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Two Reuben Coffey's

The following information comes from an undated document prepared by Mr. Allen Poe., Lenoir, N.C. A note included with it indicates that it was copied by Mr. R. Ivey Moore of N. Wilkesboro, N.C. in 1965. I have transcribed it here exactly as it is presented in the typed document, including grammatical and spelling errors.

Great confusion exists about two men of this name, uncle & nephew, both of whom resided for some years in Burke (now Coldwell Co.) N.C. They may be differentiated as Ruben Coffey Sr. of the Globe settlement, on Johns River; and Rubin Coffey (1759-1842), the Revolutionary pensioner, of Blair Fork, afterwards of Wayne County Ky.

REUBEN COFFEY Senior, son of John and Jane (Graves) Coffey, was b. perhaps ca 1744, and was much older than his nephew of the same name. Ruben Sr. removed from Albermarle Co., Va. to Burke County, N.C. at some time before 1770. He m. Sarah Scott, called Sally, but it has not yet been determined whether they were married in Va. or in N. Carolina, since the exact date of the marriage and the migration are not known. There were several Scott families in Burke county, but this is a common surname, and there may also, Scott families in Albemarle county, Va. Rubin Coffey Sr. continued to reside in Burke county until his death, which occured between 1810-1820. He lived in what has always been called the Globe, near the head of Johns River, in the present Coldwell county. His widow Sally (ScottO Coffey survived him for some years, as is shown by Burke Co. tax lists and census reports. The total number of there children is not known. It can be ascertained from cencus reports that they had at least two daughters (one born 1774/84, one 1784/90 and four sons, but there were probably one or two more sons and perhaps some older daughters. Until something more definite is known about the date of their marriage, the possibility remains that Rubin Sr. and Sally could have had some children as early as the late 1760's; from cencus returnes it appears that their last child was a son born between 1790 and 1794. The 1810 census also shows with them a boy under 10 years of age, probably a grandson, since by that time Sally was at least 55 years of age and probably older. Only of of the children of Rubin Sr. and Sally (Scott) Coffey has ben positively identified -- Elijah Coffey, b. 7 Mar. 1779 in the Globe settlement, Burke County; m. 1803, Mary Dyer of Ashe Co., and some years afterward removed to Owen county, Ind. This is Mrs. Griffin's ancestor.

RUBEN COFFEY (1759-1842), the pensioner, was the fourth son of Rev. James Coffey and wife Elizabeth Cleveland, and a nephew of Ruben preveding. This younger Ruben came to Wilkes County N.C. about the time of the Rev. War, and rendered his service from Wilkes Co., he m. about 1782, probably in Wilkes, where he lived at that time and some years thereafter. According to the manuscript notes of the late Dr. L. U. Coffey of Lenoir, N.C. the maiden name of the wife of Reuben Coffey the pensioner was MILDRED* MORRIS, but this seems to be a purely traditional statement. However, there was a Morris family in Wilkes county at this time. From cencus records it appears that Millie was at least four years older that Ruben, so it is possible that she could have been a young "war widow" when he married her. They had at least nine children, and it is just possible that there might have been one more (born after 1800). Rubin resided in Wilkes county for about 14 years after his marriage, on the north side of Warrior Gap, directly adjoining the Burke county line. About 1797 he moved over into Burke county and settled about five miles south of his former residence. He purchased from John Coffey (either his brother or his uncle) a 400 acre plantation on Blair's Fork of Lower Creek, Burke, (Now Coldwell Co.) this tract now lies just outside the northern limits of the town of Lenoir, in a suburs called Valmead. For many years it was well known as the Gen. Cornelious Clarke place, and though the old house burned many years ago, the approximate site is marked by the Clarke Fam. cemetery, now used as a community burying ground by the residents of Valmead area. Ruren Coffey sold this plantation in March 1819 to Jeremiah Clarke (fa. of Gen. Clarke), and immediately thereafter removed to Wayne county, Kr., where he lived until his death in 1842.

Reuben and Millie Coffey had at least 4 sons and 5 daughters. Dr. Coffey gave an obviously incomplete list, partially in error. He named four dau. - Nancy, Millie, Martha and Elizabeth - but does not state who they married. He also named 4 sons - James, Lewis, Reuben, and Oliver Cromwell - but the Ruben is plainly an error for Benjamine since Dr. C. gives the name of "Rubins" wife as Exea Sophronia Stubbs a patent error for Stepp. It is possible that there may have been a son Alfred, as one Alfred Coffey, not otherwise identified, witnessed the 1819 deed by which Reuben sold out in Burke County.

From the cencus returns of 1790 (Wilkes Co.) and 1800 (Burke Co.) the family of Reuben and Millie Coffey appears as fol:

Born by 1784 - one Daughter.

Born 1784/90 - one son (James), two daughters.

Born 1790/1800 - three sons (Benjamin, Oliver, perhaps Lewis or Alfred, two daughters.

It is not likely that more than one child could have been born after 1800, since at that time Millie was at least 45 years old.

Some accounts list Oliver and Cromwell as two different sons of Reuben the pensioner; but it seems more likely that there was one son named Oliver Cromwell Coffey. This is a traditional name in the Cleveland family, who clamed (wholly with out proof) descent from Lord- Protector Cromwell.

Known marriages of sons of Ruben Coffey the pensioner:

JAMES COFFEY, the eldest son, m. (ca 7 July 1810) Sally Sumter of Burke County.

BENJAMINE COFFEY, m. Exea Sophronia Stepp of Burke Co.

OLLIVER COFFEY, m. (ca 18 Oct. 1815) Sally Ramsey of Burke County.

The Sumter and Stepp families were near neighbors of Ruben Coffey on Blairs Fork; the Ramseys lived a little further west, but still on the waters of Lower Creek, and were connected with the Sumters by marriage. THOMAS STEPP was liveing here during the Revolution, and must be either the father or the grandfather of Exea who married Ben Coffey.

I have not positively identified the dau.s of Ruben the pensioner, but I think that the dau. Eliz. is probably the Eliz. ________, who was born. ca 1789, m. ca 1810, Thos. Sum(p)ter, and removed to Wayne county, KY.

Benjamine Coffey and his wife Exea Stepp were cousins in some degree. Benj. grt. grand. fa. John Coffey had a sister Martha Coffey who M. Joseph Stepp (often spelled Stapp), son of Abraham and Dorothy (Moss) Stepp of Essex county, Va. Joshua and Martha removed to Orange County, Va., from many of their descendence later migrated to Burke and Wilkes counties, North Carolina, about the time of the Revolutionary War.

The above by Mr. Allen Poe., Lenoir, N.C.

Copied by: Mr. R. Ivey Moore, 301 Kensington Ave., N. Wilkesborn, N.C. (1965)

* My best interpretation, source is nearly unreadable on this line