Jesse and Samuel Coffee -- Brothers Who Served

I found a beautiful document on Ancestry.com/'s database: U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865. Beautiful in that it is crystal clear. A nice scan of a 150+ year old record. I do not know when it was prepared, or from how many transcriptions it was gathered. But I am happy to see a clear military record of two of my second great-grand uncles. Meet Sam Coffee and Jesse Coffee, on lines 9 and 10 of these two pages:


Jesse Coffee served with the 2nd Regiment, Missouri Infantry, Confederate States Army. Also called Burbridge's Infantry Regiment. He discharged as a sergeant. I'm glad to learn he made it out alive, and could return to his property in Morgan County, Missouri:  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~momorgan/patents/42-17/26.html

Samuel Coffee enlisted January 21, 1862 at Camp Price, saw battle at Elk Horn, Arkansas. Left sick at Duvall's Bluff, Arkansas. Months ago I posted many images from his war record, as he too fought with the 2nd Missouri Infantry. See the sixth person in my earlier post: http://treepig.posthaven.com/a-few-csa-records

Sam Coffee also saw battle at:

          Oct. 4, 1862 at Corinth, Mississippi;  http://www.corinthcivilwar.com/history.htm
          Oct. 8, 1862 at Perryville, Kentucky; http://www.perryvillebattlefield.org/
          June 18, 1864 (no place listed), and
          Nov. 30, 1864 at Franklin, Tennessee. http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/franklin/maps/franklin-animated-map/

While his record doesn't mention the location of the June 1864 skirmish, there are several from which to choose in this list of Civil War battles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_Civil_War_battles 

On a side note, my husband's cousin, Chuck Eades, a former Williamson County Commissioner living near Nashville, was one of several who championed the preservation of the Tennessee battlefield where Sam once fought in 1864. A local newspaper's headline in 2001 reads: "Battle rages over library's relocation." Mr. Eades is quoted: "We don't need any new construction on any battlefield. There has been too much blood shed there." The dispute continued for months. Several articles collected at this site are prefaced by: "Find out where the real Second Battle of Franklin will soon be fought."  http://americancivilwar.50megs.com/CWPres03.html

Do you have family from Missouri who fought in the Civil War?  https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932374  Or from another state? https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/United_States_Civil_War,_1861_to_1865

Jesse and Samuel were the eldest sons of Rolly and Alea Coffee from Montgomery County, Kentucky. Some time after 1854 the Coffees and their ten children moved to Morgan County, Missouri. While Jesse appears to have married and stayed in the area, Sam and wife, Harriet, moved to Texas after 1870. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad (known as the "Katy") soon made travel easier between Missouri and northern Texas, as several of their "kin" also moved south. For example, my great-granddad John Coffee was born in Sherman, Texas in 1875, but raised in Missouri. He later returned to the Texas/Oklahoma border. Cousins went south, and then returned to Missouri to live "a spell." The railroad was a certainly a boon to migration.

Jesse's tombstone indicates he died in 1899 at age 65. He's buried in Versailles, Missouri. I have yet to locate Samuel's burial place or a death date, His widow Harriet remarried shortly before the 1880 Federal Census shows her living with Mr. George Small in Grayson County, Texas with several of her seven children fathered by Sam:  James R. Coffee, Joseph M. Coffee, Thomas Jefferson Coffee, Matilda Ann Coffee, Mary Coffee, Nettie Jane Coffee, and Samuel P. Coffee.  Some of these children later moved over the border into Indian Territory, and made their homes.

I know a fair bit about these Coffees from the many records left in Marshall and Bryan counties of southern Oklahoma. I hope their descendants see this blog and contact me. Perhaps a distant cousin who is also a family history buff and has shared DNA with one of the top three genetic-genealogy services? Hope so. Our Coffees immigrated from Ireland in the mid-1700s. Would love to know from which county, and hope to find a distant cousin who knows more about these Coffees. 

