Emanuel F. Falkner and his Coffey Wives

Emanuel F. Falkner was born on Mar. 30,1804 in North Carolina but went to Indiana to marry a North Carolina Coffey.  In fact, he may have married two Coffey women from North Carolina.

The Indiana State Library database, Marriages Through 1850* reports a marriage on Jan. 1, 1830 of Emanuel F. Falkner to Rebecca Coffey in Monroe Co.

The 1850 Clay Twp., Owen Co., IN census lists Rebecca Falkner, age 60 with children Marion, age 20, Washington, age 18, Tipton, age 16, Leander, age 14, Martha, age 10, Newton, age 4, and Leroy, age 2.  If her age is accurate then her birth year would have been c1790 and her marriage to Emanuel at age 40.  It is unlikely then that she was still having babies at age 56 or later.

Emanuel has not been found in the 1850 census.

So, who is this Rebecca Coffey Falkner?  The Rebecca Coffey who married Emanuel Falkner in 1830 Monroe Co., IN was a daughter of William Henderson and Mary Faulkner [sic] Coffey.  I have no specific birth or death dates/places for her.

Were there two Emanuel Falker men who married Coffey women in IN?

Several sources report a marriage between Emanuel Falkner and Lucinda Coffey on Spe. 30, 1838 in Owen Co.**

Emanuel appeared in the 1860 Owen Co. census, Clay Twp., with Lucinda J., age 40 (born c1820 in NC) and, children Martha J., age 19; Jasper N., age 14; Leroy, age 11; Lonzo, age 8; Edgar H., age 5; and Charlie, age 4.  All of the children were born in IN.

He and Lucinda appear next in the 1870 Owen Co., Clay Twp. census with children Lefay [sic], age 22; Alonzo, age 19; Edgar, age 17; and Charley, age 12.

This Lucinda Coffey was a daughter of Elijah and Mary Abby "Polly" Dyer Coffey.  She was born Aug. 8, 1804 in IN and died Dec. 8, 1883 in Owen Co.

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*Indiana State Library Genealogy Database: Marriages through 1850, Indiana State Library online [http://199.8.200.229/db/marriages_search.asp], accessed Sep.,2005. [Does not appear to be online in Nov. 2011]
**Ibid; Dodd, Jordan. Indiana Marriages to 1850. [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 1997. Electronic transcription of marriage records held by the individual counties in Indiana; and Indiana Marriage Records Index, 1845-1920;.Index to Marriage Records Indiana: Indiana Works Progress Administration, 1938-1940.