Seventh Generation

6343. Victor Hugo Coffey²⁰⁹⁶⁸ was born on 30 May 1858 in Morgan Co., IN. On 16 December 1895 he was appointed postmaster at Clatsop Co., OR.²⁰⁹⁶⁹

Announcement, The Oregonian, Portland, OR, Tue., Dec. 17, 1895, Page 3

Postal Changes in Oregon.

Washington, D.C., Dec. 16--The postoffice name of Hare, Clapsop county, Or., has been changed to Svensen, and Victor H. Coffey commissioned postmaster. Victor died in Astoria, Clatsop Co., OR on 25 April 1953 and was buried at Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton, Clatsop Co., OR on 28 April 1953 .^{20970,20971,20972}

Astoria Budget, April 27, 1953, page 1.

"Services for Victor Hugo Coffey, 94, pioneer Clatsop county resident and former mayor of Warrenton and county assessor, will be held Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at the Memorial chapel of the Hughes-Ransom mortuary.

"Coffey died Saturday morning at 8:30 in Warrenton. The Rev. Hugh Michelmore, pastor of the Clatsop Plains Memorial Presbyterian church will officiate and burial will be in the family plot in Ocean view cemetery.

"Serving as casket bearers will be Robert Magnuson, Slaton Hughes, Ames Fenton, Lawrence Barrick, Clyde Cristy and Jacob Bosshart. The honorary pallbearers will be George Warren, Dan Warren, Walter Kamp, Frank Cook, Clarence Harris, S.A. Knutsen, Clarence Kelson, Orton Ager, George Kelly, George Coats, Richard Ely and Quincy Robinson.

"Coffey was born May 30, 1858 in Morgantown, Ind., the son of James and Louisa Coffey, pioneers of that area. At the age of six, he moved with the family to Wellman, Iowa, where he attended public school. He later attended medical school at Iowa City, Iowa.

"In his earlier years, Coffey had worked as a clerk in stores in Iowa and for a time, was deputy sheriff in Shelby county. He left Iowa in 1885, largely because of a breakdown in health and came to Astoria. After having worked as assessor until 1887, he established his own general merchandise store at 11th and Bond streets and in 1891, moved to Svensen, establishing the first post office there.

"Coffey operated a store and the post office in Svensen for several years before returning to Astoria to continue in the mercantile business. He later operated a store in Hammond for a short while and in 1906, moved to Warrenton where until his retirement in 1918, he operated the Warrenton Grocery and Butcher company.

"Coffey served as mayor of Warrenton for several terms and during his tenure, initiated the building of the street lighting system and organized the volunteer fire department.

