A Downside to using Headstone Info

Monroe Cleveland or Jesse Cleveland Coffey?

Within a couple of days of writing the previous blog about headstones, I received this from Lloyd Coffey, a grandson of Jesse Cleveland Coffey.  Jesse was a son of  Jesse "Red Eye" and Lucinda Louise Coffey Coffey:

"My grandfather, Jesse Cleveland Coffey, son of Jesse C. 'Red Eye' Coffey, is buried in Glencoe Cemetery in Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Virginia.  It is in southwestern Virginia and is the location of the 'Richmond District' about which I wrote you earlier.  For some reason, his grave marker has his name as Monroe Cleveland Coffey.  I know that the name Monroe is in our family several times, but I do not know how it got attached to my grandfather.  I have attached a picture of his gravestone.  I do not know the source of any of the information on the stone."

Unless this information is passed on through the family, future researchers looking for Jesse Cleveland's grave site will be disappointed when it cannot be found.

Jesse Cleveland, who I'm sure I've written about in earlier blogs, married Eliza Loudermilk, a daughter of Finley T. & Mary Clark Loudermilk in Caldwell Co., NC in 1910. Eliza was born on Dec. 3, 1892 and died Mar. 18, 1987 in Hiddenite, Alexander Co., NC.

Her obituary:

The Watauga Democrat, Boone, NC Mar. 20, 1987

Mrs. Eliza Coffey

Hiddenite Resident

Mrs. Eliza Coffey, 94, of Route 1, Hiddenite, died Wednesday, March 18, at the residence following an illness of one week.

She was born in Caldwell County, Dec. 23, 1892. She was a daughter of the late Finley Loudermilk and Mary Clark Loudermilk. She was a homemaker. He husband, Cleveland Coffey, preceded her in death.

Survivors include three sons, Lester Coffey and Rayford Coffey, both of Lenoir, and Eugene Coffey of Statesville, two daughters Mrs. Zelma Campbell of Hiddenite and Mrs. Nettie Hodge of Lenoir; one brother, Daniel Loudermilk of Taylorsville, and 36 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

Services were held today at 2 p.m. at the Adams Funeral Home Chapel in Taylorsville. Officiating were the Revs. Homer Baity and Bobby Eads. Burial was in the Rocky Face Baptist Church Cemetery in Alexander County.

Adams Funeral Home in Taylorsville was in charge of arrangements.

She and Jesse were parents of six children:

1 - Annie Rivers "Nannie", born Jan. 1, 1910 in Avery Co., NC, died Apr 15, 1952 in Boone.  Annie married her second cousin, William Glenn Coffey and had at least one son, Jerry Guy, born Sep., 12, 1933, died Jan. 25, 1998 in NC.

2 - Lester Deverlin, born Apr. 12, 1913 in NC, died Jul 20, 1988 in Lenoir, Caldwell Co.  His wife was Grace Thelma Bennett, born Jul. 27, 1924 in Avery Co., died Feb. 22, 2005 in Lenoir.

Her obituary:

The Hickory Daily Record, Catawba Co., NC, Feb. 25, 2005

GRACE B. COFFEY

LENOIR - Grace Bennett Coffey, 80, of Rosedale Drive, died Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005, at Gateway Nursing Center.

She was born July 27, 1924, in Avery County to the late Jesse Cleveland and Etta Naomi Hardin Bennett.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Lester Deverlin Coffey; four brothers; and two sisters.

Mrs. Coffey was a homemaker and a member of Zacks Fork Baptist Church.
Survivors include three sons, Donald Odell Coffey Sr. of South Sioux City, Neb., Lloyd Everette Coffey of Taylorsville and Benson Howard Coffey and wife, Teena, of Lenoir; a daughter and son-in-law, Estie Loretta Coffey Smith and Tallie Smith of Lenoir; a stepbrother, Jimmy Kirksey of Hickory; three sisters, Mrs. Virginia Whittington of Lenoir, Mrs. Ollie Coffey of Boone and Mrs. Jean Holdridge of Gainesville, Fla.; seven grandchildren, Jerry Smith, Sharon Smith Clonch, Wayne Smith, Jeannie Smith Childress and Stella Coffey, all of Lenoir, Donald Coffey Jr. of Granite Falls and Gail Coffey Farmer of Arizona; 16 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Friday, Feb. 25, 2005, at 2 p.m. at Greer-McElveen Funeral Home Chapel, conducted by the Rev. Jerry Smith, Ken Osier and Eliza Bishop.  Interment will follow in Woodlawn Memorial Gardens.

