An
Examination of the Coffey Families Living in and Around Russell County,
Kentucky, in the 1800's.
By: Fred Coffey
(comments may be sent to FredCoffey@aol.com )
And: Kevin Coffey
Memo:
The note you are now reading is posted at:
http://www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo
The
Coffey Cousins
Convention 2009 took place in Russell County, Kentucky, on May 1
& 2, 2009. As background for this, and because of our family roots in
Russell and adjacent counties, we undertook to examine ALL the Coffey names
found in the 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 censuses. We
also examined as many abstracts of other early 19th century
information as we could find. And we attempted to connect them all to a Coffey
Family Genealogy.
This
project includes Adair, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, Green, Pulaski, Russell and
Wayne Counties (and their predecessor counties). You can see a map, and see how
these county borders have changed over time, if you click on the following.
(This is a fairly large file, with graphics, so be patient. It is actually
intended to be a notebook cover, should you decide to create a notebook with
all the good stuff we are about to reveal.J)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/CoffeyCover.pdf (1
page, 640 kb)
QUICK
COFFEY BACKGROUND:
Our
examination to date suggests that all of the Coffey families in these counties
descend from Edward
Coffey, who was first found in Virginia in about 1699. And further, they are
all believed to all descend from two of Edward's sons - John and Edward Jr. Many genealogists
believe John and Edward Jr. were twins.
The
genealogy of John's
descendants is
better known than that for his brother Edward Jr. And three of John's sons, Benjamin*,
William
and James,
are represented with descendants in these counties. Son William
is represented by descendants of his son Osborne. And James
is represented by descendants of his sons Joel, John, Lewis, and Reuben.
*(Through
Benjamin's daughter Jane. Her presence in Kentucky was a late discovery, not yet
fully worked into this report.)
Edward
Junior is a bit more problematic.
We know he existed, but know little about his family. Genealogists have
typically believed he had a son Chesley, and that Chesley was the ancestor of another very large group of
Coffey Cousins. But it's hard to even find any solid evidence for the existence
of this Chesley. Perhaps the men believed to be Chesley's sons are actually the sons of Edward?
I
can't resolve that issue here. So I will just adopt the "generally
accepted wisdom" of prior genealogists. I will assume Chesley
DID exist, and that Chesley's sons included Salathial,
Chesley Jr, Nebuzaraden,
Martin
and Joel.
And all of these had some presence or descendants in these counties.
SHORTHAND:
For
convenience, we are going to use a shorthand label to summarize the early
origins of the people we find. After a couple of quick examples, you'll grasp
the concept:
For
example, when we say "Ed/EdJr/Che/Sal" we
are talking about people who descend from the patriarch Edward, through his son
Edward Jr, through his son Chesley,
through his son Salathial.
And
if we say "Ed/John/Jam/Joel" we are talking about descendants of
Edward, through his son John, through his son James, through his son Joel.
And
all the names you will encounter in the first four generations are highlighted
in the preceding section. Got it?
OVERVIEW
SUMMARY:
We're
going to bury you in information shortly, but first we'll offer a very short summary
document with our findings. Click on the following link. (It is recommended you
print this file before continuing reading:)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/Statistics.pdf (3
pages)
The
first two pages show, by census year and by county, the origins of the people
with Coffey names.
The
overall population picture is apparent:
The
"Ed/EdJr/Che/xxx" families were mostly
found in Russell and Adair Counties (Russell was part of Adair until 1826).
The
"Ed/John/Jam/xxx" families favored Wayne County.
And
the "Ed/John/Wil/xxx" families particularly
liked Casey County.
The
third page shows the number of "Coffey Cousins" that are found in
later census (1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930) – these are years that we have
not tried to link to our Genealogy. Also we have shown the various creative
ways the census takers or the census indexers have found to screw up the Coffey
name!
HERE
COMES THE PAPER!
We
created a "book" and shared it at the Convention. A hard copy of that
book is now in Bonnie Culley's CCC Library. You're now invited to print your own
copy from the following. (Or, if
the printer load scares you, you can view each of the documents electronically
on your computer.)
