Sixth Generation

1826. William Lewis Coffey was born on 17 September 1866 in Brown Co., IN. William died in Nashville, Brown Co., IN on 18 May 1934 and was buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in Nashville, Brown Co., IN in May 1934 .⁶⁸²⁹
WILLIAM L. COFFEY, cashier of the Nashville State Bank in the village of Nashville, judicial center of Brown County, and a former county superintendent of schools for this, his native county, is a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Indiana, and his father, the late Judge Richard L. Coffey, was long one of the leading lawyers and influential and honored citizens of Brown County, where he served as judge of the Probate Court, and whence he went forth as representative of this senatorial district to serve with characteristic ability and loyalty as a member of the State Senate, his district having comprised Bartholomew, Brown and Monroe counties and his election to the Senate having occurred in 1879. Judge Coffey was a man of exceptional intellectual and professional attainments and was a graduate of the University of Indiana. He was a son of Lewis Coffey, who was born in either North or South Carolina and who became one of the pioneer settlers in Monroe County, Indiana, where occurred the birth of his son, Judge Richard L. Coffey. Judge Coffey was one of the venerable and revered citizens of Brown County at the time of his death, and his wife, whose maiden name was Julia Mason, passed her entire life in this county, her parents having been sterling pioneer settlers of the county, whither they came over the old Indian trails from Bedford, Lawrence County. William L. Coffey, a member of a family of five children, was born in Brown County on the 17th of September, 1866, and as a boy and youth he profited by the advantages of the public schools of his native county, the while his father was his punctilious preceptor while he was prosecuting his study of Latin and mathematics. He later attended the Indiana Medical College, Indianapolis, but did not complete the prescribed course, as he was drafted instead into the pedagogic profession. By the trustees he was selected principal of the public school of Nashville, and of this position he continued the incumbent until 1903, when he was here elected county superintendent of schools, an office that he retained until 1911 and in which he did splendid service in advancing the standards and coordinating the work of the schools of the county. Since 1911 he has held the executive office of cashier of the Nashville State Bank, one of the leading financial institutions of Brown County. Mr. Coffey is a Republican in political alignment and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias. He was a zealous worker in each of the Brown County drives in the sale of Government war bonds in the World war period, and was chairman of the county committee in charge of the third, fourth and fifth Liberty Loan campaigns in Brown County, besides which he was influential in the county Red Cross drives and in the local movement in support of the Near East relief work. Mr. Coffey married Miss Rose S. [sic] [B.] Clark, of Bedford, Lawrence County, she being a granddaughter of Dr. Charles Clark, who was a kinsman of the great frontiersman and western explorer, George Rogers Clark. Mr. And Mrs. Coffey have five children: Marie, James W., Arthur and Albert [sic] [Alton] (twins) and Margaret.

William Lewis Coffey and Rosa Belle Clarke⁶⁸³⁰ were married on 2 July 1893 in Brown Co., IN.^6831,6832 They^6831,6832 appeared in the census on 1 June 1900 in Brown Co., IN.⁶⁸³³ They⁶⁸³³ appeared in the census on 4 May 1910 in Brown Co., IN.⁶⁸³⁴ William and Rosa⁶⁸³⁴ appeared in the census on 30 January 1920 in Brown Co., IN.⁶⁸³⁵ They⁶⁸³⁵ appeared in the census on 2 April 1930 in Brown Co., IN.⁶⁸³⁶ Rosa Belle Clarke, daughter of Edward B. Clarke and Charlotte Crouch, was born on 22 January 1872 in Brown Co., IN. She lived in Brown Co., IN on 21 August 1937. She lived in Brown Co., IN on 12 October 1940. Rosa died in Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN on 25 May 1946 and was buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in Nashville, Brown Co., IN in May 1946 .⁶⁸³⁷

William Lewis Coffey and Rosa Belle Clarke had the following children: