, and worked on the farm until he was twenty-one, when he moved to Illinois. On February 2, 1869, he was married to Hannah M. Cheney, of Rock Island county, Illinois. Her father was William C. Cheney, who was born in Champaign county, Ohio, on September 30, 1819. Her mother was Emily (Sayre) Cheney, also a native of Ohio. In 1842 they came from Ohio to Rock Island county, Illinois, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The brothers and sisters of Hannah Cheney were Mary Ellen, Alanson and Alma Jane.
Robert Coffee enlisted in Company A, Ninety-third Illinois Infantry, in 1862, and served during the whole war, with the rank of corporal. During a great portion of his term of service he was in the convalescent camp sick, but was never in the hospital, and though he was sick most of the time, he kept on duty all the time. Mr. Coffee lost his health in the army. He was a loyal soldier throughout the entire war and did his duty at all times. Though not as physically able as some of his comrades, he kept at his post all the time, refusing to go to the hospital, preferring to sacrifice everything to bear his part of the heavy burden of war. He is deserving of special praise for the patriotic manner in which he met his duty. He was mustered out June 2, 1865, at Washington, D. C., having marched three hundred and eighty-eight miles to get there to participate in the grand review of troops.
After his marriage he remained in Illinois until 1872, when he came to Grundy county, Iowa, and bought eighty acres of land. In 1875 he sold that farm and bought one hundred and sixty acres in the eastern part of Hardin county, in a most fertile region. For this land he paid twenty dollars per acre, and it is now worth one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre. Here Mr. Coffee spent twenty-five years in general farming, and during that time improved his farm greatly and made a comfortable living. In 1900 he and his wife came to Eldora to live, where they have a convenient and pleasant home.
Mr. Coffee has always been considered as one of the solid and substantial men of this neighborhood, a citizen of sterling worth. He is in politics a Republican. He and his wife have long been members of the Christian church and both exemplify true Christian character.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone researching this family. I believe Abraham probably descends from Peter Coffee, but have no definitive information.
The following biography was found on the Iowa site (click on title link), and was taken from Past and Present of Hardin County, Iowa, edited by William J. Moir, Indianapolis, published by B.F. Bowen, 1911:
Robert Coffee, pp. 638-639
Among the well known and representative farmers of Hardin county, where he spent twenty-five years of active life in honest and honorable toil, is Robert Coffee. By diligence in his occupation he gained a competency and is now living in honorable retirement, spending his later years in the society of his friends. In all the situations in which has has been placed, whether as a soldier on the field of battle or a farmer performing some seeming hunble task, he as done his duty.
Robert Coffee was born on February 5, 1838, in Logan county, Ohio, the son of Abraham and Hannah (Dunn) Coffee. His sisters and brothers were Mary, Sarah, William, Isaiah, Hannah and Charles, the latter of whom has lived in Hardin county for about eight years. Robert received his education in the common schools in Ohio, and worked on the farm until he was twenty-one, when he moved to Illinois. On February 2, 1869, he was married to Hannah M. Cheney, of Rock Island county, Illinois. Her father was William C. Cheney, who was born in Champaign county, Ohio, on September 30, 1819. Her mother was Emily (Sayre) Cheney, also a native of Ohio. In 1842 they came from Ohio to Rock Island county, Illinois, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The brothers and sisters of Hannah Cheney were Mary Ellen, Alanson and Alma Jane.
Robert Coffee enlisted in Company A, Ninety-third Illinois Infantry, in 1862, and served during the whole war, with the rank of corporal. During a great portion of his term of service he was in the convalescent camp sick, but was never in the hospital, and though he was sick most of the time, he kept on duty all the time. Mr. Coffee lost his health in the army. He was a loyal soldier throughout the entire war and did his duty at all times. Though not as physically able as some of his comrades, he kept at his post all the time, refusing to go to the hospital, preferring to sacrifice everything to bear his part of the heavy burden of war. He is deserving of special praise for the patriotic manner in which he met his duty. He was mustered out June 2, 1865, at Washington, D. C., having marched three hundred and eighty-eight miles to get there to participate in the grand review of troops.
