Rev. Adolphus Coffey 1836-1909

Adolphus was born Sep. 16, 1836 in North Carolina, just a few months following the fall of the Alamo in March of that year.  He was a son of Larkin and Catherine H. Wilson Coffey.  Larkin descends from Edward through Thomas and Sarah Fields Coffey.  Adolphus was the next to youngest of at least seven children born to Larkin and Catherine.

Sometime after about 1830 and, before 1850, Larkin and Catherine left NC and went to Morgan Co., IL where they appeared on that county tax rolls in 1840[1].  By the 1850 census the family was in Monroe Co., IN where they stayed until around 1870 when some of the family was found in Owen Co.  Larkin died in Owen Co. in 1881 and was buried at the Coffey Cemetery in Ellettsville, Monroe Co., IN.  Catherine died in Jun, 1857 and is also buried at Ellettsville.

On Sep. 26, 1860 Adolphus married Susan Harriet Miller [2], a native of New York, by having been born there in Jan., 1838.[3]  In 1870 this couple was in Tuscola, Douglas Co., IL.  In 1875 (perhaps) Susan died in Owen Co. and was buried at a Coffey family cemetery in or near Ellettsville.  During their short marriage of 15 years, Susan gave Adolphus five children:  H. Walter, born 1862, IN; Homer Ernest, 1863-1841, married Ina Sproul and had numerous children; Minnie, born c1864; Ezra M., born 1865, married Geneva R. Oakes in CA on Aug. 27, 1896.[4]  Their last was Katie, born 1868 in IL.

After Susan Miller Coffey died, Adolphus married another Susan, Susan Frances Stoneman, the daughter of Henry and Fanny.  The Stoneman mother and father and their first three children (George, Henry and Charles) were all born in England.  They arrived in NY on May 31, 1836 aboard the ship Lord Ramsey.[5]
Susan was age 30 when she and Adolphus married.  She can be found with her parents first in Putnam Co., IN in 1850 and later in 1860 and 1870 in Owen Co.  She was the mother of at least three children with Adolphus before she died in 1927.  Her children were Fanny, 1876-1939; Anna Lois, 1877-1944 and H. Reul, 1878-?.  Anna married Niles Roy Mossman in Owen Co. in 1913.  She died rather tragically when a hunter’s bullet found her as she walked in a field near her home.

Adolphus served with Co. H, 13th US Infantry Regiment, Indiana during the Civil War.  He died on Mar. 20, 1909 at the Illinois Soldier and Sailor Home in Quincy, Adams Co., IL.  He was returned to Ellettsville and buried at the Coffey family cemetery.

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[1] Charles Blanchard, Editor, Counties of Morgan, Monroe and Brown, Indiana. Historical and Biographical (Chicago, IL: F. A. Battey & Co. Publishers, 1884), Page 502.
[2] Indiana Marriage Records Index, 1845-1920;.Index to Marriage Records Indiana: Indiana Works Progress Administration, 1938-1940.
[3] Unsourced
[4] California County Marriages, 1850-1952, index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XL76-X61 : accessed 7 June 2012), Ezra M Coffey, 1896.
[5] Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897 and Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957.  Also arriving on that date and ship was the John Stoneman family from England. John was 45, his wife Ann, age 40. Children were Mary, Phillip, William, Ann, Joseph, Thomas, and John. Children ranged in age from 19 to 6.

James Brown & Harriet E. Coffey Blair (Update)

This photo was sent to me by Gail Hewett, a descendant of James and Harriet.  It is in remarkably good condition.  The young man in the photo is Fredrick Blair, their grandson and son of Gilliam Colbert "Cub" Blair.  According to Gail, James and Harriet raised Fredrick after his mother died.

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Harriet Coffey was the daughter of Gilliam and Mary (Polly) Moore Coffey.  Gilliam was a son of William and Anna (Annie) Boone Coffey who descends from Edward and Ann Powell through their son John and his son Thomas Coffey who married Sarah (Sally) Fields.  Thomas was a brother to Reuben Coffey who married Martha (Polly) Dowell.

In her note accompanying the photo, Gail wrote that Polly Moore may be the daughter or Job and Susan Stone Moore.  Job was known to minister to boys at the Globe Academy.  Gail thought that Polly may have been Cherokee, taken in by Job to help care for the boys, and perhaps to save her from the "Trail of Tears."  Her daughter, Harriet, appears to me to have the quaint and beautiful features of a Native American woman.  In this photograph, taken c1908, she is still a very attractive woman, and must have been a real beauty in her younger years.

Harriet was born Sep. 6, 1843 in Cedar Valley, Caldwell Co., NC and died Dec. 12, 1937 in Elizabethton, Carter Co., TN.  She is buried at Harmony Baptist Church Cemeter in Keeneburg, Carter Co.  James Blair was born in May 1845 in Caldwell Co.  We're working on it, but do not yet know when and where he died or, where he is buried.

