I began transcribing information for the Gilbreath-Coffey family with Andrew Gilbreath and his wife Nancy Hicklin. Andrew is said to have been born c1735 in Pennsylvania, married Nancy c1767 in South Carolina and died c1783 in Tennessee. Of interest to Coffey researchers are two of their children, John (Jun. 6, 1768 - Nov. 24, 1850) and Elizabeth (c1777-June 18, 1846).
John Gilbreath was born in Virginia and died in Maury Co., TN. He married Mary "Polly" Coffey c1788 in Kentucky. Polly was the daughter of Chesley Coffey, Jr. and his wife, Margaret Baldwin. She was born in Sept., 1758 in Wilkes Co., NC and died Aug. 24, 1843 in Maury Co. Both she and John are buried in the Gilbreath-Morrow cemetery and their graves are marked with headstones.
Their children were Andrew, born c1791 in SC; James, born Apr. 2, 1792 in SC, died Sep. 26, 1845 in Maury Co.; Jane, born Oct. 2, 1795 in SC, died Apr. 22, 1842 in Maury Co., and John, born Sep. 26, 1799 in Green Co., KY. His death date is unknown.
Of these, James married Elizabeth Baker in KY n 1816. She was born there on Mar. 24, 1798 and died in Maury Co. on Apr. 6, 1879. Both are buried in the Gilbreath-Morrow cemetery and their graves are marked with headstones. Their children were Minerva, born Nov. 30, 1819, died Sep. 28, 1875; John B., born Dec. 2, 1823, died Oct. 3, 1855; Isaih R., born Dec. 1, 1828, died Nov. 21, 1864, and Absalum M., born Mar. 9, 1830, died Nov. 22, 1858.John and Polly's third child Jane, married John Leonard Morrow on Oct. 13, 1821 in Maury Co. John's grave site is unmarked; Jane's headstone is intact. John was born Apr. 30, 1797 in the Pendleton District of SC and died Jan. 21, 1863 in Maury Co.
Isaih married Mary L. Coffey on Aug. 19, 1862 in Maury Co. She was the daughter of Calvin and Elizabeth Fine Coffey. Calvin was a son of Nathan and Elizabeth Gilbreath Coffey. Their children were Martha, born Jun 21, 1863, died Feb. 22, 1864 and, William James, born Aug. 29, 1864. Isaih and Martha are buried at Gilbreath-Morrow. After Isaih's death, Mary remarried to J. J. Fleming and died May 8, 1896 in Maury Co. Mr. Fleming died Mar. 4, 1926 in Maury Co. Both are buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in Columbia, Maury Co.
Absalum married Emily E., born Nov. 25, 1831, died Sep. 1, 1855 in Maury Co. They had at least one child, Elizabeth Jane, born Aug. 20, 1855, died Nov. 30, 1855. All are buried at Gilbreath-Morrow and their graves are marked with headstones.
Their children were:
Mary Ann, born Jun. 3, 1828, perhaps in Giles Co., died Aug. 20, 1902 in Collin Co., TX. She married Coleman William Wilcoxson on Mar. 26, 1851 in Maury Co. He was born there on Sep. 26, 1828 and died in Collin Co. on Oct. 12, 1902. They had at least two children: Martha Asia, born Jan. 27, 1858 in TN, died Apr. 3, 1947 in Collin Co.; and Mary Alice, born Jul. 15, 1865 in Farmersville, Collin Co., died in Victoria Co., TX on Apr. 3, 1954. These sisters respectively married brothers Isaac Fountain Coffey and William Daniel Coffey, sons of William Fine Coffey and Priscilla Howard. Both had large families and, more information is available.John Gilbreath, born Sep. 26, 1799 in Green Co., KY is the last known (to me) child of John and Mary Coffey Gilbreath.
Susan P. was their second child. She was born Mar. 10, 1834 in Maury Co., and died Apr. 7. 1852. She is buried at Gilbreath-Morrow and her gravesite is marked by a headstone.
Andrew Alexander was next, born Feb. 6, 1836, died Jun. 18, 1898 in Maury Co. Andrew married Martha S. Coffey, another daughter of Calvin and Elizabeth Fine Coffey, on Mar. 4, 1880 in Maury Co. Martha was born Sep. 13, 1842 and died Jan. 14, 1899 in Maury Co. Both grave sites are marked by headstones. Before Andrew, Martha was married to Martin V. West of Giles Co. He was born Apr. 15, 1841 and died Jun. 14, 1872 in Maury Co. and was buried at Gilbreath-Morrow.
John William is the last known (to me) child of John and Jane. He was born Nov. 4, 1853 in Farmersville, Collin Co., and died in Pauls Valley, Garvin Co., OK on Jun. 26, 1925. He married Rebeca Jane Bottoms, born May 9, 1858 in IL, died Jun. 4, 1936 at Pauls Valley. Both are buried at the Paoli Cemetery in Garvin Co.
As written earlier, Andrew and Nancy Hicklin Gilbreath had two children who married into the Chesley Coffey, Jr. family. His daughter, Elizabeth, born c1777 (very questionable, considering Nathan's birth date!) in VA married Nathan Coffey, a son of Chesley, Jr. Nathan was born Aug. 13, 1790 in NC and died Jun 3, 1858 in Maury Co. He is buried at Reece Chapel Cemetery at McCains in Maury Co. Elizabeth died on Jun. 18, 1846 and is also buried at Reece Chapel. I wrote an earlier blog about Nathan and Elizabeth and it can be read here. Not much was included about their 14 children however, and I'll do that in a future blog.
After Elizabeth died, Nathan married Eupheme Stockard, and I know almost nothing about this union.
Wayne Austin has created an excellent website containing links to roughly 400 Tennessee cemeteries, some with photographs of the graves and headstones. To view photos of the Coffey-Gilbreath graves, use this link. Use this link to view a menu of available cemeteries.