After his marriage he remained in Illinois until 1872, when he came to Grundy county, Iowa, and bought eighty acres of land. In 1875 he sold that farm and bought one hundred and sixty acres in the eastern part of Hardin county, in a most fertile region. For this land he paid twenty dollars per acre, and it is now worth one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre. Here Mr. Coffee spent twenty-five years in general farming, and during that time improved his farm greatly and made a comfortable living. In 1900 he and his wife came to Eldora to live, where they have a convenient and pleasant home.
Mr. Coffee has always been considered as one of the solid and substantial men of this neighborhood, a citizen of sterling worth. He is in politics a Republican. He and his wife have long been members of the Christian church and both exemplify true Christian character.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone researching this family. I believe Abraham probably descends from Peter Coffee, but have no definitive information.
August 29, 2005
Joseph Coffey, Jr.
Joseph Coffey Jr., cashier of the Bank of Columbia, was born in Christian County Kentucky 6 Jan 1833, the youngest of twelve children born to Joseph Sr. and Jane (Graves) Coffey, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Fayette County Kentucky, and of French and English descent, respectively. Joseph Coffey Sr. was born in 1784 and while a young man immigrated to KY, settling first in what is now Russell County, where he married and engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1831, when he moved to Christian County and bought wild land and improved a farm on which he resided until his death in March, 1834. He was a veteran of the War Of 1812 and he and wife were life-long members of the Missionary Baptist Church. Mrs. Jane Coffey departed this life in June 1861 in her seventy-first year. Her father, Thomas Graves, was a native of Virginia and in early manhood immigrated to Kentucky, first settling near Lexington, in Fayette County, where he improved a farm and remained for several years. Later, however, he moved to Russell County where he resided until his death. He served as courier for Washington during the entire Revolutionary struggle.
Joseph Coffey Jr., at the age of seventeen, left the home farm and settled in Columbia where he accepted a position in a general store, continuing in the mercantile business as salesman and on his own account until 1871. In 1872 he accepted a position as clerk and assistant cashier in the Bank of Columbia and in 1880 was elected cashier of the same, which position he still holds. Mr. Coffey has been twice married; first 27 Sept 1859 to Miss Mary E., daughter of James V. and Elizabeth (Lankford) Warden. She was born in Monticello, Wayne County Kentucky 9 Aug 1842 and died at her home in Columbia 23 Nov 1861. She was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mr. Coffey next married, 20 Jan 1863, Miss Virginia R. Page, a native of Adair County, born 16 June 1843. She is a daughter of W. W. and Sophia (Brawner) Page, both natives of VA. Seven children have blessed this union as follows: Henry R. (deceased), William A., John B., Robert G., George, Sophia and Joseph. Mrs. Coffey is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Coffey politically is independent and belongs to no church or secret order.
Sources:
Kentucky - A History of the State, W. H. Perrin, J. H. Battle, and G. C. Kniffen, 4th ed., 1887
Wayne County Marriage Records, 1801-1860 Married 27 September 1859; ministers name missing; Groom lives in Columbia, Ky., first marriage; bride is of Monticello, age 18, her first marriage, born in Monticello, Surety, James M. Saufly
Coffey Cousins' Clearinghouse newsletter, March, 1992
Marriage Returns, Cumberland Co., [Ky] 1799-1817
Kirk Smith, Ballwin, MO [Joseph married Jane in Cumberland Co., KY on 29 Sep. 1808. Jane is the daughter of Thomas Graves and Mary Chilton. Joseph is possibly a son of Joel and Martha Stepp Coffey. Children: Joseph Jr., James Madison; Elzey; Robert T.; Nancy; Asa; Juliza; Lucy; Barilla; Benjamin; 2 others of unknown name]
[I have no other information on this family, and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has researched this line]
Joseph Coffey Jr., at the age of seventeen, left the home farm and settled in Columbia where he accepted a position in a general store, continuing in the mercantile business as salesman and on his own account until 1871. In 1872 he accepted a position as clerk and assistant cashier in the Bank of Columbia and in 1880 was elected cashier of the same, which position he still holds. Mr. Coffey has been twice married; first 27 Sept 1859 to Miss Mary E., daughter of James V. and Elizabeth (Lankford) Warden. She was born in Monticello, Wayne County Kentucky 9 Aug 1842 and died at her home in Columbia 23 Nov 1861. She was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mr. Coffey next married, 20 Jan 1863, Miss Virginia R. Page, a native of Adair County, born 16 June 1843. She is a daughter of W. W. and Sophia (Brawner) Page, both natives of VA. Seven children have blessed this union as follows: Henry R. (deceased), William A., John B., Robert G., George, Sophia and Joseph. Mrs. Coffey is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Coffey politically is independent and belongs to no church or secret order.
