Seventh Generation

4378. Jacob W. Coffey was born on 4 June 1871 in Lyndhurst, Augusta Co., VA.¹⁴¹⁵¹ He lived with his parents in Nelson Co., VA on 22 August 1880. Jacob died of heart and kidney disease on 28 September 1936 at the age of 65 in Goshen, Rockbridge Co., VA and was buried at Bells Valley Cemetery in Rockbridge Co., VA in an unmarked grave.^{14152,14153,14154}

Family history, as related to me by Shirley Houk, Jacob and another man by the name of Adolphus Tappey were charged with robbing a post office. Stella made a statement prior to trial that implicated Jacob and Tappey.

At the time, Jacob was married to Sallie Fitzgerald who was the mother of Stella and former wife or common law wife of Benjamin Hite. Benjamin is thought to have been the father of Stella but there is some doubt. Letters and other evidence indicates that he was but not his "legitimate" daughter. It is then unknown if he actually fathered her, or perhaps just took her in.

Tappey, with the aid of another named Henry Weeks kidnapped Stella prior to the robbery trial and forced her to recant before a local magistrate. A few weeks later, Benjamin Hite had a confrontation with Weeks and the latter was shot and killed (May 1894). Benjamin was sent to prison but released sometime later after his mother wrote letters to the governor.

Jacob is said to have fled to West Virginia after the robbery and was apparently never convicted of the robbery. After Sallie died, Jacob married Stella. She had been previously married to William Henry Ingram. The marriage record her and Jacob names her parents as Sallie Fitzgerald and Ben L. Hight [sic].

Jacob W. Coffey and Sallie Jane Fitzgerald were married on 24 April 1891 in Rockbridge Co., VA.^{5159,14155,14156} Sallie Jane Fitzgerald, daughter of Parks G. Fitzgerald and Sarah Ramsey, was born circa 1866. Sallie died on 29 August 1928 at the age of 62 in Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., OH and was buried at Bells Valley Cemetery in Rockcastle Co., KY in an unmarked grave.

Jacob W. Coffey and Stella Austin Hite-Ingram were married on 20 January 1929 in Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., OH.¹⁴¹⁵⁷ Stella Austin Hite-Ingram, daughter of Benjamin Hite and Sallie Jane Fitzgerald, was born circa 1878. Stella died on 15 April 1938 at the age of 60 in Goshen, Rockbridge Co., VA and was buried at Bells Valley Cemetery in Rockbridge Co., VA in an unmarked grave.¹⁴¹⁵⁸