I
would recommend that you click on each of the following links, print the
documents, and lay them side-by-side (or insert in a notebook):
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/Genealogy.pdf (31 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/1810Census.pdf (4 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/1820Census.pdf (5 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/1830Census.pdf (6 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/1840Census.pdf (7 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/1850Census.pdf (8 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/1860Census.pdf (10 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/1870Census.pdf (11 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/1880Census.pdf (12 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/Tombstones.pdf (4 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/GenIndex.pdf (23 pages)
There
are three more files, whch are meant to be combined
into a single package:
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/MiscAbstracts.pdf (21 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/AbstractsIndex.pdf (13 pages)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/JoelPuzzle.pdf (1 page)
Hey,
if you go the notebook route, use the "CoffeyCover"
document introduced earlier for your cover. And, if you buy a set of
"Avery Ready Index Reference Dividers – 15 Tabs" you can use
the following for your index tab labels and for a notebook spine insert. CAUTION: Print a copy on plain
paper as a test first, before inserting the actual Avery index sheet into your
printer! There may be an alignment problem with the "pdf"
file. If it doesn't work, you can recreate within a few minutes by following
the instructions that come with the Avery dividers.
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/IndexTabs.pdf (2 pages)
Oh,
the discussion you're now reading can be printed and inserted behind the first
tab. Excluding this discussion, the total printer load
will be over 150 pages! Suggest you buy a notebook that can contain up to 200
pages.
READING
THE GENEALOGY DOCUMENT:
CAUTION:
We
do NOT claim this volume is correct. I went out and found the biggest "Chesley" genealogy I could find, and then started
trimming and modifying it to suit my needs. I have since pulled in genealogies
and data from MANY sources, as was needed to find a home for everybody –
this included using Jack Coffee's "Chesley
Project" and his "Edward Project", both of which can be found at
the Coffey Cousins Clearinghouse. But in almost all cases, there is at least
SOMEONE out there who as published a genealogy that believes some part of each
segment is true!
The
left nine columns indicate how some of the people in this genealogy can be
found in source documents. I'll discuss each of these shortly.
The
next column gives a very brief cryptic reference, such as "132 Ed/EdJr/Che/Sal/Eli". This, at a glance, tells you the
person on "Line #132" is believed to descend
from Edward Coffey (Ed), through his son Edward Junior (EdJr),
through Chesley (Che),
through Salethial (Sal), through Eliazar
(Eli). THIS NUMBER AND REFERENCE WILL BE EXTENSIVELY USED BELOW TO LINK CENSUS,
ETC., TO THIS GENEALOGY TABULATION.
You
will soon observe that the first four links, "Ed/EdJr/Che/Sal",
are among those introduced in the earlier "Shorthand" discussion.
I
said "almost" all cases. I couldn't find ANYBODY who claimed to know
where the family of our Coffey Cousins Convention 2009 host Danny K. Coffey came
from. His ancestors Jackson and Sidney Coffey are found in the 1850 Russell
District 2 census at household #209. I did find one genealogy that linked the
people found in houses #209, #210, and #211 to each other. So I used that
genealogy, and made a wild guess they were linked somehow to the descendants of
"Ed/EdJr/Che/Mar", because of their living
proximity to those families and because they used some similar names. Anybody
got a more plausible idea?
You'll
find this family on pages 19 and 20.
Pages
20 and 21 list several other "Small Genealogies" that I did find, but
that I cannot yet link to our "Ed/EdJr/Che"
or "Ed/John" families. Look them over. If you've got any ideas for
these, let me know!
There
is one more scrap of information on the Genealogy sheet. Scan down the list of
people, and you will see there are a few living people who are highlighted in
yellow. These are the men who are participating in our DNA project. You will
see there is a good scattering throughout the genealogy. And all of these
people test as being RELATED. (However this likely only proves
"Edward", and sheds no light on the "Chesley
mystery".)
