Nathaniel Hayes & Louisa Jane Ellis Coffey

Nathaniel Hayes & Louisa Jane Ellis were married on Feb. 28, 1854* in Rowan Co., KY.  His marriage records his name as Hays and omitted Nathaniel.  In a few census records he was enumerated as Hays, or a variant thereof, and in others he was Nathaniel H.  In 1860 he was enumerated as Hayse Coffey, Jr.

His father was John Hayes Coffey and his mother was Mary "Polly" Burkett who were married on Feb. 7, 1815 in Staunton, VA.**  John was born in Wilkes Co., NC in 1793 and Polly was a native of VA, born there c1798.

Louisa was born in Dec., 1836 in KY to Clayton and Martha Ellis.

Hayes and Louisa became parents of 14 children, all born in Russell Co.***  It appears that less than half of them lived to adulthood.   Their first four children, all daughters, failed to survive.  Mary J. was born on Aug. 1, 1855; Emma E., born Apr. 22, 1857; and Martha A., born Dec. 16, 1858, did not appear in the 1860 census.  Amanda Frances, born Jul. 20, 1860 died on Oct. 3, 1861.

The first to survive to adulthood was Francis Wolford "Frank," born Mar. 11, 1862, died Dec. 18, 1940 at St. Joseph, Buchanan Co., MO.  His wife was Hannah Frances Sharp and they were married c1883.  He is buried at St. Joseph Memorial Park Cemetery in Buchanan Co.  Frances was born Jul. 24, 1859 in Russell Co., and died Nov. 9,1936 in Washington Twp., Buchanan Co.  She is also buried at St. Joseph.

Elijah Grant Coffey

Elijah Grant was born Aug. 27, 1864 and died on Oct. 10,1940 in Russell Co.  He married three times, first to Martha Shearer in about 1884.  She was born c1867, died c1889.  Two children, Florence Jane (1887-1951) and Ella (1889-1924) were born to this union.  It appears from death dates that Martha died giving birth to Ella, or shortly thereafter.

The second wife was Marticia Kimber, daughter of William and Martha Kimber.  She was born in Nov.,1867 and died c1904 in Russell Co.  They were married c1891.  Five additional children were born:  John B., born Jun., 1892; Bertha, born Mar. 17, 1894, died Feb. 4, 1942 at Creelsboro; Exra, born Sep., 1895; Warren, born Sep., 1899 and Thadeus, born c1903.  It appears that Marticia also died shortly after giving birth to the last child.

Elijah's third wife was Ida A. Antle, born Jul., 1873 to Jacob and Elizabeth Hammond Antle.  They were married very shortly after Marticia died but the first child I find for them wasn't born until c1910.  Perhaps there were earlier births that did not survive.  Those I know of were Lizzie, born c1910; Nettie, born c1912; Bessie, born c1913 and Josie, born c1915.

Elijah is buried at Kerns Cemetery in Russell Springs, Russell Co.  I have not found death dates or burial sites for his three wives.

Following Elijah was Nancy Ellen, born Feb. 8,1866, died Mar 8, 1918 in Russell Springs.  I do not believe she ever married and at death was buried at Crocus in Adair Co.  Two more daughters followed Nancy:  Ruth J., born c1868 and Rosetta, born c1870.  I have found no additional information on these two girls.

Josephus was next born on Jul. 2, 1870.  He died on Oct. 18, 1936 in Russell Co. and was buried at the Holt Cemetery in Russell Springs.  I know only that his wife was Bertha, as given on his death certificate.

Fielding followed Josephus on Jun. 21, 1873, died Jun. 2, 1957 in Berea, Madison Co., KY.  His wife was Delia, born Jun. 2, 1877, died Oct. 17, 1910.  Both are buried at Kerns.

There are birth records for two unnamed males born to "N. H. Coffey" and "L. J. Ellis."  The first record reports the birth of an unnamed male on Dec. 5, 1875 in Russell Co. and, the second of an unnamed male on Dec. 8, 1875 in Adair Co.  This is somewhat confusing for me because I can't imagine that the family would move at such a time in their life.  Louisa reported in 1910 that she had given birth to 14 children and, without both of these unnamed children, her total would have instead been 12 births.

The 14th child born to Hays and Louisa was Harlan on Mar. 15, 1877.  His wife was Larcy or Lorcy E., last name unknown, who was born on Jun. 18, 1882 in KY.  They were married there c1898.  Children I have for them are: Frank, c1902; Sammy, c1905; Alma, c1906; Ruth, c1908; Rufus, c1915 and Carrie, c1917, all in Russell Co.  Harlan died on Jun. 27, 1945 in Jamestown, Russell Co.  Larcy's death date has not been found.  Harlan and his wife are buried at the Lawless Cemetery, just outside of Jamestown.

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*"Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979, 1839-1960," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org/.
**Lyman Chalkley, Compiler, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia: Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County 1745-1800, 3 Vols (Rosslyn, VA: The Commonwealth Printing Co., 1912), [Chalkley is probably incorrect.  There is a marriage record for this couple in Botetourt Co. for same date.  See Virginia Historic Marriage Register by John Vogt and T. William Kethley, Jr., 1984]
***The Family appeared in every available Federal census for Russell Co. from 1860-1900