Fourth Generation

104. McCaleb Coffey was born on 22 August 1803 in Wilkes Co., NC. He appeared in the census in 1840 in Wilkes Co., NC.³⁶³ [NEED TO DEFINE SENTENCE:Misc.]³⁶⁴ He was elected Caldwell Co., NC Commissioner on 6 June 1868.³⁶⁵ McCaleb died on 17 February 1881 at the age of 77 in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC and was buried at Harpers Chapel Cemetery in Patterson, Caldwell Co., NC.^366,367,368

"McCaleb Coffey, as youngest child, was born (near what is now Patterson, NC) August 22, 1803. Before him were William (the father of Gilliam, Wilborn, Daniel. and Calvin Coffey, and Celia Curtis now or late of this county), Reuben, Martha (wife of Rev. James Dowell), Lewis, and Larkin, who migrated to the West about fifty years ago, Elijah, who went farther South about the same time, and Sarah, who married Samuel Stewart, of Burke County, North Carolina.

"McCaleb, soon after his majority, on February 5, 1828, married Elizabeth Collett, a sister of John Collett, Esq., of Burke, and Abraham Collett, of Cherokee County and settled in what was then known as the upper dark hollow of the Yadkin River, where he kindled the cheerful light of a home, since widely known as well for the thrift and hospitality of its inmates as for the noble brood of sons and daughters reared and trained under its shelter. Here sixteen children were born to him, of whom nine survive, four sons: T. J. and W. C. Coffey, of Boone; Charles L. Coffey, of Lower Creek; and Henry C. Coffey of Mulberry; and five daughters: Mrs. J. J. Steele, Mrs. David Farthing, Mrs. Thomas Coffey, and Misses Martha and Jennie Coffey who,with their mother, yet remain at the old homestead. Besides these,there are seventeen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren surviving him.

"Without seeking to praise the living, it is but justice to the dead to say that children so taught by precept or example as these have been are the best gifts a citizen can bestow upon the State. To their prudence, energy, and uprightness their several counties owe much, and their immediate neighborhoods very much of their prosperity and reputation.

"McCaleb Coffey was one of the last and best specimens of an almost extinct class of men. He was a hunter, pioneer, and backwoods farmer. Never long absent from the place where he first laid his hearthstone, commencing life with scanty means, he was able by steady work and just dealing to erect a slightly and commodious mansion, to raise a large family and equip them for active life, and to accumulate a sufficient fortune for the support of his old age.

"While never seeking public position, be was once induced by the united voices of his fellow citizens to act as chairman of the first Board of our County Commissioners, and made a faithful and painstaking officer.

"He died February 17, 1881, at his home above Patterson, and was buried February 19, at Harper's Chapel, within sight of the roof tree under which he was born. Without ambition, save to live uprightly and do what he found to be his duties at home, of rare prudence in speech and action, never busied in the affairs of others, inflexibly just, yet not uncharitable, this plain farmer's long life was so useful, clean, and pure that as he was followed to his grave by three generations of his descendants and a large concourse of his neighbors. after more than three-fourths of a century spent under the shadow of the same hills that towered over his birthplace, there was not one in all the throng who pressed near the coffin for a last look at the well-known gray head but who could say, 'a good man is gone.'"

[Only 12 children can be accounted for from the census record. The others may have been stillborn or died in early childhood.] Probate began on 21 February 1881 in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC when his son Charles L. Coffey was appointed as executor of his estate. McCaleb's wife, Elizabeth had renounced her claim to be the administrator on the same date.³⁶⁹

Bond was posted on 2 February 1828 ³⁷³ McCaleb Coffey and Elizabeth "Betsy" Collett³⁷³ were married on 5 February 1828 in North Carolina. They appeared in the census on 17 September 1850 in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC.³⁷⁴ They³⁷⁴ appeared in the census on 19 July 1860 in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC.³⁷⁵ McCaleb and Betsy³⁷⁵ appeared in the census on 29 July 1870 in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC.³⁷⁶ They³⁷⁶ appeared in the census on 16 June 1880 in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC.³⁷⁷

From an unknown 1958 publication:

100 Persons Attend Reunion of Wellborn, Coffey, Robbins Families

The Wellborn, Coffey and Robbins reunion was held Sunday at the old Coffey homeplace on the Blowing Rock road. The place is now owned by Louie Wellborn, a descendant of McCaleb Coffey, the original owner who settled there in 1828.

The present home was build in 1830 in what was then known as "The Upper Dark Hollow of the Yadkin River." The back wing of the house was added at the time of the wedding of McCaleb Coffey's granddaughter, Carrie Elizabeth Coffey, to Joseph H. Wellborn, the father and mother of the present owner.

Before the picnic dinner a short talk on the history of the Robbins ancestors was given by R. C. Robbins. R. C. Meadows of Moravian Falls gave a history of the Wellborn kin.

A delightful picnic dinner was spread under a big weeping willow tree, which is nearly one hundred years old and was grown from a riding switch stuck into the ground.

