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| John in center behind hay rake |
John William Coffey was a son of William and Mary Ann Cantrell Coffey and a grandson of Charles Oliver Coffey and his wife Diana. John William was born on Dec. 12, 1858 in Texas and died of pneumonia in Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., TX on Dec. 18, 1932. He was buried at Mountain Peak Cemetery in Midlothian, Ellis Co., TX.
"Nannie" Record was born May 9, 1871 in Tennessee to Joseph S. and Ellen Culbertson Record. She died of heart failure in Fort Worth on Jan. 28, 1946 and was also buried at Mountain Peak.
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| Nannie on the right in black skirt |
Nancy and John moved around the state of Texas quite often. In 1900 they were in Ellis Co., and before that in Cleburne Co.; in 1910 in Kaufman Co.,; in 1920 they lived in Hill Co., and finally in Tarrant Co. Most of their 13 children were born in Kaufman Co.
William Henry "Willie" was their first child and was born Nov. 18, 1887 in Tolosa. He died unmarried on Jan. 6, 1955 in Fort Worth.
The second child was a male named A. T. born in 1889. I haven't yet determined what they stand for. He was probably a stillbirth.
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| Harrison Clyde & Tassie May Coffey Riddels |
Next came Tassie May on Mar. 10, 1891 in Cleburne, Johnson Co. and died Feb. 3, 1948 at Pilot Point in Denton Co. She died as the result of an accidental gunshot wound by a nephew. She was buried at the community cemetery in Tioga, Grayson Co., TX. Her husband was Harrison Clyde Riddels/Riddles.* Clyde was born Jan. 20, 1885 at Waxahachie in Ellis Co and died on Dec. 31, 1964 at Gainesville in Cooke Co., TX. He is also buried at Tioga.
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| Bonnie Lucy, Wm Henry, Tassie & Booker T. |
Their fourth child was Bonnie Lucy, born Aug. 26, 1895 in Ellis Co. A death date and place hasn't been found yet. She married Riley Glenn Sloan, a son of James "Jim" and Martha Lane Glover Sloan. He was born Jan. 20, 1890 in Tolosa and died Dec. 29, 1967 at White Settlement in Tarrant Co. He was buried at Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park in Fort Worth. Bonnie is likely buried there as well.
Child number five was probably a stillbirth as he was born and died in Ellis Co. on Jan. 23, 1898. In the genealogy that I have seen, he was named "Little Java."
There is some question in my mind about the next three children. They were all born within 27 months of each other making it likely - in my estimation - that at least two of the named children were the same child.
Parlon Booker was number six, born May 22, 1900 in Tolosa and died there on Jan. 16, 1909. Booker T., was number 7, born c1901 but no substantiating records have been found. Family members have no idea what became of him. Mary Ellen was number eight and she was born Sep. 12, 1902 in Tolosa and died in Dallas on Jan. 15, 1986.
The way I figure it, there were 27 months between the birth of Parlon Booker and Mary Ellen. If there was a child named Booker T. born in 1901, that would mean the mother was giving birth every nine months over a course of two years, three months. That is rather difficult to believe and I doubt that any mother of that era would have been able to survive.
The ninth child born to John and Nannie was Rada Rachel on Jan. 26, 1905 in Tolosa. She died on Mar 16, 1977 in Odessa, Ector Co., TX. Her husband was Robert Earl Barnes, born Mar. 17, 1899 in TX, died Nov. 17, 1965 in El Paso, TX. He was buried at Shannon Rose Hill Cemetery at Fort Worth. A burial place for Rada hasn't been found but she is likely also at Shannon.
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| Areal Carl, Jessie Hazel & Warren Douglas |
Jesse Hazel was next, born Mar. 18, 1907 somewhere in Texas and died Aug. 21, 1940 at Covington in Hill Co., TX. Jesse married Hershel Brown Giddins, born Jul. 26, 1896 in Texas and died Apr. 14, 1981 in Terry Co., TX. Jesse is buried at Itasca in Hill Co. Hershel's burial place is not yet known.
John William, Jr. followed in March, 1908 but died the following December in Tolosa.
Warren Douglas "Dub" Coffey was number 12, and was born Dec. 11, 1910 in Kaufman Co., and died Jul. 3, 1987 in Fort Worth. Dub married Vera Lois Ingram, a daughter of Frank and Pearl Ingram. She was born Apr. 2, 1910 in Sevier Co., AR and died Dec. 12, 1946 in Fort Worth. Vera and Dub are buried at Mount Olivet in Fort Worth. Dub's second wife was Blanche Corine Miller. They married in Feb., 1967 in Parker Co., TX. He apparently married a third time; there is another marriage record in Parker Co. for Warren D. Coffey, born c1911, to Audrey M. Gilley on Oct. 3, 1970.
The last child born to John William and Nannie Record Coffey was Areal Carl "Sparky", born Jan. 13, 1913 in Tolosa. He married Zola Beatrice Rives on Jan. 18, 1930 in Marietta, Love Co., OK. He died Jul. 17, 1985 in Burleson, Johnson Co., TX. Zola was born Sep. 3, 1914 in Paris, Lamar Co., TX and died June 21, 1987 in Burleson.
*All death records and headstones spell the surname Riddels while some family members tell me that it is correctly spelled as Riddles.
Photo are courtesy of Laura Coffey Moore, a descendant of John William.
