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Showing posts with label Sutton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sutton. Show all posts

May 6, 2014

William Coffey and the Whitecaps!

The St. Louis Republic, November 03, 1901


William Coffey Is Again In Jail

This Time a Young Woman Prefers a Charge of Assault, Which He Denies

Before Courts Ten Years

First Gained Notoriety for His Prosecution of Whitecaps*, Who Beat Himself and Wife Unmercifully

William Coffey
from St. Louis Republic article
Evansville, Ind., Nov. 2, -- William Coffey of whitecap fame is again in jail at Jasper, having been arrested a few days ago at a small station on the Southern road near Huntingburg, on a charge of attempted assault, preferred by Miss Ella Smith of Ireland.

It is said that to try all the cases in which Coffey has been plaintiff or defendant would take a continuous session of court for a solid year.

Coffey first came into prominence when he as whipped by whitecaps in December, 1890.  He was living with his wife, Mary, in a little log hut near Ellsworth, sixteen miles east of here, near the Crawford County line.

Just what the whitecaps had against him will never be known, as no one would own up to being one of the crowd.

About midnight on December 4, 1890, while he was at home asleep with his wife and 4-years-old girl, a noise of running men was heard, and his door was broken in by a cross-tie.  A dozen masked men rushed into the room and, without allowing him to dress, dragged him out into the cold night.  He was taken about 200 feet from the house and tied to a tree, after being blindfolded.  His shirt was stripped off his back, and the leader, whom Coffey always maintained was John H. Brown, a prominent and well-to-do farmer of the neighborhood, gave the order for “No. 1” to proceed.

Beaten by Whitecaps.

“No. 1” stepped forward, picked up a strong hickory with, and gave Coffey five vigorous blows on the back.  Coffey claimed that “No. 1: was Thomas Higfill.  “No. 1,: at the command of the leader, was followed by “No. 2.” “No. 3,” “No. 4” and “No. 5,” who each gave him five hard lashes as “No. 1” had done.  Not a word was spoken by anyone except the leader.  No names were spoken, each member being designated by number.  About twenty-five were present, all disguised and masked.  Coffey did not pretend to know all the crowd, but insisted that “No. 2: was Henry Sutton and “No 3” William Highfill.  Among others he

claimed to recognize were James Ellis, Levi Ellis, Levi Jacobs and John and Wesley Kellams.  All these were prominent and well-respected men.

At the January term of court Judge Oscar M. Welborn gave pointed instructions to the Grand Jury and directed them to return bills against all the whitecappers if any evidence could be secured against them.  Both Coffey and his wife appeared before the Grand Jury and identified each of the suspected men and several others, but the Grand Jury refused to return any bills.

Again Beaten.

During the following spring and summer there were numerous whitecap outrages along the Dubois and Crawford County line, about twenty people being whipped. Excitement was at fever heat.  Coffey publicly announced that he would give the gang $10 if they would come back and try to whip him again.  In August, 1891, both he and his wife were taken out of bed, stripped, tired to trees and given a fearful beating.  The whitecaps told Coffey that they wanted the $10 that he had promised, and that if he did not keep his mouth shut this was only half what he would get next time.  They then mounted their horses and left a top speed, going toward Birdseye.

Coffey and his wife made their way to his mother’s house, a quarter of a mile distant, where Coffey fell fainting in her door from loss of blood.  His life was despaired of for more than three weeks.  He finally recovered and he and his wife appeared before the September Grand Jury and testified that the same men whipped him who had whipped him the year before.  Though Judge Welborn gave charge after charge and time and again sent them back to their rooms, the jurors refused to return any whitecap indictments.  John H. Brown, whom Coffey identified as leader, was foreman of the Grand Jury.  They did, however, return two or three bills against Coffey for provoke [sic] and assault and battery.

Alleged Whitecaps Tried.

During all this time the newspapers all over the country were urging the prosecution of the whitecappers and were wanting to know why it was not done.  As soon as court was over Coffey was sent for by Deputy Prosecutor Richard M. Milburn and affidavits were made against all the parties whom Coffey claimed to recognize.

All were arrested and demanded a change from Judge Welborn.  This was granted and Thomas Duncan of Princeton was appointed special Judge to try the cases.  The first case to be tried was that of John H. Brown.  The trial lasted a week.  More than fifty witnesses testified that Coffey’s reputation for truth was bad.

After being out twenty-four hours the jury brought in a verdict of guilty, fixing Brown’s punishment at two years in the penitentiary.  Brown escaped and has never been seen in the county since.  He is said to be in Texas.

The next cases to be tried were those of Thomas Highfil [sic] and his son, William.  Each occupied a week.  Thomas was found not guilty and William was given two years in State Prison.  He served his time and is now living in the eastern part of this county.  Henry Sutton pleaded illness and his case was continued.

It is now seen that the back of the defense was broken and that unless something desperate was done that all of the defendants would go to the Penitentiary, as there were three cases against each defendant, two for whipping Coffey and one for whipping his wife.

Charged with Perjury.

A change of venue was granted and the cases sent to Pike County.  At this state of the game, it is said one of the accused men offered Coffey $7,000 is he would make an affidavit that he had nothing to do with the whipping and was not present.  Coffey agreed to this.  The money was to be placed in a hollow oak tree and as soon as he had signed the affidavits he was to go and get the money.  However, when he signed the papers and went to look for the money he found nothing bu some strips of brown paper.

