James David Coffey was born Nov. 2, 1837 in Monroe Co., IN and died Mar. 3, 1899 in Owen Co., IN. He was a son of Archelaus & Rachael Wilson Coffey; Archelaus a son of James D. and Hannah Alloway Strange Coffey.James was the second child and first son born to Archelaus and Rachel. He married (date not known) Martha Jane Coffey, a daughter of Isom and Martha Smock Coffey.
Martha was born Jan. 2, 1841 in Monroe Co., IN and died in Owen Co., IN on March 26, 1899. She and James were second cousins, both descended from Reuben and Sarah (Sally) Scott Coffey.
James and Martha had at least two children: John, born c1863 of which nothing more is known. Their second child was Rosa Etta, born Mar. 8, 1868, died Mar. 22, 1920.
Rosa Etta married James Abraham Pauley, born Jun. 15, 1861 in Monroe Co., IA, and died on Sep. 30, 1943 in Albia, Monroe Co. He was the son of Solomon P. and America Smock Pauley. They had three children, one of which died young. The other two were daughters, Doris, born c1901 and Margery, born c1905.
James and Rosa are buried in Hickory Grove cemetery, Monroe county, Iowa.
James' father, Archelaus, was a native of Wilkes Co. in North Carolina who came to Monroe Co., IN with his parents in 1834. He lived there until 1860 when he moved to Owen Co. He and Rachel were married in Ashe Co., NC in 1834, the year the family departed for Indiana. For more information about Archelaus see Tales of Pioneers: History of Owen County, Indiana, Vol. II published by the Spencer, IN Chamber of Commerce in 1963.
The photographs and updated birth, marriage and death dates for the James David Coffey family are courtesy of Roxanna Crail, a great-granddaughteer of Rosa Etta Coffey Pauley.