You
can read more about the DNA project at:
Now,
note the far left column of the Genealogy pages. This tells you whether the
person on this line can be found in the 1810 census, our next discussion item:
READING
THE 1810 CENSUS:
If
you find someone in the Genealogy who is indicated as being found in the 1810
census, make a note of the name and line number, then turn to the 1810 Census
section. You will be able to quickly scan down the "Genealogy Sheet
Link" column to the right, and should have no trouble spotting the number
and name of the person you are seeking.
This
census did NOT give names of spouses and children. We have used information
from the Genealogy and other censuses to try to attach names to the head count.
Some of the families we think we know fairly well, but there are several with
major blanks! Comments from anyone who can help would be most welcome!
READING
THE 1820 CENSUS:
This
is very similar to the 1810 census, and also has a number of unidentified
families. Most obvious problem is that there are FOUR families headed by a
"Joel Coffey", containing a total of 35 people, and we get a headache
trying to distinguish them! We'll talk a bit more later
about this "Joel Puzzle".
READING
THE 1830 CENSUS:
The
genealogy page gives a cryptic reference, like "R-P6/L10". This
simply says that the person on this line can be found in the 1830 census for Russell
County on Page
6,
Line
number 10.
This page and line number can be important clues about family relationships.
Usually it just records the ORDER in which the census taker visited his houses,
but adjacent or close numbers may suggest relatives living close to each other?
The above example was found on "Line 10" involving one Eli Coffey,
and (at least if you're from my OWN family) you will soon realize that the
house two doors down, on "Line 12" is occupied by his oldest son,
Willis. And the one between, Fielding Coffey, is a first cousin of Eli.
Again,
look to the far right column. This offers a link back to the Genealogy sheet,
in the format discussed earlier. So you can easily go back and forth. If this
Genealogy link column is blank for a family, it means we have not (yet) been
able to figure out the connections for that family. We'll take help from
anybody who has an idea!
READING
THE 1840 CENSUS:
It's
pretty much like the 1830 census.
READING
THE 1850 CENSUS:
For
1850, the approach used for links to and from the Genealogy sheet is very
similar to that used above. However in 1850 the census collectors finally named
EVERY person in the household, so our task was much easier.
The
first column shows the census County and District.
Russell and Adair each had two districts in the 1850 census. (I'm pretty sure
that Russell District 1 is closest to Jamestown, because I know some of the
people I see there lived on "Greasy Creek", which runs near
Jamestown.)
The
second column shows the census Household Number. Note this is not an address, it is simply the order in which the census taker
visited the houses. However there is a good chance that if households have
nearby numbers, they probably lived near each other. This can sometimes help
identify relatives.
The
next 14 columns simply show the information collected by the census taker. And
the far right column contains some observations we made about connections
between the families.
However the penultimate column once again refers to
"Genealogy Line# and 1st 5 generations". This tells you where each of these people can be
found in the Genealogy.
There
are far fewer "unconnected" people in the 1850 census. Many of those
that I can't connect are individuals living in the households of other families
- it's much harder to identify an individual without seeing the context of
parents, siblings and children.
READING
THE 1860 CENSUS:
Hey,
by now you understand the system. There's not much else to say.
READING
THE 1870 CENSUS:
Now
there's an interesting new wrinkle in 1870. The slaves have been freed, and
there are some 70 people with the Coffey name who are blacks – they would
probably be people who had been in a Coffey household in 1860. We don't know enough
to research their genealogy.
READING
THE 1880 CENSUS:
This
census added a neat new feature: It tells us the relationship each person has
to the head of the household. Now we have help in figuring out who in the
household is a sibling, a step child, a cousin, a
daughter-in-law, etc!
TOMBSTONES:
Bonnie
Culley sent us the list of tombstones and cemeteries
in Russell County – this is the list that she is presently publishing in
the CCC Newsletters. And there is a similar list of Adair burials, also provided
by Bonnie. We've tried to link as many as possible to the Genealogy.
INDEX:
Finally,
we've constructed a rough index of all the names included herein.