Shortly afterwards, Sutton’s case was called and these affidavits introduced in evidence.  Sutton was acquitted and the prosecution in disgust quashed the remaining cases.

Coffey was indicted for perjury, but escaped.  He wandered around and was arrested at Vincennes for stealing a turkey and sent to the penitentiary for a year.  Upon the expiration of his sentence he was arrested on an old charge of perjury at Petersburg.  The jury, after hearing the evidence for a week, were out for three days and failed to agree.  After this the case was continued a time or two and, after Coffey had been in jail for nearly a year, he was released by the Judge on his own bond.  The officers hoped he would leave and never come back for trial, but on the first day of the next court he was on hand.  After an attempt to get the witnesses, the case was nolled. [sic]

Trouble With His Wife.

Coffee [sic] had three cases for damages against each of the parties charged with taking part in whitecapping him, but never recovered anything.  He and his wife separated, and he was arrested on the charge of sending a letter containing obscene matter through the mails to her.  He was taken to Evansville and lodged in jail, and after an examination by Commissioner Wartmen was bound over to the United States District Court at Indianapolis and sent to the Marion County jail to await trial.  After laying in jail for about three months he was found not guilty.  Returning to Dubois County, he had his wife arrested on the change of kidnapping and sued her for divorce.  She beat him in both cases.  A second application for divorce was more successful, but he was prohibited from marrying again for two years.  Notwithstanding this order he married again inside of ten days.  He was arrested for contempt of court, but beat the case on a technicality.

Since then he has figured in two or three cases of some sort at every term of court.  He is about 35 years old, is a hard worker and can do as much manual labor in a day as any man in the county.  A few nights ago Miss Ella Smith of Ireland claims he broke into her room where she was sleeping with some younger brothers and sisters and attempted to assault her.  An outcry from the children, however, frightened him and he fled.  Her father and mother were both away and this was about midnight.  She swore out a warrant against him.  He is now in jail awaiting trial on this charge and denies that he is guilty.


*Whitecaps were also known as Night Riders

Please write if you know who William's parents were!

  Jack

July 11, 2009

Lost Cousins!

Actually, they were not lost.  They knew where they were.

For years I have been searching for descendants of my G-pa Coffee's sister, Sarah Ellen Coffee Hill Sutton.  Many of them wandered out of Arkansas and west into California during the depression.  Somewhere along the way their paper trail vanished!

Imagine my surprise and happiness when a few days ago a new cousin on the west coast contacted me, writing that one of Sarah's Sutton daughters was her grandmother.  The new cousin had found my personal genealogy website.

Information that my new cousin offered has opened up a whole new search path (new names, locations, etc.) for me.  As a result, I've been able to find more census records for some of the family.  I now know her mother's maiden name, where she came from, and other details.

She also sent about a dozen photographs gleaned over the years from other family sources.  All of them were of her parents, grandparents and Sarah Ellen.  What a treasure!

Sarah had one son from her Hill marriage.  I have very little information about those cousins, but continue to search for them.





On another subject:  If any regular readers are wondering about my extended absences from the blog, I can only tell you that I'm working on projects other than Edward Coffey.  There have been very few discoveries over the past few years, so I found myself searching for obituaries, attempting to tie those folks into those already in my Ed Coffey project files.

There have been a few corrections submitted now and again, but nothing that I considered really significant.  And frankly, participation by readers has been next to nothing!  I offered an opportunity for readers to co-edit the blog, but received only one promise to help. 

I will continue now and again to post info here as it becomes available, but those posts will likely be few and far between.

Also, I will continue to update the Edward Coffey Project CD with changes and new found info as it becomes available.

The offer to co-edit is still on the table.

 

June 29, 2008

Albert Coffee and Lula Bell Melson

In an earlier blog I wrote about locating Lafayette Jackson Coffee,  a previously unknown son of my GGG-grandfather Lilburn Coffee and his second wife, Lucinda Sutton.  As I began to investigate Lafayette and his descendants, I located Albert Coffee and his wife Lula Bell Melson who were married in Hempstead Co., AR on Apr. 12, 1891.

The reason I believe Albert to also be a son of Lilburn and Lucinda is:

In the 1900 Texarkana, Bowie Co., Texas census I found Lucy Coffey, a widow, with her son Lafayette Coffey and a daughter, Lucretia Tipton in the household.  Lucinda (or Lucy) had been previously married to Berry Tipton and they had a daughter named Lucretia.  We already knew from Lafayette's death certificate that Lucinda Sutton was his mother.

Next door to Lucy and her children was Albert and Lula with their child, Lella (sp?), age 5.  Albert was born in Oct., 1862 in Hope, Hempstead Co. and Lula was born there in Oct., 1873.

I have been unable to find Albert and his family after 1900.  I can only surmise that they must have been deceased sometime between that year and the following 1920 census.  I do recall a cousin telling me that she remembered grandpa Coffee visiting the grave of an Albert Coffee in Bowie Co., but did not recall details.

It appears that my next step in this investigation is a visit to Bowie Co., TX.

Contact me at the above e-mail address if you have any interest in these families.

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