Polly Dowell Coffey

The Winter 2007 edition of the Owen County History & Genealogy Newsletter has been published. This edition concludes the three-part submission on the Rev. Reuben A. Coffey by Janet Vos Amtower.

Janet included a photograph of Polly Dowell, Reuben's wife of nearly 50 years.

In her concluding article, she wrote:

"Polly Dowell Coffey, the woman who had been by Reuben's side for almost fifty years helping him on the farm and with his ministry lived for thirteen years after her beloved husband died. Reuben and Polly's daughter Miriam who was a widow had moved into her parents' home with her young son Newell in 1852. When Reuben Coffey died in 1854 the two widows ran the farm and raised Miriam's toddler.

When Polly Dowell Coffey died on February 11, 1867 at the age of 79 it was in the middle of a harsh Indiana winter. 'The roads were impassable and the men had to lay down the fences and go through the farms to the graveyard for the burial.' Polly was buried next to her husband in the Coffey Cemetery near the Bethel Church where Reuben had been pastor for eighteen years."

Readers interested in Janet's research should contact the newsletter editor, Vivian Zollinger at 1819 Concord Road, Gosport, IN 47433 or via e-mail.

Janet's work is well documented. It will not only give the reader a good look at this well traveled and pious family, but also a good overview of what life was like for early Owen Co. pioneers. Anyone researching in Owen Co. should be a subscriber to this newsletter.

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.

Malinda Caroline Coffey (1825-1901)

Malinda Caroline Coffey was the daughter of Elijah and Mary Abby (Polly) Dyer Coffey. She was born Mar. 6, 1825, and died Dec. 12, 1901. She is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, IN.

Malinda Caroline married Isaac G. Franklin on May 5, 1845 in Owen Co., IN. Together they had at least five children: Mary Elizabeth, born 1846, married George William Lewis; Nancy Jane, born 1848, died 1933, married Joseph Riley Wampler; Rosetta, born 1851, married Isaac (Will) Clayman (Claman?); William F., born Jan. 29, 1854, died 1905; and Susan, born c1857, married Taylor Tumey.

Malinda married a second time, and then to Joshua Webb, a medical doctor with his office in Indianapolis.

The photograph and family information is courtesy Vivian Zollinger, editor of the Owen County History & Genealogy newsletter. She wrote: "Malinda is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis. She died 12 Dec. 1901. Her 2nd husband Joshua Webb had a medical practice in Indianapolis. She returned from MO to Owen Co. IN with all but her oldest child who had married in MO. Isaac may have married [in] IN Eliza McNerland in Schuyler Co., MO. No divorce found."

The Owen County Historical & Genealogical Society website can be found here.

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]