Sixth Generation

1903. Anna Lois Coffey⁷¹²³ was born on 13 October 1877 in Newark, Greene Co., IN. Anna died on 18 June 1944 at the age of 66 in Chester Co., NJ and was buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Chester, Morris Co., NJ.^7124,7125

EDUCATOR KILLED BY HUNTER’S SHOT

Dr. Lois C. Mossman Victim of Ricocheting Bullet on Her Jersey Farm—Youth Held

Dr. Lois Coffey Mossman, 66 years old, retired Associate Professor of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, was killed by a ground hog hunter’s bullet at her Cherry Hill Farm at Gladstone, N. J., on Sunday, it was disclosed yesterday by the New Jersey State Police.

William Donald Shafer, 18 years old, the hunter, has been arraigned on manslaughter charges. He was released from Morris County jail yesterday on $5,000 bail to await the action of the September grand jury.

Trooper Philip O’Reilly of the Netcong Barracks, who investigated the accident, said Shafer appeared at the Mossman farm on Sunday afternoon with John Hoffman, 43, of Fox Chase Road in Chester township. “The boy asked Mr. Mossman, the victim’s husband, if he could hunt ground hogs in the back field of the farm,” Trooper O’Reilly said. “Mr. Mossman, not knowing that his wife was up in the field, but thinking that she was in the house, gave his permission.

“On their way to the field the two men saw a ground hog and crouched. Shafer fired at it just as it was going into a high hedge row. Neither could see Mrs. Mossman, who was about 300 feet behind the hedge. Shafer missed and the bullet ricocheted off a rock. Almost immediately Hoffman and the boy heard a moan and discovered Mrs. Mossman’s body.”

The bullet, fired from a .22-caliber rifle, struck Mrs. Mossman below the right collarbone, resulting in almost instant death. Dr. Ray Mutchler, Morris County physician, will perform an autopsy.

Shafer, who lives in Gladstone, will be graduated from Bernardsville High School on Thursday. Mr. Hoffman was not held.

Dr. Mossman was appointed to the faculty of Teachers College as an instructor in 1911, and retired in 1943 with the rank of associate professor of education. She was born in Newark, Ind.; was graduated from the Emporia (Kansas) State Normal School in 1905; received her master’s degree from Teachers College in 1920 and her Ph.D. in 1924. She taught in Kansas, New Mexico and served as assistant to the principal of the West Illinois State Normal School.

Besides her husband, Niles Mossman, she leaves a son, Reuel, and a stepdaughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Drysdale. Private funeral services will be held at the Cherry Hill Farm at 2:30 P. M. on Thursday.

The New York Times
Tuesday, 20 Jun 1944

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."

Anna Lois Coffey and Niles Roy Mossman⁷¹⁰⁸ were married on 12 June 1913 in Owen Co., IN.^7126,7127 At the time of marriage, Mr. Mossman was a school teacher and a resident of Fresno, CA. Anna was also a teacher and a resident of Spencer Co., IN. Niles Roy Mossman, son of Wallace Calvin Mossman and Minerva Acheson, was born on 15 March 1878 in Albia, Monroe Co., IA. He appeared in the census on 22 April 1930 in Chester, Morris Co., NJ.⁷¹²⁸ Niles died in January 1970 at the age of 91 in Gladstone, Somerset Co., NJ and was buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Chester, Morris Co., NJ.^7129,7130

Anna Lois Coffey and Niles Roy Mossman had the following children: