Ninth Generation

14746. Webb Granville "Wibb" Coffey was born on 28 May 1883 in Farmersville, Collin Co., TX. Webb died in an automobile accident on 19 April 1929 at the age of 45 in Wharton, Wharton Co., TX and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Victoria, Victoria Co., TX on 21 April 1929.^{40169,40170,40171}

News Item, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, TX, Sun., Apr. 21, 1929, Section: Society News, Page 10

Two Men Killed When Auto Strikes Truck

Victoria, Texas, April 20 - Webb G. Coffey, 45, Victoria business man, was fatally hurt and Henry Saens, 47, former Deputy Sheriff of this county, was killed instantly Thursday night when their automobile collided with a parked truck.

The accident happened near Pierce when they were passing another automobile. Mr. Coffey, who formerly lived at Farmersville, died early Friday.

The Victoria Advocate, Victoria, TX, Sun., Apr. 21, 1929

Transcribed by Melonie Williams-Masih July 1995 and submitted 8/12/2015

Webb G. Coffey, 46, local representative of the American Maid Flour Mills of Houston and proprietor of the American Maid Bakery here, who was fatally injured in an automobile accident at Pierce Thursday night, met death with wonderful bravery according to all accounts reaching Victoria.

Mr. Coffey died in the hospital in Wharton about three hours after the accident. Contrary to early reports, his body bore no cuts or bruises but practically every bone in his face was broken and his skull was badly fractured. Yet he managed to extricate himself from the wreckage and remained conscious to within a few moments of his death.

After freeing himself from the wreckage his first thoughts were of his family and his companion, former Deputy Sheriff Henry Saens who was killed instantly and when informed of his companion's fate she [sic] [he] showed great emotion. He told those who had gathered at the scene of the accident that he knew he could not live and he hoped and prayed he could see his family before he died. He was able to speak despite the fact that his jaw was broken and most of his teeth were knocked out and as he spoke his whole face quivered so badly had it been crushed while only his scalp seemed to hold his skull together.

When the ambulance the [sic] conveyed him to Wharton arrived, Mr. Coffey insisted on riding on the front seat with the driver, declaring that he was all bloody and knew he was going to die and that it was unnecessary for him to soil the bedding. But before he reached Wharton he was persuaded to enter the ambulance.

Dr. H. B. Reeves of El Campo attended Mr. Coffey at the hospital and spoke of his case as one of remarkable heroism in the face of death. He sat up in bed and conversed freely with the doctor and other hospital attendants. "I'm pretty badly hurt, am I not, doctor?" he inquired. Dr. Reeves told him his injuries were serious and he commented they must be "for I hurt all over." He repeatedly spoke about his family and his desire to see them. They left Victoria for Wharton immediately after being informed of the accident and that Mr. Coffey had been taken there and would have reached the hospital in time to see him alive but for taking a wrong detour and traveling about 50 miles out of their way as they arrived just a short while after he died.

"Doctor, I know I can't live" the dying man said as he suffered intense pain without complaint and he added "Yes, I know I'm going to die and but for seeing my family I wish it was all over with."

Finally he said he was growing cold - so cold - and he asked the nurses to pull the cover around him. His thoughts then were of his family again and his very last thoughts of his wife, whom he always called "Sweetheart". "Sweetheart, I am sorry I said what I did to you," he murmured, seeming to __?__ ___?__ little difference.

The morning before leaving on the fatal trip he had been especially attentive to his wife, washing the dishes and sweeping the floors and trying to gratify her every wish as if he had a presentment that these would be his last moments with her. "Sweetheart," "Sweetheart," he kept calling, with each last breath growing fainter and fainter, and then he suddenly collapsed and expired. "What a brave man!" the doctor whispered as he turned from the bedside with tear-dimmed eyes.

Among the Victorians who last saw Mr. Coffey and Deputy Saens before the accident was Southern Pacific Conductor T. C. Williams, who was piloting a freight train into Houston. He passed them at Mackay about six o'clock and saw them a few minutes later as they were driving into Wharton. Only they were in the car, he said. And another Victorian who saw them returning said nobody else was with them. There are different versions of the collision but it has been clearly established that a truck stopping suddenly ahead of them caused the crash. The headlights of an approaching car had blinded the driver of the truck and caused his machine to leave the highway. It was pulling a heavily-loaded trailer and the Victoria car ran into the trailer, which was standing at an angle on the road. The other car in the collision was occupied by A. M. Dawe, a barber of Wharton, and his wife, Mrs. Dawe, suffering from shock, received treatment at the Wharton Hospital but received only minor injuries, it is said. The Coffey car was hauled to Victoria Saturday morning. It is almost a total wreck.

The Coffey funeral will be from the residence at 301 North DeLeon Street at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon with interment in Evergreen Cemetery. The pallbearers will be A. T. Andersen, T. M. Scott, Albert Poehler, Ed Wagner, Dr. R. W. Ward and J. P. Pool, jr., the first named two of the Masonic Order, of which the deceased was a member. Rev. J. C. Felger, pastor of the First English Lutheran Church, will conduct the rites. The Saens funeral will be held from Mission Dolores this afternoon at five o'clock with burial in the Catholic Cemetery. The pastor of Mission Dolores will officiate.

Webb Granville "Wibb" Coffey and Katherine Agnes "Katie" Hartsell were married on 26 October 1902 in Collin Co., TX.⁴⁰¹⁷² They⁴⁰¹⁷² appeared in the census on 19 April 1910 in Farmersville, Collin Co., TX.⁴⁰¹⁷³ They⁴⁰¹⁷³ appeared in the census on 16 January 1920 in Victoria, Victoria Co., TX.⁴⁰¹⁷⁴ Katherine Agnes "Katie" Hartsell, daughter of James Joseph Hartsell and Henrietta M. Whitmarsh, was born on 25 October 1885 in Jackson, Hinds Co., MS. She appeared in the census on 11 April 1930 at 307 N. De Leon in Victoria, Victoria Co., TX.⁴⁰¹⁷⁵ Katherine died of metastatic carcinoma on 13 May 1964 at the age of 78 at Twin Pines Rest Home in Victoria, Victoria Co., TX and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Victoria, Victoria Co., TX on 15 May 1964.^40176,40177

Webb Granville "Wibb" Coffey and Katherine Agnes "Katie" Hartsell had the following children: