Chesley Shelton Coffey Revisited

My first blog about Chesley Shelton Coffey can be read by clicking on the title link.

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Hardly any information has been found to document the ancestry of Chesley Shelton Coffey.

One source* describes him as a son of Joel Coffey and his wife Sarah Mackey.  It is difficult finding this particular Joel in the US census record.  He is believed to have been born in TN in 1789 and married Sarah Mackey in Maury Co., TN on Apr. 9, 1818.1

This Joel - a son of Chesley and Margaret Baldwin Coffey - made the trek from Cooper Co., MO to the Oregon Territory c1850, and after he reached age 60. He was in Vancouver [Oregon Territory, now in Clark Co., WA] as early as 1855.  Sarah died in Cooper Co., MO,  Joel Died Dec. 10, 1855 and was buried at Fern Prairie Cemetery in Camas, Clark Co., WA.  Joel and Sarah are said to have had at least eight children, including Chesley Shelton, particulars unknown.

Headstone Chesley S. Coffey

I have often wondered if their Chesley Shelton was the same Chesley born in Maury Co., TN in 1816 and died in Fayette, Jefferson Co., MS in 1869.  That Chesley married Miss. Mississippi Davis of Oct. 20, 1850 in Jefferson Co.  Their children were:

Chesley Shelton, Jr.; no particulars
Charles Clark, born c1853, married Olive S. Bullen and had children Anna and Sidney.
Jane Elizabeth, born Jan. 28, 1859, died Jul. 8, 1860, buried Jefferson Co.
John Mott, born Oct. 31, 1861, died Sep. 9, 1915, buried Jefferson Co.
Edgar Nathan, born May 14, 1869, died Nov. 28, 1922

Edgar married Carrie Watkins (or, Watson?) Campbell, born in MS on Jun. 24, 1869, died Nov. 18, 1955.   He was in the US Army when I found the family in the 1910 census; he reported his occupation as Lt., US Army.

Their children, with the exception of one, were born in MS.  The names are as copied from the 1910 Jackson, Hinds Co., MS census record:

Edgar N., Jr., born c1890
Mamie, born, born c1892
Chesley S., III, born c1893
Ruth, born c1898
Robert (William), born c1899
Carroll E., born c1908 in IA

The only child that I have searched for to date is Ruth.  She married Lew Morris c19223 and in 1930 resided in Spokane, Spokane Co., WA with her husband and one child, Robert, born c1828 in WA.  Lew was a native of Washington but his parents were born in Oregon.

With the family that year was Carrie, Ruth's mother.  She was age 60, a widow and worked as a dressmaker.

Carrie, Edgar Nathan and his younger brother, Chesley III are buried at Fort George Wright in Spokane.  I am told that this is now part of Fairchild AFB.

Chesley III was also a military man, having entered the US Navy prior to WW1.  He died Oct. 1, 1918 and I have found no information yet about where he died or otherwise indicates he perished as a result of military action.  His marker is inscribed "Gunners Mate 2CL."  The family is in cemetery section 2, site 15.

Caroline's parents were Robert W. and Anna Cordelia Girault.  Anna was first married to James Davenport c1857 in MS, then married Robert Wickham Campbell on 28 Feb. 1860 at Port Gibson, Claiborne Co., MS.  Robert was first married to Nannie P. Burch of MS on Jan. 22, 1852.  She was born in Jefferson Co. in 1836 and died there in 1858.

There are several instances of Campbell-Wickham unions in Richmond and in Powhatan Co., VA.  The Watkins name appears among the first settlers of VA after Jamestown.  Some of the later generations moved into the MS Territory prior to the Civil War.  Robert and probably also Caroline are descended from those Virginia families that came into that territory.

Corrections and/or additions welcomed!

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Request for Leave of Absence

May 25, 2011:  The original of this document is privately owned by and available for purchase from Shawn Harrington.  Anyone wishing to purchase the document can contact him at harrington.shawn@gmail.com.  I understand that it will soon be placed for sale on E-bay.

