Murder of James Hardy Coffey

According to the book, Until He Is Dead: Capital Punishment in Western North Carolina History, by James Thomas Rusher, and published by Parkway Publishers, Boone, North Carolina, 2003, Ernest Reid Coffey was the first and only person ever convicted of first degree murder in Avery Co., NC.

He was accused of and sentenced to death for the assassination of his uncle, James Hardy Coffey. James was the younger brother of Reid's father, John Wesley Coffey. They were sons of Thomas Avery and Louisa E. Gragg Coffey.

During the evening of April 5, 1936 someone fired a single shot from a 12 gauge shotgun into the living room of the Hardy Coffey home, near Linville, NC, killing Hardy, a deputy sheriff in Linville. At the time, Linville was a resort area and Hardy was responsible for assuring the homes of absent owners were safe from thieves.

Reid Coffey, and some of his pals, were known trouble makers in the area and circumstances of the day and evening of the murder made him the prime suspect. The author's description of the law, the background and sentiment of the people of those days in North Carolina are not discussed here, but Coffey researchers should find the book to be a valuable connection for their library.

The author dissects the trial quite well, pointing out discrepancies in testimony, the appeals process and the then governor's commutation of the death sentence as well as the eventual release of Reid from prison. Intermingled in all of this are described the efforts of Reid's father to see that his son did not unfairly die for a crime of which he believed his son to be innocent.

To my knowledge, no one else was ever charged with the murder of James Hardy Coffey.

This murder was not the first tragedy to affect this family. Thomas Avery Coffey was a son of Austin and Mary A. Blalock Coffey. Before her marriage to Austin, Mary had given birth to two illegitimate children: William McKesson (Keith) Blalock in 1837, and Mary in about 1842.

When she and Austin married, Austin raised the children as his own. During the Civil War Keith fancied himself a Yankee and made plans to help the Union cause. He and his wife, Malinda Pritchard joined the Confederate army - she disguised as a young boy - and both hoped to defect to the Union side whenever their CSA unit was near or engaged with a unit from the Union side.

According to history however, their CSA unit was sent to an area of NC where action was limited. Malinda was discovered to be a female when during a skirmish she was shot in the shoulder. She was discharged and a month later Keith was discharged. He is said to have undressed and rolled around in poison ivy. The result was that he became so sick the CSA had to let him go home.

Upon his return home, he and some of his henchmen began to transport Union recruits through the Confederate lines. Between August, 1864 and February, 1865 Blalock's gang became responsible for a reign of terror that resulted in many deaths, including his own uncle William Coffey, brother to Austin. Elisha Coffey, Keith's cousin and probable son of Joseph and Isabella Lindsay Coffey, is said to have been a member of Keith's "bushwacker" gang.

As that war is often described, it was really brother against brother, father against son.

Click on the title to read an earlier blog about James Hardy Coffey.

McDonald Stephen and Hazel Evelyn Blalock Johnson

This entry could easily have been named "All in the Family."

McDonald (Don) Johnson and Hazel Blalock were distant cousins. Don was the son of McCrourie Cromwell and Myra Angeline Coffey Johnson while Hazel was the daughter of Columbus Filmore and Theodocia Coffey Blalock.

Don was born Apr. 14, 1908 in Watauga Co., and died on Jun. 23, 1972. He is buried at the Boone Fork Baptist Church Cemetery in Watauga Co. Hazel was born Dec. 8, 1912 in North Carolina* and died on Apr. 6, 1984. She too is buried at Boone Fork. I do not have a marriage date for them. Hazel was apparently the second wife of Don. His first wife was Caroline (Carrie) Hawthorn.

I have not found any children born to Caroline. Don and Hazel had at least three children, all born after 1930, who cannot appear here due to privacy concerns.

Columbus Filmore (Lum) Blalock was a son of the infamous William McKesson (Keith) Blalock and his wife, Sarah Malinda Pritchard. "Keith," as some may recall, was the Union sympathizer who ran rampant through some parts of western North Carolina during the Civil War. His mother, Mary Blalock, married Austin Coffey and brought "Keith" and another child, a daughter also named Mary, to the union. Austin raised both children as his own.

Austin was somewhat of a Union sympathizer as well, which put him somewhat on the "outs" with his brothers, McCaleb, William and Reuben who were staunch Confederates. This caused some consternation within the family, and William was eventually slain by a man named Perkins on the orders of "Keith."

Nice guy, huh!?

Theodocia, Lum's wife, was the daughter of Thomas Avery and Louisa E. Gragg Coffey. Thomas was the son of Austin and Mary, and a half-brother to "Keith." "Docia" was Lum's third wife. He first married Emma McNeely followed by Esther Caldonia (Donia) Calloway. Children by Esther were Lilac, Fuchsia, Violet and George. With all those colorful names for the girls, it seems that they should have tagged George with "Red", "Blue" or "Green" for a nickname. Give the parents credit however, for not giving the girls the almost obligatory names of Sarah, Mary or Elizabeth!

Esther later married George Banner and had a daughter which they named Esther. Theodocia was also married twice. Her last husband was Luther Farthing who died in Watauga Co. on Jul. 2, 1934.

Myra Angeline Coffey, mother of McDonald Stephen Johnson, was born Mar. 9, 1871 in Watauga Co., and died there on May 14, 1938. She was the daughter of Jesse Patterson and Phoebe Matilda Curtis. Phoebe was sister to Louisa Adeline Curtis who married Jesse's brother, William Clayton Coffey, Jr. It was William Clayton, Sr. who was killed by "Keith" Blalock's men.

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

*Some researchers report that Hazel was born in Oregon and only came back to North Carolina after her father died in Oregon in 1925. The 1920 census for Bend, Deschutes Co., OR for the family has Hazel born in North Carolina. No other birth record has been found to confirm that she was born in either place.

David N. Coffey

In the photo from left to right, is Arthur Hill Dula*, his wife Mary Jane Coffey; Theodicia Coffey Blalock, and David Nathaniel Coffey.

Mary Jane and Theodocia are sisters, and children of Thomas Avery and Louisa E. Gragg Coffey. Thomas Avery and Nathaniel were brothers, sons of Austin Coffey and Mary Blalock.

Theodocia married Columbus Filmore (Lum) Blalock, a son of William McKesson "Keith" and Sarah Malinda Pritchard Blalock. "Keith" was a son of Mary Blalock by an unknown father.

David Nathaniel married Caroline Lavinia Coffey, a daughter of Levi L. and Temperance Calloway Coffey. Levi and Austin were second cousins.

The dress seems to indicate that the photo was taken in the 1920's. Columbus (Lum) and Theodocia went to Bend, OR where they were enumerated in the 1920 census. Lum died in Bend on Oct. 6, 1925**. Theodocia later married Luther Farthing, and died in Watauga Co., NC on Feb. 14, 1941. Lum had been previously married, first to Emma McNeely in 1884 and second, to Esther Caldonia Calloway.

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*See earlier blog on this family
**Oregon Death Index, 1903-98. Salem, Oregon: Filmed by the Oregon State Archives and Records Center, [1998-] . Name: Blalock, Columbus Filmore County: Deschutes Death Date: 6 Oct 1925 Certificate: 118