The Elrod Family of Watauga Co., NC

I recently received as a gift A History of Watauga County by John Preston Arthur (Richmond, Everett Waddey Co., 1915).  It was brand new and still in the cellophane wrapper when it was presented to me.  It's probably unnecessary for me to tell you - especially if you are a descendant of most anyone in Watauga County - that a large number of families in that county in the 1800's were either related by blood or by marriage.  Many of them are represented in this work by Arthur.

Some researchers have told me that Author made many mistakes in connecting some of the families but, so far, all have checked out pretty accurately; that is, I have not yet discovered any gross errors.  I am using census records to confirm family members, marriages, births, and where available, death records found at Ancestry.com.

So, for the foreseeable future, I'll be filling in some of the blanks that I have for many of those early families and reporting on a few of them in the blog.

---

The Elrods are said to be from France.  Conrad Elrod, the father of William, is first found in 1800 Burke County and again in 1810 in Morganton, Burke Co.  William's mother was not named by Arthur.  Conrad was not found in the NC census after 1810.

William Elrod appeared in the 1820 Ashe County census.  There were no other heads of household with that name in the NC census that year.  William married Elizabeth Lowrance and was the father of at least two children:  Alexander, born c1823 and Mary, born c1827.  There were probably others but, I have not yet found them.

Mary married  Thomas Cook c1845 and at least five children resulted from that union:  James Hamilton, born 1849; Sarah, born c1852; Martha Ellen, born Jul. 3, 1858; Alberton, born c1861 and Julia, born c1868.

Martha Ellen married Thomas Carlton Coffey on Nov. 14, 1875 in Watauga Co.  Thomas was born to Jesse Calton and Nancy Raines Coffey on Jan. 1, 1853 in Haywood Co., NC.  He died Dec. 17, 1915 in Watauga Co. and was buried at the Coffey Family cemetery at Blowing Rock.  Martha Ellen died Mar. 25, 1939 and was also buried there.

They had at least 13 children; too many to describe right now.  However, drop me a note if you are interested in their descendants.   I will get to them in later blogs.

Alexander Elrod was born c1823.  His wife was Mary B. "Polly" Shearer, born c1833 in NC.  I have not yet found a marriage date or death dates for them.  He and Polly had at least nine children.  Their fourth child and first son was William Thomas, born Apr. 17, 1858, died Aug. 4, 1941 in Caldwell Co., NC.

William married was married c1881 to Laura Velora Green, a daughter of Augustus and Sarah Green.  She was born May. 29, 1862 and died Sep. 15, 1923 in Caldwell Co.  I do not yet know where either of them are buried.

He and Laura were parents of at least seven.  Their fifth child and third daughter Lester Pearl Elrod married Roby Columbus Coffey.  Roby was born Jun. 16, 1881 and died in Boone on Sep. 26, 1964.  He is buried at Mt. Zion Baptist Church cemetery in Hudson, Caldwell Co.  Lester Pearl died on Aug. 17, 1939 in Forsyth Co. but I do not know where she was buried.

Roby Columbus was a brother to John Wesley "Happy John" Coffey, sons of Joseph Reubin and Martha Elizabeth Gragg Coffey.  They and Thomas Carlton were second as well as third cousins.

Levi Coffey

Levi - first child and son of Rice and Dorotha Jane Medaris Coffey:

This child was born in North Carolina c1829 and died Jul. 20, 1863 in Knoxville, Knox Co., TN from wounds received while serving with Co. G., 65th Inf. Regt., GA in the Civil War. He married Catherine Kilpatrick c1852 in (probably) Cherokee Co., NC.

Catherine was born Nov. 24, 1830 in Haywood Co., NC and died between 1910 and 1920 in (probably) Shoal Creek, Cherokee Co., NC. She was the daughter of Balis Jackson and Mary E. Hunter Kilpatrick,

Levi and Catherine's children were:

1 - Susan Malissa, born in Cherokee Co. in Feb., 1853, died there on Oct. 19, 1944. She married Jesse Coleman on Mar. 10, 1870 in Murphy, Cherokee Co. He was born Apr., 1850 in Cherokee Co., and died there in 1925.