Their children were:

Henry Lee, born c1869

Gilliam Colbert "Cub", born Jul. 15, 1870, died Dec. 9, 1934.  He is buried at the Concord Church Cemetery in Bostic, Rutherford Co., TN

Harvey, born c1873

John C., born Jan., 1875

Job W., born c1878

Mary E., born Dec., 1881

Hatibel, birth unknown

Lillie M., born May, 1887

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

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Hi Jack,


James Brown Blair was born May 1, 1844 in Cedar Valley, Caldwell Co., N.C. He served in the Confederate army during the Civil War. Was captured and held prisoner at Rock Island Il. until the end of the war. He and Harriet Coffey were married Oct. 7, 1866. He died May 24, 1929 in Carter Co. Tn. He and Harriet are buried at Harmony Baptist Church in Keeneburg Tn. ( just outside of Elizabethton). He was the son of Colbert and Mary (Polly) Barnes Blair.

Harriet E. Coffey Blair was born Sept. 6,1843 in Caldwell Co. N.C. She died July 19, 1937, and is buried next to James in Harmony Baptist Church cemetery in Keeneburg , Carter Co., Tn.

If I can help you any further just let me know.

Another Coffey Cousin,

Gail

The Henry Stoneman Family

Susan Stoneman entered the Coffey family when she became the second wife of Adolphus Coffey on Mar. 12, 1874 in Owen Co., IN. See the Homer Ernest Coffey, and the Anna Lois Coffey Mossman blogs for more information about this Coffey family.

Susan's parents were Henry and Fanny Stoneman. The family arrived in New York from Bidford, England on May 31, 1836 aboard the ship Lord Ramsey. Included on the passenger list were three of their children, George S., born c1832; Henry B., born c1834; and Charles G., born c1836. Their other children, all born in New York were John R., born c1838; Richard J., born c1841; and Susan, born c1844.

Update Jun. 14, 2013:  Fanny is probably Fanny Strong who married Henry Stoneman on Dec. 23, 1930 in Bedminster, Somerset, England.

There was another Stoneman family on board the Lord Ramsey, but I have not established a family connection. That family consisted of John Stoneman, age 45, his wife Ann, age 40. Children were Mary, Phillip, William, Ann, Joseph, Thomas, and John. Children ranged in age from 19 to 6.

The Henry Stoneman family worked its way west, landing on a farm in Greencastle, Putnam Co., IN in 1850. I have not found them in the 1840 census. In 1860 they are found in Spencer, Owen Co., and in 1870 in Clay Twp., Owen Co. By 1880 Fanny was deceased and Henry was confined in the Owen Co. Asylum. He died on Mar. 8, 1882 in Gosport, Owen Co.

The 1860 census shows the child Anna E. Coffee [sic], age 4, born in Indiana, as a resident in the Henry and Fanny household. This was about 14 years before Susan would marry Adolphus.

At least three of their sons, George, Henry B. and Richard served on the Union side during the Civil War. They were all members of the 14th Indiana Infantry Regiment, and all appear to have survived that struggle.

In addition to Susan, I have looked at the family of Henry B., second eldest son of Henry and Fanny. Henry B. married Rhoda R. Dale on Mar. 8, 1866 in Owen Co. They had at least two children: Jennie, born c1867 and Walter E., born c1872. After the war Henry seems to have lead the typical life of a farmer. He and Rhoda moved to Washington Twp. in 1880 where she apparently died before 1910. In that year Henry B. was a widower and resided in the household with Jennie and her family.

Jennie married James Ahern, a son of Irish emigrants, who was born in Indiana in c1863. He and Jennie were married in Owen Co. on May 14, 1890. James was a locomotive engineer and the family later moved to Indianapolis in Marion Co. They were in that city in 1910 when Henry B. came to live with them.

Jennie and James had at least four children: William, born 1892; Ileen, born 1895; Rhoda, born c1899; and Katherine, born c1902.

Please contact me at the above e-mail address if you can identify Anna Coffee, or if you can add to or correct any of this information.

Homer Ernest Coffey

Homer Ernest Coffey was a son of Adolphus and Susan H. Miller Coffey. He was born in Oct., 1863 in Illinois and died May 21, 1941 in Los Angeles, CA. Somewhere between Illinois and California he married Ina Sproul, a daughter of Henry and Melissa Jane Grainger Sproul. The marriage probably occurred in California because their first child was born there.

Adolphus was a native of North Carolina where he was born Sep. 16, 1836 to Larkin and Catherine H. Wilson Coffey. Adolphus married Susan H. Miller on Sep. 16, 1860 in Owen Co., IN. Susan was born on Jan. 26, 1838 in New York and died in Owen Co. on Oct. 10, 1873. They were the parents of five children. Adolphus was married a second time to Susan F. Stoneman on Mar. 12, 1874 and fathered three additional children.