_______
SOURCE: Ancestry.com. U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.  Original data:  Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registrations, 1863-1865. NM-65, entry 172, 620 volumes. NAI: 4213514. Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War), Record Group 110. National Archives at Washington D.C.

Timeline of Hannah Wosta Leeper

Today Ancestry.com/ uploaded a new database for people fluent in German. The original docs are held in the Staatsarchiv Stadt in Germany. 

          Hannover, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1621–1879
          http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=61007

The "about" states: This collection consists of Lutheran church records for the years 1621 to 1879 from the Elbe-Weser Triangle in Lower Saxony, Germany. Included in this collection are records of baptism, confirmation, marriage, and burial. Further reading indicates the collection includes the state of Niedersachsen. Hmmm, several in my family recorded birthplaces of "Sachsen" which could mean the town (there were several), or the county/province/state of Sachsen, which is also known as Saxony. Yes, THOSE Saxons of Monty Python fame. 

It is yet another tool in my search for my paternal 2nd great-grandmother Hannah. She allegedly was born about 1824 in Hamburg, Deutschland. Germany wasn't yet a country, but was made up of several states. Assuming her family was Lutheran, I ran several variations of my surnames through this new Lutheran database. A few returns of similar surnames, but none with given names near my Wisers or Wostas:

Zilch. I tried other variations with wild cards. Another time I may be inspired to continue. Perhaps another cousin might find something remotely similar to a Hannah or a "Johanna" born about 1824 or Wiser sons born in 1844, 1845 and 1852? German researchers have told me four names were common among many citizens. Databases often ask for only two.

As a guide, I offer this brief timeline of Hannah taken from census, land and marriage records:

     1853 - April 19 --  Hannah Wosta marries Samuel Leeper. (Wosta may be Woste)

     1860 - U.S. Census, Hannah Leeper. age 36, birthplace: Germany. Other household members showing name, age and birthplace are: (see also four census images below)

  • Louis Wiser     16   Germany
  • Lemuel Wiser  15  Germany (my great granddad!)
  • Barney Wiser  15  Germany
  • Sam Leeper     5   Texas
This family is listed on TWO census pages. I've shown the whole page--plus a snipped section of each page in this gallery:

  
     1870 - U.S. Census, Hannah Leeper, age 45, birthplace: Hamburg. Marital status was not asked in this census. Click on both images below to see the actual census page. At home with Hannah are:
  • Leeper, Barney  23  Sailor  born: Saxon  (Barney is twin to my great-grandfather)
  • Wiser, Edward  19  born: Saxon
  • Wiser, Sam  14  born: Texas (should be Sam Leeper, born Dec. 25, 1855) 
  • Wiser, Lina 9  Texas
  • Wiser, Racy 9  Texas (twins. Racy is our Rosa Theresa _____?, born June 18, 1860 with her twin sister, Hannah Lina. "Racy" is mistakenly listed as male in this census. Her 1878 marriage certificate refers to her as "Rosa Leaper." In the 1880 U.S. Census, Mrs. Rosa Clayton gives her parents' birthplace as "Prussia" (for father) and "Germany" for her mother. I know Sam Leeper wasn't born in Europe! But this may be in error or transcribed incorrectly from the original notes of the census taker.

     1871 - Texas, Land Title Abstracts,1700-2008  has a Honey Leeper with a land patent dated 26 Sep 1871 in Chambers County, Texas. Try googling "Honey Leeper" with "Chambers" and see what pops up. I find several mentions of Honey Leeper Land Surveys in archived papers and land records. That misspelling of Hannah's name sounds like a comic book hero. 

     1880 - U.S. Census, Hannah Leaper, (not Leeper) age 62, widowed, born in Germany--as were both her parents. Living with:

  • Leaper, Hannah, daughter, age 18, single, father's birthplace "unknown." Mother was born in Germany.
  • Wiser, Edward, 27, son, single, farmer, he and his parents were born in "Germany."  