If
you're looking for a specific ancestor, this Index may be helpful in determining
of he/she was part of our analysis. And the index shows you where to look in
the Genealogy, and shows which census reports might be of interest.
(Here's
a statistic that measures our degree of success in connecting the Genealogy to
the census reports: There are 1643 names in this index, and we found 918 of
them in one or more census reports.)
SEARCHING
ABSTRACTS:
I
(Fred) live near Houston's Clayton Library, which has a large collection of
abstracts taken from records in these various counties. Plus I was able to pick
up a few additional items from the Russell County Library in Jamestown. I
worked through these, and created an additional set of files on
"abstracted abstracts", which are now part of this package. That file
has its own name index, and you may want to keep them together.
These
files try to identify where the people are in the Genealogy discussed earlier.
And in that Genealogy you will see a red "A" in the column before the
"Line Label & Summary Descent" indicating which names have been
found in these abstracts. So you can flip back and forth.
You'll
see quite a few blanks in the Abstract column labeled "Genealogy Sheet
Link". These Coffey families were keen on naming their kids after each
other, and I found it impossible to sort out the roots of all the Coffey people
named James, John, Joseph, Martin, Nathan, Nathaniel, Sail, Salathial
or William. And especially "Joel".
There's
a sheet here titled "The Joel Puzzle". It seems that one generation
of presumed brothers each decided they needed a son named "Joel", and
these Joel's were all alive at about the same time. Even the tax assessors of
the time had a problem. One of these "Joels"
they called "red head" or "red", another was
"Bogy" (don't know what that meant). There was an "M Bro",
a "B" (short for Bogy?), plus a couple of "Sr"
and "Jr" references.
Help
from anybody who can sort out these names and references would be much
appreciated.
BONUS:
SELECTED MAPS:
Also
offered here are selected maps that you may find interesting:
You
got a short summary of the historic county boundaries if you printed the cover
discussed earlier. However there is a more detailed version at the following:
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/KyCountyBoundaries.jpg
(1 page, 812 kb)
This
next one is a bigger picture of the modern counties:
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/BigCountiesMap.jpg (1 page, 368 kb)
If
you are curious how the Coffey name is distributed around America, you might
find this next one interesting:
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/CoffeyDistribution.jpg
(1 page, 336 kb)
And
the final two are pretty specific to my own (Fred) family connections, but if
you have ancestors who lived on "Greasy Creek" or "Crocus
Creek" you might find these topographical maps interesting:
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/RussellCountyTopo.jpg (1 page, 788 kb)
www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/RussellCo/RussellTopo2.jpg (1 page, 952 kb))
FUTURE
PLANS (NOT):
We
will probably go no farther forward than the 1880 census, since the lost census
of 1890 (it got burned in a fire) leaves a big and awkward gap to bridge. The
section on "Statistics", however, does tell you roughly how many
"Coffey" people can be found in each later census.
Our
primary focus was on households containing someone with the name
"Coffey" (including spelling variations). This, of course, overlooks
all the females who started out with the Coffey name, but then married and
changed their name and moved to a different household. Thus a huge number of
people with Coffey ancestry are left out*. It would be possible to track many
of these, but the task would be overwhelming and would yield an exponential
growth in names. No plans at present.
*(The
speaker at the Convention made the point: No matter what your name, if you have
Russell County ancestors, you almost certainly have Coffey ancestors. The
Coffey families got here early, and were very prolific, and married with every
other family.)
Of
course, if someone else wants to pick up the pieces and go forwardÉ
We
will however make updates and corrections as we discover them, or as other
people offer comments.
METHODOLOGY:
We
did most this on an Excel spreadsheet. I (Fred) will send that source to anyone
who wants it. However this spreadsheet is very volatile, and will likely change
frequently. What I send you may not be the same as this published web
information, and may also be different if you ask again later. (And please
don't make changes and then send the spreadsheet back to me – we'll NEVER
be able to catch up with your changes if we've moved on - send your comments
separately.)
We
want and welcome all your comments.
Best
wishes,
Fred
& Kevin