Homer was the second of the five children born to Adolphus and Susan. In 1880 he was a resident in the Owen Co., IN household of his cousin Asbury Coffey. By 1900 he and Ina had been married for 11 years, and resided in Ventura Co., CA where Homer worked as a carpenter. By 1910 they had moved to Los Angeles where Homer continued to work as a carpenter, and by 1920 the family was living in Orange Co. where Homer went to work in the oil fields. Ina died on Dec. 7 of that year in Placentia, Orange Co. and was buried on Dec. 9, 1920 in Loma Vista Cemetery at Fullerton.

Homer had apparently retired by 1930 because he did not provide an occupation in the census taken in April of that year. He died on May 21, 1941 in Los Angeles and was buried on May 24, 1941 in Loma Vista.

There were eight children born to the union of Homer and Ina:

- Walter Floyd, born Oct. 27, 1889 in Santa Paula, Ventura Co., and died in San Francisco on May. 20, 1947. He was buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery at San Bruno in San Mateo Co. Walter married Bernice Alameda Holbert who was born Jul. 6, 1898 in Terre Haute, Vigo Co., IN. She died on Nov. 23, 1958 in San Francisco and was also buried at Golden Gate.

In 1930 he and Bernice resided in Orange Co. where he worked as a warehouseman for an oil company. By 1936 they had relocated to Los Angeles where Walter worked as a carpenter.

Their children were: Walter Keith, born Jun. 14, 1929, died Feb. 22, 1978; Mary Ellen - no dates; and Robert Sidney, born Jul. 17, 1936, died Aug. 21, 1961.

- Fred Everett, born Mar., 1891, died Apr. 21, 1947. He apparently remained a bachelor for sometime. He was employed in the motion picture business in Santa Monica in 1920.

- Harley Adolphus, born Apr. 12, 1893 in Santa Paula, and died Jun. 14, 1973 in Medina Co., OH. He married a Hungarian born lady by the name of Christine. She emigrated to the US in 1900 and was naturalized in 1917. In 1928 they resided in Los Angeles. According to voter rolls, they remained in Los Angeles as a couple until about 1937 or 1938. From 1938 until about 1945 they resided at different addresses in Los Angeles Co. By 1946 however, they were again living as man and wife in Los Angeles Co. I believe they had only one child, a daughter named Evelyn J., born c1921. When Harley registered for the WW1 draft in Orange Co. on Jun. 5, 1917, he described himself as being of medium height with slender build, blue eyes and light colored hair.

- Leonard O., born Jul., 1895. By 1930 Leonard was a prisoner in the state penal farm at Angola, Louisiana.

- Agnes R., born Aug. 26, 1898. Agnes married George Walter Bowen, born Dec., 1898 in Louisiana to Samuel and Victoria A. Bowen. George was an oil field hand in 1920 Orange Co. By 1930 the family resided in Huntington Beach, Orange Co. where George worked as an oil field draftsman. I know of one child, a daughter Beverley Agnes, born Oct. 12, 1925 in Los Angeles Co. Prior to her marriage Agnes was a stenographer in Fullerton, Orange Co.

- Avis, born Jul. 6, 1901. In 1922 she was also a stenographer in Fullerton.

- Donald Keith, born Jul. 6, 1904, died Apr. 23, 1984 in Ventural Co. He married Ora P. c1928 in California. Their children were Donald Homer, born Jun. 28, 1928 and, Edith Lorraine, born Oct. 6, 1929.

Additions and/or corrections can be sent to me at the above e-mail address.

Anna Lois Coffey Mossman

Anna Lois Coffey Mossman

Anna Lois Coffey was the daughter of Adolphus and Susan F. Stoneman Coffey. She was born Oct. 13, 1877 in Newark, Green Co., IN, and died Jun. 18, 1944 in Chester Co., NJ.

Her father was born Sept. 16, 1836 in North Carolina, and died Mar. 20, 1909 in Quincy, Adams Co., IL. Nothing is known of her mother's birth and death dates or places*. They were married Mar. 12, 1874 in Owen Co., IN.

Adolphus descends from Edward and Ann Powell Coffey through their son John and his son Thomas. Thomas' son Larkin, who married Catherine H. Wilson, was Adolphus' father.

Anna had at least two other siblings: Fanny M., born 1875, and H. Ruel, born 1878. Nothing is known of their Fanny's descendants. H. Ruel married Alice Eklund.

Anna was a school teacher, and author of many educational publications, including Industrial Arts for Elementary Schools which she co-authored with Frederick Gordon Bonser in 1923.

She retired as associate professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University in 1943, and died when "shot and killed by a ricocheting bullet at her Cherry Hill Farm in Gladstone, New Jersey, Sunday afternoon, June 18th."

I have read that "...it is clear that historians of industrial arts and technology education have neglected to consider that a woman--Lois Coffey Mossman--had more to do with the establishment of industrial arts than did any other person."

Click on the title link to read more about this fascinating woman.

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Anna's mother was Susan Frances Stoneman, a daughter of Henry and Fanny Stoneman. More information about her family can be found here.