William Henry Harvey & Martha L. Coffey Clark

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William Henry Harvey Clark

William Henry Harvey Clark was born Dec. 25, 1845 in North Carolina, perhaps Caldwell or Avery Co.  I suspect Caldwell based on the mere fact that he and Martha Coffey were married there.

Martha L. Coffey was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Enoch and Martha Calloway Coffey and was born to them in Sep., 1846 in Caldwell Co.  I believe Martha Calloway was the second wife for Enoch.  His first was Prudence Gragg; third was Fannie Sims.

The Clark-Coffey marriage occurred on Apr. 15, 1866.*  William and Martha, like many families in the south following the Civil War who were trying to live through reconstruction, carpetbaggers and other petty officials, seem to have avoided the 1870 census.

[Update 8/4/2011 - Thanks to Lloyd Coffey of Taylorsville, NC I now know that William and Martha did not miss the 1870 census.  They, along with first child Charlotte were in  Johns River Twp., Caldwell Co. (Collettsville Post Office) that year.]

Their first known child was Charlotte L., born Sep. 15, 1869 in Caldwell Co., died Feb. 21, 1958 in Banner Elk, Avery Co.  Charlotte Married George W. Bowman but I have no further information on their family.  Charlotte is buried at Jonas Ridge Baptist Church Cemetery in Burke Co., NC

Joseph Enoch was their second child and first son.  He was born after the family moved from Caldwell to Avery Co. and entered the world on Mar. 12, 1871.  Joseph married Edna Ann Coffey, a daughter of Margaret A. Coffey who was the daughter of Jesse Patterson and Elizabeth M. Coffey Coffey.  Edna was born July 4, 1887 and died Aug. 28, 1959. Joseph died Dec. 3, 1965 in Crossnore, Avery Co.  Both are buried at the Tate Family Cemetery** in Linville, Avery Co.

[The family probably did not physically move.  They likely lived in that part of Caldwell that was taken to form Avery Co. in 1911]

Rebecca followed Joseph.  She was born May, 1874 in Avery Co., and died there on Sep. 13, 1943.  She married a Mr. Tilley but nothing more is known of their family.  Rebecca's death certificate reports her burial at Clark Cemetery at Pineola, Avery Co.**

Della May was child number 4, born Jun. 30, 1875, died Sep. 18, 1950 at Marion in McDowell Co., NC.  Della married Elam Gather Barrier c1896 and had a number of children, including William Seth; Inez; James Gudger; Gladys Susan; Tom Harvey and Myrtle Chloe.  Della is buried at the Tate Family cemetery while Elam is buried at Jonas Ridge Baptist Church cemetery in Burke Co.


Willard F. was next, born c1877 in Caldwell Co., died Jul. 27, 1927 in Linville.  He was buried at Calloway Cemetery in Jonas Ridge.  His wife was Bettie Kates.

Douthard "Douth" Charlie was born Apr. 15, 1879 and died Dec. 12, 1957 at Crossnore.  He is also buried at Tate.

Martha Ann was born May 12, 1881 and died May 25, 1964 at Crossnore.  She married Walter Puett.  Martha is buried at Jonas Ridge.

William Elgie was born May, 1883.  No further information.

Pinkney was born Jul. 31, 1886 and died Oct. 27, 1973 in Morganton, Burke Co.  He married Mary Jane Webb, born Jan., 1894, daughter of Theodore M. and Sarah Elizabeth Coffey Webb.  Sarah Elizabeth was a daughter of Bryce Brisco and Susannah Gragg Coffey.  No further info on Pinkney and Mary Jane.

Dovie Jane was the last known child of William Henry and Martha.  She was born Sep. 15, 1890 and died Jul. 3, 1968 in Lenoir, Caldwell Co.  Her husband was Monroe Coffey, a son of Thomas M. & Martha Cordelia Gragg Coffey.  Monroe was born Jan. 26, 1883 in Avery Co. and died Nov. 3, 1955 in Collettsville, Caldwell Co.  He and Dovie Jane were married in Caldwell Co. in 1910.***  Monroe was the first US Forest Ranger in the Globe and "...oversaw the fledgling agency’s activities in an era just before the Civilian Conservation Corps ended it efforts at forestry and went off to fight WW II."¹

Dovie Jane and Monroe had at least eight children:  Ruby, Ruth, Bruce, Sarah Nell, Jack; Blanche, Martha Louise and Clyde Hedrick.  More information is available.

Corrections and additions welcomed.

Update  Aug. 2, 2011 - Rebecca Clark's husband was John A. Tilley, born c1860 in NC.  They were married c1892.

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*North Carolina Marriages, 1759-1979 , digital images, FamilySearch.Org (www.familysearch.org), Marriage Register, Book 3, Page 157.

**This cemetery has been called by various names; e.g., Tate-Love and Clark Family Cemetery, and has appeared in several places in genealogy reports as one or the other.  It can be found on Find-A-Grave as Clark Cemetery as well as Tate.  The official name is Tate Family Cemetery and it is located at Linville. Enter coordinates 36 2 37.14, -81 54 8.69 (copy and paste) into maps.google.com for exact location.  The resulting map repeats the error by referring to it as Clark Cemetery.


***Caldwell County, North Carolina Register of Deed's Index Search, Wayne L. Rash, Register of Deeds online, Marriage Register, Book 22, Page 180.

¹Tracing Timber’s History in the Globe, by Randy Johnson, High Country Press, on-line, Jul. 28, 2011

Thanks to Bradley Ingels for his wonderful headstone photos and additional information on some of these families.