Serving as pallbearers will be Cregg Clonch, Ryan Smith, Dustin Smith, Josh Coffey, Scott Coffey, Victor Whittington and Shane Whittington.

The family will receive friends tonight, Thursday, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the funeral home.

For additional information, the family contact person will be Sharon Clonch, granddaughter, at 1216 Cottrell Hill Road, Lenoir.

Memorial contributions may be made to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 9140 Arrowpoint Blvd., Suite 380, Charlotte, N.C. 28273, or the Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Disorders Association, Western N.C. Chapter, 31 College Place, Suite D320, Asheville, N.C. 28801-2644.

Greer-McElveen Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.

3 - Zelma Izora, born Sep. 1, 1915 in NC, died Aug. 6, 1993 in Alexander Co.  She married Lex Garland Campbell, born 1910, died Mar. 8, 1992, also in Alexander Co.  They had at least two children, Betty Lou, born 1935 in Alexander Co., died in Harmony, Irdell Co. on Jan. 24, 2005 and, Gary Lee, born Nov. 25, 1947 in Alexander Co., died Jul. 30, 2005 in Winston-Salem, Forsyth Co., NC

I have obituaries for both of these and will forward on request.

4 - Charley, born 1918 in Avery Co., died Apr. 14, 1919 in Wilson Creek Twp., Avery Co.  His death record gives his name as Chasley, but Lloyd tells me that is an error.

5 - Nettie J., born Feb. 27, 1920 in Watauga Co.  No further info.

6 - Jerry Baxter, born Mar. 21, 1923 in NC, died at Blowing Rock, Watauga Co. on Jan. 14, 1973.

The Watson & Courtney Families, Part I

William Watson was a son of Jerry John and Susanah Lyles Watson. He was born c1848 in Perryville, Perry Co., AR. He is thought to have first married Martha L. Stevenson but nothing is known of this union.

He became part of my Coffee family when in 1879 he married Mary Elizabeth Bowman Coffee, the widow of James M. Coffee, my GG-Grandfather. Mary was the daughter of Joseph T. and Naphania Hardin Bowman.

Joseph, and his father Jesse are well known in the history of the Texas Revolution. Jesse died at the Alamo on Mar. 6, 1836. Joseph was born in Illinois and came to Texas with his parents in 1835. He married Naphania on Jan. 26, 1843 in Hempstead Co., AR.

Mary was the third of the 10 children known to have been born to Joseph and Naphania. She was born Mar. 5, 1846 in DeKalb, Bowie Co., TX. As the wife of James M. Coffee, Mary gave birth to my grandfather, Albert Lilburn Coffee in 1873. Her first child was Sarah Ellen Coffee, born Sep. 19, 1869.

She and William were married and remained in Texas until 1883 when Mary died. She is believed to have died shortly after the birth of her second child. She and William had two daughters, Lillie Wes, born Feb. 10, 1880, and Mary Elizabeth, born Aug. 28, 1883.

William is said to have served on the Confederate side during the Civil War, and either lost an arm or had one that was severely injured.

The family was in Bowie Co., TX in 1880, and both Sarah Ellen and Albert Lilburn were enumerated as step-children of William. Next door to the Watson family was the Finis Ames family. Finis was the husband of Mary E. Coffee, sister to James M.

At the death of Mary Bowman Coffey Watson, William desired to return to NW Arkansas. The Coffee children were turned over to the Ames family and William departed with his two daughters for Crawford Co., AR. His mother was still living in the Lee Creek area of Crawford Co., and this is where he is believed to have temporarily settled. He later moved into the Sequoyah Co., OK area and died in Adair Co. c1918.

His daughter Lillie married William Joseph Courtney on Dec. 23, 1896 in Crawford Co., AR. William's various records throughout nearly his entire life spelled his name Coatney. He was the son of James George and Mary Jane (Polly) Yancey, and was born Dec. 14, 1872 in Lee Creek. He died in Crawford Co. on Apr. 10, 1946.

Lillie and William had twelve children, several of which are thought to still be living:

- Willie Mae, born Dec. 10, 1898, died 1899

- Mary Lela, born Jun. 8, 1899, died Apr. 20, 1999. Mary married Jackson S. Summerlin, a son of Leander A. and Sarah Jane Lewis Summerlin. They were the parents of nine children.

