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 |
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 c1890The 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.
Mamie, born, born c1892
Chesley S., III, born c1893
Ruth, born c1898
Robert (William), born c1899
Carroll E., born c1908 in IA
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!
 |
| Request for Leave of Absence |
*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."
