Vice Adm. Howard Harrison Good and Quincy Margaret Coffey

Adm. Howard Harrison Good (c1950)

Margaret, as she was called, was a daughter of James Alexander and Selina B. Fitzgerald Coffey.  She was born at Massies Mill in Nelson Co., VA in Sept., 1898.  She undoubtedly was married prior to her union on Jun. 29, 1945 at age 46 in the District of Columbia, Washington to Adm. Howard Harrison Good.  The marriage record reports her name as Margaret Coffey Eddiegorde.  That is probably a misinterpretation of her husband's surname but, I cannot be sure.  In any event, I have not found a marriage record for her prior to the one in 1945.  A short bio that I found also reports that Adm. Good had been previously married to a Miss Maria T., from whom he was divorced in 1939.  The 1940 census has Capt. Howard H. Good (divorced) and son, Edward L., age 20, residing in a DC apartment complex.

Up until the Japanese attack on our forces at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Good had remained pretty much in the DC area.  I found him returning to Seattle aboard the SS President Jackson on Apr. 1 1938 from a trip to Hong Kong.  He reported then that he was part of the "Navy Department in Washington, D.C."

Howard Harrison Good was born in Warren, Huntington Co., IN on Aug. 12, 1888.  He attended Warren High School and the Naval Academy.  He was in command of the heavy cruiser New Orleans* at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea, in May, 1942 as Captain of the New Orleans. After that battle he rescued many of the crew of the Lexington.

He was in the great Battle of Midway in June, 1942, and then assumed command of Cruiser Division Five, having been promoted to rear admiral in May, 1942. His cruiser division participated in many South Pacific operations, including the Battle of Santa Cruz. Thereafter he served for two years as head of the Base Maintenance Division, in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Subsequently he commanded United States naval forces in the Philippines, and was commandant of the Thirteenth Naval District, Seattle, from 1948 to 1950. He retired as a vice admiral in 1950.

He and Margaret were married for 18 years before his death in Aug. 12, 1963. Margaret died on May 13, 1971 at Roanoke Rapids in Halifax Co., NC and buried alongside her husband at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.  They are said to have had one son, Edward L. Good.   However, the child was born c1919, while Howard and Marie were still married.  The only information that I have for Marie is her birth, c1893 in Wisconsin.

  Jack

*http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/032/04032.htm

Thomas Coffey and Sarah Stokes

Marvin Coffey included Thomas and Sarah in his work on James Bluefield Coffey as a possible child of Reuben and Sarah "Sally" Scott Coffey.  He recognized that there was not complete agreement among Edward Coffey researchers that the children of Reuben and Sallly as listed in his work was accurate.

Recently, Sue Ikerd wrote to me that Thomas who married Sarah Stokes was actually Thomas Caffey, a descendant of Michael and Margaret Flowers Caffey.  Her contention was backed up with the following reasoning:

• Thomas's parents were born father Maryland, mother North Carolina, name usually spelled Caffey; named son Michael.
• Michael was born in Maryland; name usually spelled Caffey.
• Thomas's wife's mother was a Chilcuitt from Maryland.
• Hooper Caffey, grandson of Michael, married a Chilcuitt.
• John Stokes who married Jane Guerrin, was a brother of Sarah Stokes, wife of Thomas Caffey.
• Hooper Caffey was Bondsman for John Stokes and Jane Gerrin 1814.
• Thomas incurred debt to James Walker 1817 in Rockingham Co. NC (I have an original paper with this info and dates). Old family letter states family came to
• Tennessee in 1824 from North Carolina.
• Thomas lived in Guildford Co. North Carolina in 1821; appointed Brother-in-law James to recover the inheritance from deceased mother of Rockingham Co. NC.
• Stokes, Caffey's, McElroy's, Flacks, Patricks, Averetts, all lived in the same general area in Guilford Co. NC and are all connected by marriage. The June 23, 1804 will of Michael Caffey, probated Nov. 1810 in Rockingham Co.
• NC, lists wife Margaret, sons Michael, Robert, Thomas, John, and daughters Sophia, Mary, and Margaret.
• Executors were Wife Margaret and son John Witnesses were W. Payne, Waiter Good, and Charity Payne.

This information will not be updated in the on-line version of the Edward Coffey Project for reasons cited in previous blogs.  However, I will include this information in my master file and will be available on the Edward Coffey Project CD.  It has also been forwarded to Bonnie Culley for inclusion in her quarterly Coffey Cousins' Newsletter.