"He was married in Amish, Iowa on December 18, 1879 to his late wife, Anna, who died in Warrenton in June 1941. Surviving him are two sons, Jay H. Coffey, Warrenton, and Victor H. Coffey, John Day, Ore. two daughters, Mrs. Nell Kindred and Mrs. Mame C. Davey, both of Warrenton; eight grandchildren and nine great grandchildren."
"For the greater part of twenty-seven years Victor H. Coffey has been a resident of the North West and possesses the alert, enterprising spirit which has wrought such wonderful development in this section of the country, resulting in the building of a "western empire" that rivals the east in all that indicates business activity, intellectual, moral and social progress. He was born in Morgan County, Indiana, May 30, 1858, his parents being J.W (James Wilson) and Louisa (Norman) Coffey. In 1864 the family removed to Washington County, Iowa, settling upon a farm which continued to be the father's place of residence until his death in 1897. His widow still survives and is now living with her son Victor at the advanced age of eighty-five years. They were pioneer settlers of the northwest and through their influence and efforts contributed to the substantial development and improvement of the section of the state in which they lived. Their family numbered eight children: L.M. (Lemuel Lewis M.), who is living in Clatsop County; J.L (John Taylor) who is farming in the same county; B.F. ( Benjamin Franklin) and J. N.(James Norman) who are residents of Hammond; J.L (Joseph Lane) who is living in West Chester, Iowa; Victor H., of this review; and two who have passed away. In taking up the personal history of Victor H. Coffey we present to our readers the life record of the one widely and favorably known in the northwest. He was but a young lad of six years when with his parents he came to Iowa and until eighteen years of age remained at home with his parents, after which he began clerking in a store in Dayton, Iowa, where he spent four years. He afterward located at Wellman, Iowa, where he devoted two years of clerking, after which he went to Shelby County, Iowa, where he filled the office of deputy sheriff. In 1885 he removed to Oregon and secured a claim in Clatsop County, on which he resided for a year. Much of the land in that district was still wild and unimproved and in the intervening years he has taken an active and helpful part in the work of progress and upbuilding. He remained upon the farm for a year and then he removed to Astoria, where he served as county assessor for one term. On his retirement for office in 1887 he turned his attention to general merchandising, conducting a store in Astoria for seven years, after which he sold out and removed to Warrenton. Here he opened a general mercantile establishment and is still engaged in the business. He keeps a carefully selected line of goods and his well appointed establishment and honorable business methods insure him a liberal patronage,. He has prospered as the years have gone by and is now an active and valued factor in commercial circles in his adopted city. Nor has his activity been confined alone to individual interests. He has been closely associated with public affairs and for three terms has served as mayor of Warrenton, giving to the city a business like and public-spirited administration, characterized by many needed reforms and improvements. On the 18th of December, 1881 Mr. Coffey was united in marrage to Miss Anna M. Brandt, who was born in Trenton, New Jersey. August 7, 1862 and is a daughter of Phillip J. and Mary (Raisner) Brandt. Her parents were both natives of the north of Germany and came to America in the early '50's, first settling in New Jersey, where they lived for a number of years. They afterward became residents of Johnson County, Iowa, where the father died in 1896 while the mother in now living in Iowa City at the age of eighty-one years. In their family were eight children: Henry Brandt, who is retired and living in Iowa City, Iowa; Mrs Coffey; and six who are deceased. Unto Mr. and Mrs Coffey have been born seven children; P.H. (Phillip) at home; Katie M. who is now a milliner of Astoria; Charles, who was born March 5, 1887 and died on the 27 of July on the same year; and Mary L., Nellie H., Java H., and Victor H., all yet under the parental roof. In addition to an attractive home in Warrenton Mr. Coffey owns a good ranch of 150 arces. His wife is a member of the Lutheran Church and he holds membership with the Dayton Lodge, No 149, A.F.&A.M. of Wellman, Iowa. He has not affilated with the order in Oregon, however, yet is in the full sympathy with the beneficent spirit of the craft and its principles concerning mutual helpfulness. He is preeminently a businessman, active, alert, and energetic, and as the years have gone by he has met with a substantial measure of success, which is the merited reward of earnest and , persistent labor. The history of the northwest is largely familiar to him, as he has been a witness of much of its growth and development and at all times he has stood for that which is best and most progressive in the business life of the community and in the advancement of its moral, intellectual and social interest."

Victor Hugo Coffey and Anna Mary Brandt²⁰⁹⁷³ were married on 18 December 1881 in Washington Co., IA.²⁰⁹⁷⁴ In census years 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 Victor Hugo and Anna Mary appeared in the census records of Clatsop Co., OR.²⁰⁹⁷⁵ They²⁰⁹⁷⁵ appeared in the census on 20 April 1940 in Warrenton, Clatsop Co., OR.²⁰⁹⁷⁶ Anna Mary Brandt, daughter of Phillip J. Brandt and Mary Reasner, was born on 7 August 1862 in Trenton, Mercer Co., NJ.²⁰⁹⁷⁴ Anna died in Warrenton, Clatsop Co., OR on 7 June 1941 of an embolism caused by vascular hypertension and was buried at Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton, Clatsop Co., OR on 11 June 1941 .^{20977,20978,20979}

Victor Hugo Coffey and Anna Mary Brandt had the following children: