Following notes from Tim Peterman:

Robert married his second cousin, Sarah Coffey (granddaughter of Newton b 1773) and they supposedly had no children. I think Robert died in about 1947 at the age of about 87. He was no doubt named after Robert Vermillion. One of Cleveland’s sons called “Urkle” or something like that told me at a Coffey reunion in Corydon, IA, that Uncle Bob was a heavy drinker and that at age 65 he threw away the bottle and never drank again and lived to be 87.

Memo: We investigated Robert because we were looking to determine who a Tom Coffey, who was a “nephew” found living with Benjamin Coffey in the 1900 census. It does appear that Robert and Sarah had no children of their own, but the census reports that Sarah had a child (presumably by a first husband) who died before the 1900 census. Sarah did not marry Robert until she was age 31, so presumably this was her second marriage.

It is quite possible that this was also Robert’s second marriage, and that he had “Tom” by his first wife before marrying Sarah? No evidence yet, but seems plausible.

Robert and Sarah are found in the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 census for Montgomery County, Illinois. (This is adjacent to the Christian County where Robert was born.)

CENSUS 1930: Robert E Coffey / b: abt 1861 in IL / Head / Living in Coffeen, Montgomery, Illinois
CENSUS 1920: Robert E Coffey / b: abt 1861 in IL / Head / Living in East Fork, Montgomery, Illinois
CENSUS 1910: Robert E Coffey / b: abt 1859 in IL / Head / Living in Fillmore, Montgomery, Illinois
CENSUS 1900: Robbert E Coffey / b: abt Apr 1860 in IL / Head / Living in Fillmore, Montgomery, Illinois
CENSUS 1880: Robert E. Coffey / b: abt 1863 in IL / 0 / Living in Stonington, Christian, Illinois