Their children were:

Laura, born Dec., 1870

Martha Jane, born c1873

Mary Etta, born Oct. 11, 1875

William, born Feb. 6, 1878

Monroe, born May, 1881

Milos Milton, born Jun., 1886

2 - Ann, born c1853

3 - Mary Jane, born Mar., 1857, died Mar. 26, 1931 in Benton, Polk Co., TN. She married William Elrod on Oct. 26, 1882 in Shoal Creek. He was born in May, 1854 in Georgia and died Apr. 10, 1923 in Fairplay Twp., Fannin Co., GA.

4 - William, born Feb., 1858 in Cherokee Co., and died in Polk Co., TN c1898. His wife was Sarah Saleny Womble, a daughter of early Polk Co. settlers, George and Mahala Vaughn Womble. Sarah was born Feb. 7, 1853 in Polk Co., and died Jun. 30, 1916 in Campbell Co., TN.

Their children were:

Emma Jane, born 1888, died c1956

Mary Adeline, born Feb. 17, 1891, died Jun. 26, 1920 in Knoxville, TN. She married Simon Peter Angel on Oct. 19, 1912 in Campbell Co. Their children were Nellie Leoma, born Jan. 28, 1916, died Mar 21, 1981; and Edith Ella, born apr. 13, 1918, died Dec. 31, 2005.

Margaret Catherine, born Jan. 14, 1894, died Jan. 2, 1971

Dock Charles, born May 10, 1896 in Polk Co., died Jun., 1973 in Clermont, Butler Co., OH. Dock married Elizabeth Jane Turner on Jul. 25, 1920 in Polk Co. She was born May 27, 1903 in Cumberland Co., TN, died Feb. 8, 1981 in Chattanooga, Hamilton Co., TN. Their children were Charles, born Jun, 18, 1921; Robert Lee, born Jan. 2, 1923, died Feb. 11, 1989; Myrtle Marie, born Dec. 10, 1924; Paul Erskine, born May 21, 1927 and Betty June, born Jun. 10, 1929.

5 - Adaline Ann Dorcus, born c1860

6 - John J., born May 1862 in Cherokee Co. He married Mary Burnett in 1884 in Cherokee Co. She was born in NC in May, 1874.

Their children:

Charles, born May 29, 1889, married Birdie Wilhoit

Lillie - no other information

William Fredereick, born Jul. 26, 1895 in Ducktown, Polk Co., TN. He married Laura, last name unknown.

John Oscar, born NC on Sep. 23, 1898 died Jul., 1878 in LaFollette, Campbell Co., TN. He married Pearl May Pierce.

Emma Helen, born Aug., 1899. She married Rosco Hooks.

Florence, born 1902, married Jake Smith

Please contact me at the above e-mail address to add to or to correct any of this information.

Roby Columbus Coffey

Roby Columbus Coffey was called "Uncle Potter" by his family. He was born Jun. 16, 1881 to Joseph R. and Martha Elizabeth Gragg Coffey and died in Sep., 1964 in North Carolina. In about 1907 he married Lester Pearl Elrod who was born to William G. and Laura V. Green Elrod in about 1889.

Roby and Lester had nine children, all born in Watauga Co.:

Hellen, born about 1906
Dallas Eugene, born Jul. 3, 1907
Deward Belmont, born May 15, 1909, died May 6, 1994
Omer Roby, born Mar. 2, 1912, died Jul. 16, 1998
Ruby Almeda, born May 8, 1914
Dennis Owen, born Feb. 20, 1918
Edward, born Feb. 16, 1921
Unnamed dau., born Jul. 24, 1922
Unnamed dau., born Nov. 18, 1923

Although not known for certain, the last two children were likely to have been stillborn.

Deward married Maude Eliza Mays, born Nov. 17, 1909 and had at least two children: Douglas Bruce, born Feb. 5, 1952, died Jul. 23, 2003, and Deward Burris, born Jul. 21, 1942, died Aug. 22, 2004.

Omer Roby married May Tester and they had at least two children: Arthur Wayne, born Oct. 9, 1933, and Mary Janice, born Nov. 10, 1935.

I have no information on the other children.

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