- William Herbert, born Sep. 13, 1901 in Sallisaw, Sequoyah Co., OK, died May 24, 1993 in Muskogee, Muskogee Co., OK. He married a lady by the name of Ellen, and I have no additional information.

- James Virgil, born Dec. 11, 1903, married Jan. 20, 1924 to Essie (Pete) LaBass on Jan. 20, 1924 in Vian, Sequoyah Co. Essie died on Aug. 27, 2001 in Baton Rouge, LA. They were the parents of five children.

- Frankie Mae, born Feb. 15, 1905, died Jul 20, 1934

- George Lester, born Apr. 24, 1908, died Aug. 19, 1979. George married Wilma Carol and they were parents of 10 children.

- Ethel Evelyn, born Jul. 17, 1910, married Albert Clifton Young on May 13, 1928 in Sallisaw. They were parents of six children.

- Meredith Raymond, born May 27, 1912 in Greenleaf, Seequoyah Co., and died Aug. 14, 1999 in Seminole, Seminole Co., OK. he married a lady name Florence who was born Oct. 10, 1914 and died Jan., 1986 in Seminole.

- Garland Clifford, born Jul. 21, 1914, died Jn. 25, 1917

- Cecil Leonard, born Jun. 10, 1917 in Greenlead and died Mar. 26, 1990 in Box, Sequoyah Co. He married Verna Tynes.

- Samuel Harden, born Mar. 3, 1921 in Box. Married a lady named Katherine (Katy). I have no other information.

- Verlin Lorraine, born Sep. 17, 1923, died Dec. 4, 2000 in Glendora, Los Angeles Co., GA. She married Elmer C. Murray, born Jun. 27, 1897, died May, 1974 in San Diego, San Diego Co., CA.

Check out Angela's Attic* for more photographs of this and collateral families.

*Not found in Aug., 2018

Joshua and Mary Coffey Oatts of Wayne Co., KY

The first time I wrote about Joshua and Mary's children, I included a child Sophronia who was said to have first married Cleveland Coffey, then Alexander Bobbitt. Mary (Polly) Coffey was a daughter of Lewis and Biddy Moore Coffey.

After checking census records more closely I find that Sophronia Oatts was born in 1812 and died in 1877. She is buried at the Elk Spring Valley Cemetery in Wayne Co., and not their daughter.

The Sophronia born to Joshua and Polly was 14-yrs old in the 1850 census, indicating a birth year of 1835-36. She is also buried at Elk Spring Valley, and according to the cemetery compilation, she was born Oct. 3, 1839 and died Mar. 14, 1855. This Sophronia appears to not have been married.

So, that leaves me with an unidentified Sophronia Oatts!

The Sophronia Oatts who married Bobbitt can be found in the 1850, 1860 and 1870 census records of Monticello, Wayne Co.

The 1850 Wayne Co. census enumerated Alexander R. Bobbitt, age 38, blacksmith, with wife Sophrona, age 38 [born c1812], and children Jervis T. Coffey, age 17, Mary C. Coffey, age 16, Margaret E. Bobitt, age 12, John Bobbitt, age 9, James W. Bobbitt, age 8, Sarah A. Bobbitt, age 6, Thomas O. Bobbitt, age 1 and Tyre Samson, age 20.

In 1860 she was 46-yrs. old and apparently a widow with children James Bobbitt, age 15, Sallie Bobbitt, age 13, and Therissa [sic] Bobbitt, age 7 in the household. Her age indicates a birth year of c1814.

The Slave Schedule for that year shows Sophronia as owner of one male mulatto, age 12. Next door to her are Lewis Coffey, Jonathan Frisbie, John Frisbie and M.D. Hardin, also slave owners. These are also family names that some of Joshua and Mary's children married into. Nearby is Benjamin F. Coffey with 18 slaves, mostly children. This Benjamin appears to be the younger brother of Mary (Polly) Coffey Oatts and, was born Dec. 10, 1816 and died May 11, 1868 in Wayne Co.

She was enumerated in Wayne Co. in 1870 at age 56. This confirms her approximate birth year of c1814. The only child remaining with her was Theresa, age 18. Lucy Havens, a 20-yr. old black domestic with her child also named Lucy, age 1, were included in the household.

I have no proof other than "tradition" that she married Cleveland Coffey, brother of Mary (Polly) Coffey Oatts, Benjamin Franklin Coffey, and others. Lewis and Biddy Moore Coffey had at least 11 children.

Please contact me at the e-mail address above if you know who this Sophronia Oatts belongs to.