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*Dr. Marvin Coffey book, James Bluford Coffey his Ancestors and Descendants in America

1 Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002. Nashville, TN, USA: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Microfilm.  Name: Joel Coffee Spouse: Sarah Mackey Marriage Date: 9 Apr 1818 Marriage County: Maury Marriage State: Tennessee:

2 Lewis, Wm. Terrell, Genealogy of the Lewis family in America (Louisville, KY: Courier-Journal Job. Print Co., 1893), Page 122: Sarah Mackey, daughter of Wm. L. Mackey, was born in Rutherford county, N. C., in 1795. She married Joel Coffey, had three children, and died in Missouri. The names of her children are as follows: William; Chesley and Derrindia.

3 The Crescent of Gamma Phi Beta, (Univ. of Idaho Chapter) Vol. 21, No. 1, edited by Lindsey Barbee, pub. Geo. Banta, Mehasha, WI, Jan., 1921, p75, "Engagements: Ruth Coffey, ex-'22 to Lew Morris, Sigma Nu."

Cyrus V. Coffey

Cyrus was a son of Jason and Rachel Corder Coffey, born c1858 in (probably) Owen Co., IN. Jason was a son of Larkin and Catherine H. Wilson Coffey, born c1833 in North Carolina and died before 1800 in (probably) Owen Co., IN. Rachel was born c1832 in Indiana.

On Sep. 5, 1880 Cyrus married Elizabeth Ella (Ellen?) Brown, a daughter of Lewis and Ritta (Artie?) Brown. Elizabeth was born in Indiana in Jul., 1864. Cyrus died before Jun. 16, 1900 in Owen Co. because Ella - as she was enumerated - was a widow in her widower father's household census for that year.

According to the 1900 census, Ella was the mother of nine children, nine living, but only four were residing with her at the time: Flora, age 15; Ray, age 12; Wendell, age 6; and Virgie, age 3.

I believe her children were:

• Orpha, no information


• Charles Iomer, born May 3, 1883


• Flora Rachel, born c1886


• Ada Florence, born c1887


• Jason Ray, born Mar 17, 1888


• Nellie Mabel, no information


• Mary Ester, no information


• Wendell Holmes, born Mar. 5, 1894


• Charlotte Virgie, born c1897

Charles married Mary Ann Hendricks, born c1886 in IN and had children: Edna May, born c1906; Stella M., born c1907; Dortha, born c1910; Bernice L., born c1912; Donald W., born c1915; and Wallace L., born c1918 (1920 Owen Co. census). Charles registered for the WW1 draft on Sep. 12, 1918 in Owen Co., and was described then as being 35 years old, born May 3, 1883. He was of medium height and build with light blue eyes and black hair. The family resided and farmed at RR1, Spencer, Owen Co.

Flora married Victor A. Burch, born c1886 in IN. In 1920 they were in Hendricks Co., IN and had children Helen, born c1914 and, Charles, born c1916.

Ada married Carl Von (or Van) Burch, born c1888 in IN, on Mar. 31, 1912 in Owen Co. In 1920 the family resided in Owen Co., Washington Twp., and had children: Gladys I., age 5 and, Hazel V., age 1 yr., 11 mos. In 1930 they were in Spencer Twp., and there were no additional children.

Jason apparently never married. He was enumerated as a single man in both the 1920 and 1930 Owen Co. census records. He registered for the WW1 draft on Jun. 5, 1917 in Owen Co. and was described then as being of medium height and build with brown eyes and black hair. He was 29 years old at the time, born Mar. 17, 1888 in Spencer, IN. He was unmarried then and, a self-employed farmer.

Nellie Mabel is thought to have married Charles Wyrick.

Mary Ester is thought to have married Harry Coyal.

Wendell Holmes registered for the WW1 draft on Jun. 5, 1917 in Owen Co. He was 23 years old at the time, born Mar. 8, 1894 in Elletsville, IN. He was unmarried at the time and was described as being of medium build and height with blue eyes and brown hair. He was a farm laborer and listed his employer as P.C. Becker or Decker in Colfax, IL.

Charlotte Virgie married Ralph Sprague on May 29, 1916 in Owen Co. Ralph was born c1893 in IN. In the 1920 census they are found in Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN where Ralph is employed as a bakery salesman. The only child was Garland, a son, born c1917 in IN.

Please send corrections and/or additions to me at the e-mail address below.