Henry and Sarah A. Coffey Steele

Sarah A. Coffey was born to Leland and Myra Coffey.  Myra's maiden name is said to have been Day.  Sarah's exact birth date given in some genealogies as Apr. 27,1834 in Burke Co., NC has not been confirmed by me.  She is known to have married Henry Steele on Dec. 16, 1866 in Caldwell Co., NC.*

The only known child born to Sarah and Henry was John Finley, born May 26, 1867 in Caldwell Co., died Oct. 14, 1958 in Roxboro, Person Co., NC.**

Sarah died c1869 and was buried at the Thompson-Steel Family Cemetery† in Lenoir, Caldwell Co.

John Finley married Martha E. Whitener, a daughter of Sidney M. and Eliza Elvira Haas‡ Whitener on Mar. 9,1892 in Lower Creek Twp., Caldwell Co.  Martha died Aug. 20, 1947 in Roxboro.  The only child that I am aware of was Henry W., born in Oct.,1899 at Little River.

Henry remarried sometime after Sarah's death but I have not followed the line.  Henry does appear in the  1900 census at Lower Creek  with his wife Mary, and were the parents of the head of the household, James D. Steele.

Leland Coffey was a son of Smith and Hannah Boone Coffey.  Smith was a son of Thomas and Elizabeth Smith Coffey‡

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*North Carolina Marriages, 1759-1979 , digital images, FamilySearch.Org (www.familysearch.org).

**Death Certificate for John Finley Steele, death certificate No. 28190 (14 October 1958), Bureau of Vital Statistics, North Carolina State Board of Health, Caldwell Co., NC and familysearch.org


†I believe this cemetery is more commonly referred to by locals as the Steel Family Cemetery.  Correction requested.


‡Sidney and Eliza were married 8 Mar. 1860 in Caldwell Co.  However, the bride's maiden name was given as Lee.  Could be a name from a previous marriage or, a mistake/omission by the clerk who issued the license. This family is mentioned in the Laurence H. Coffey compilation of Thomas Coffey and His Descendants (Chattanooga, TN; N. Sanders, pub.)