There were about 100 persons present. among them were Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Robbins, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Austin, Mrs. Bessie Miller, Lenoir; Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Meadows, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Meadows and daughter, Sarah, Moravian Falls; Mr. and Mrs. Guy Gibbs Wellborn, Mrs. Gertrude Wellborn, Wilkesboro; Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Carpenter and family, Rome, Ga., Roger Gibbs Wellborn, Burlington; Miss Clyde Wellborn, Mr. and Mrs. T. Hamp Robbins Jr., Charlotte; Guss Brown, Hendersonville. Elizabeth "Betsy" Collett, daughter of Charles Collett and Permilla Parks, was born on 8 March 1809 in North Carolina. Elizabeth died on 6 July 1887 at the age of 78 in North Carolina and was buried at Harpers Chapel Cemetery in Patterson, Caldwell Co., NC.^378,379

Birth, death and parental information for Elizabeth was found at the website:
http://www.craskfiles.com/

McCaleb Coffey and Elizabeth "Betsy" Collett had the following children:

+485	i.	Thomas Jefferson Coffey.
+486	ii.	Charles Lewis Coffey.
+487	iii.	Sarah A. Coffey.
+488	iv.	Mary Lou Coffey.
+489	v.	William Columbus Coffey.
490	vi.	Margaret E. Coffey was born on 19 December 1839 in North Carolina. She lived with her parents in Yadkin Dist., Caldwell Co., NC on 17 September 1850. She lived with her parents in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 19 July 1860. Margaret lived with her parents in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 29 July 1870. Margaret died unmarried on 17 September 1873 at the age of 33 in Patterson, Caldwell Co., NC and was buried at Harpers Chapel Cemetery in Patterson, Caldwell Co., NC.380,381,382 A history of Watauga County, North Carolina : with sketches of prominent families, by John Preston Arthur, and published in Richmond by E. Waddey Co., 1915 reports that Margaret died unmarried.
491	vii.	Martha Elizabeth Coffey was born circa 1840 in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC. She lived with her parents in Yadkin Dist., Caldwell Co., NC on 17 September 1850. She lived with her parents in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 19 July 1860. Martha lived with her parents in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 29 July 1870. She lived with her parents in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 16 June 1880. She lived with her brother-in-law Thomas Coffey in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC on 15 June 1900. Martha lived with the William Jefferson Austin family in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 15 April 1910. She lived with Carrie Coffey Wellborne in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 22 January 1920. Martha died of hypostatic pneumonia on 13 June 1927 at the age of 87 at home in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC and was buried at Harpers Chapel Cemetery in Patterson, Caldwell Co., NC on 14 June 1927.383,384
+492	viii.	Henry Clay Coffey.
493	ix.	James F. Coffey was born circa 1843 in North Carolina. He lived with his parents in Yadkin Dist., Caldwell Co., NC on 17 September 1850. He lived with his parents in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 19 July 1860. James died of diptheria on 15 August 1862 at the age of 19 in Petersburg, VA. Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA on 17 August 1862 .385,386
+494	x.	Frances Caroline "Carrie" Coffey.
+495	xi.	Rachel M. Coffey.
496	xii.	Julia Jane "Jennie" Coffey387 was born on 5 December 1852 in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC. She lived with her parents in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 19 July 1860. She lived with her parents in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 19 July 1870. Jennie lived with her parents in Yadkin Valley, Caldwell Co., NC on 16 June 1880. She lived with her parents in Patterson Twp., Caldwell Co., NC on 16 June 1880. She lived with her brother Columbus in Watauga Co., NC on 1 June 1900. Jennie lived with her brother Columbus in Boone, Watauga Co., NC on 2 January 1920. She appeared in the census on 5 April 1930 in Boone, Watauga Co., NC.388 Julia died of apoplexy on 3 August 1954 at the age of 101 at home in Boone, Watauga Co., NC and was buried at Boone, Watauga Co., NC on 4 August 1954.389,390 Watauga Democrat, Thursday, August 5, 1954 Miss Jennie Coffey, 101 years Old, Succumbs Tuesday Noon Miss Jennie Coffey, aged 101 years, Watauga county's oldest citizen and pioneer merchant of Boone, died at her home Tuesday noon, following a long period of failing health. Funeral services will be conducted from the Boone Methodist Church today (Wednesday) at 3 o'clock. The pastor, Rev. J. T. Shackford will conduct the rites and interment will be in the city cemetery. Miss Coffey was born in Caldwell county December 5, 1852, and had resided in Watauga for more than seventy-five years. In her early years here, she established a millinery shop, and sold school text book and school supplies, and was in business here longer than any other person. She was a member of the Methodist Church throughout her adult life and for more than half a century had taught an adult Sunday School class. She had retired from active church work, and business activities some years ago, but hadn't suffered critical disability until the last few months. Miss Coffey was the last survivor of a family of 16, which included the late Capt. Thomas Coffey and Mr. W. C. Coffey of Boone. Survivors include a number of nieces and nephews, among whom are Mrs. Nell Linney and Mrs. Remmel Porter of Boone. Aunt Jenny Coffey, Daughter of First Chairman Caldwell Board of Commissioners, Dies Miss Julia Jane Coffey, 101, daughter of Caleb Coffey, who served as first chairman of the Caldwell County Board of Commissioners when this county was formed, died at her home in Boone yesterday. Funeral services were conducted at the First Methodist church there at 3 o'clock this afternoon. Interment was made in the Boone cemetery. Known to a host of friends and relatives in this section of the State as "Aunt Jennie," she was born in Caldwell county in December 1852. She had made her home in Boone for the last three-quarters of a century. She had operated a millinery shop in Boone for many years. She was the last surviving member of Caleb Coffey in which there were 16 children. She was a great-aunt of Clarence P. Coffey of Lenoir, and was related to Walter Sullivan, Earl Austin, Howard Powell, Ed Lee Steel, Harold F., D. Archie and Miss Irene Coffey and others in Lenoir and the county.