Sources:
Kentucky - A History of the State, W. H. Perrin, J. H. Battle, and G. C. Kniffen, 4th ed., 1887
Wayne County Marriage Records, 1801-1860 Married 27 September 1859; ministers name missing; Groom lives in Columbia, Ky., first marriage; bride is of Monticello, age 18, her first marriage, born in Monticello, Surety, James M. Saufly
Coffey Cousins' Clearinghouse newsletter, March, 1992
Marriage Returns, Cumberland Co., [Ky] 1799-1817
Kirk Smith, Ballwin, MO [Joseph married Jane in Cumberland Co., KY on 29 Sep. 1808. Jane is the daughter of Thomas Graves and Mary Chilton. Joseph is possibly a son of Joel and Martha Stepp Coffey. Children: Joseph Jr., James Madison; Elzey; Robert T.; Nancy; Asa; Juliza; Lucy; Barilla; Benjamin; 2 others of unknown name]
[I have no other information on this family, and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has researched this line]
July 27, 2005
Amos D. and Nancy J. Williams Coffee
Edana contacted me today about this family, but I have no way to reach her. If she reads this soon, please contact me personally via e-mail to jkcoffee@yahoo.com.
In the meantime, I believe that Amos probably descends from Ambrose Coffee, an Irish emigrant who fought with Daniel Boone at the Battle of Fort Boonesboro in KY. This Ambrose was not the Ambrose who married Mildred Moore, and is not a descendant of Edward and Anne Powell Coffey. This is not to say however, that he and Edward are not related. They could have a common ancestor in Ireland. We would likely know more if a male descendant, bearing the Coffee name was DNA tested, and results compared to known descendants of Edward.
A deposition (Madison Co. KY Deed Book I, pp 87-113, taken Nov. 22-24, 1809 in a land dispute trial), indicates that the Ambrose at Fort Boonesboro was born c1759 in Dublin, Ireland and came to the US as a young boy. He is undoubtedly the Ambrose on the Fayette county Kentucky census of 1790, and Montgomery county in 1800. He is also likely to be the Revolutionary soldier stationed at Fincastle (KY) in 1776 (See Burgess, Louis A., Virginia Soldiers of 1776, Vol. III, Baltimore, Gen. Pub. Co., 1973, p1251).
This Ambrose has several children, including a son named Ambrose, who also had a son named Ambrose. Many of these families can be found in Montgomery, Morgan and Greenup counties in Kentucky.
Copies of the deed book entry can probably be ordered from the Kentucky Archives, or from the Madison County clerk.
This is scant information, and I know of no one researching this Ambrose.
In the meantime, I believe that Amos probably descends from Ambrose Coffee, an Irish emigrant who fought with Daniel Boone at the Battle of Fort Boonesboro in KY. This Ambrose was not the Ambrose who married Mildred Moore, and is not a descendant of Edward and Anne Powell Coffey. This is not to say however, that he and Edward are not related. They could have a common ancestor in Ireland. We would likely know more if a male descendant, bearing the Coffee name was DNA tested, and results compared to known descendants of Edward.
A deposition (Madison Co. KY Deed Book I, pp 87-113, taken Nov. 22-24, 1809 in a land dispute trial), indicates that the Ambrose at Fort Boonesboro was born c1759 in Dublin, Ireland and came to the US as a young boy. He is undoubtedly the Ambrose on the Fayette county Kentucky census of 1790, and Montgomery county in 1800. He is also likely to be the Revolutionary soldier stationed at Fincastle (KY) in 1776 (See Burgess, Louis A., Virginia Soldiers of 1776, Vol. III, Baltimore, Gen. Pub. Co., 1973, p1251).
This Ambrose has several children, including a son named Ambrose, who also had a son named Ambrose. Many of these families can be found in Montgomery, Morgan and Greenup counties in Kentucky.
Copies of the deed book entry can probably be ordered from the Kentucky Archives, or from the Madison County clerk.
This is scant information, and I know of no one researching this Ambrose.
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