    Two images of that census here and unbelievably, one page shows scotch tape used, OMG:

     1888 - Texas, Land Title Abstracts,1700-2008 database shows a land sale in Kimble County, Texas from Hannah Leeper of 254 acres.

     1893 - Texas, Land Title Abstracts,1700-2008 shows a deed record dated 28 Jan 1893 of 126 acres in Kimble County, Texas from "Mrs. Hannah Leeper." I assume she would have had to have signed this record. If her estate or heirs signed, it would have said as much. She would have been about 68 years old then. 

HEAR ME WEEP: Much of the 1890 census burned. I don't find Hannah in the 1900 or later federal censuses. She appears on some tax lists and population schedules, but not with a birth place. Texas, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1820-1890 does not have my Hannah or her Wiser children listed. I will update if I find a substantive tidbit on our ancestor. Fingers crossed. Suggestions welcomed.

NOTE: I've only shown a few of the many land records in Texas archives for Hannah Leeper/Leaper. My cousins know of more. The 1893 record is the last one I've found of my German immigrant. Do YOU have a later record for Hannah? My family does not know her death date or burial location. My great-grandfather died before my grandfather was born, and a lot of family stories went with him. 

Veteran Burial Records

     Among the many free websites offering a growing number of names of veterans who served in the U.S. armed forces is:
http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/

     One of the first such online databases is from the National Park Service featuring brief data on veterans from the U.S. Civil War. If you find a name with initials and want to know more, try googling that name with keywords +Civil War and/or +Confederate or +Union. There are TONS of databases available of various Civil War units. 

http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm

     My dad served in the Army and was stationed in Korea during that war--I mean, "conflict." Until recently, there were not many websites devoted to those veterans. Some that I just discovered are:

http://www.butlercenter.org/koreanwarproject/  This admirable site is for Arkansas Korea War veterans.

and West Virginia's: http://www.wvculture.org/history/wvmemory/wvvetmem.html

     The National Archive (NARA) has several Korean War links:

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-lists/index.html 

     And Pennsylvania has a Soldiers and Sailors Museum in Pittsburgh? I wonder how many states have similar museums.

http://soldiersandsailorshall.org/

     Fold3 offers the best in military research, should you want to subscribe/pay. Many large libraries make it available to their subscribers. https://fold3.com/   Fold3 has many other databases, too. And until recently it was the best go-to place for the Native American Dawes Applications, files ("packets"), and to see actual Dawes rejection documents. Many of those same are now on Ancestry dot com, which I believe also owns Fold3. I've spent untold number of hours reading those fascinating docs, as this white chick loves her Indian Territory history. 

     Nice seeing you here. Thanks for reading!



His Grave Reads: JUST TAKING MY VACATION

Leamon Evans has quite an inscription on his grave marker. 

Was that a phrase he often used, or had he a wicked sense of humor? I found a little background on Leamon. A justice of the peace married "Winnifred Reed" and Leamon on February 26, 1929 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was 21, she--19. Both were residents of Gore, Oklahoma. He was actually 20. So he either inflated his age, or it was incorrectly recorded.

Sadly, in three years young Leamon was gone. What was his cause of death? A last record found was the 1930 census. He was working as a farmer, and living in rural Muskogee County with Winnie and their six month old daughter, Camelia (written as "Amelia"). Their next door neighbors? Leamon's father, Richard, and his two siblings, Otis and Fern. His mother, born Jessie Belle Brock, had died in March of 1928. Her grave marker reads: She was the sunshine of our home. Sweet!

Seven years after Leamon's death, Winnie married James Cordell McClain on November 16, 1940. That license is recorded with the Washington County court clerk in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It doesn't specify where the marriage occurred. 


Leamon's father, Richard Augustus Clark Evans, was thankfully called "Gus." Click on the images in this gallery below to see a few newspaper items about Gus and/or his son Leamon:

If you know more, please comment below. Thanks for following my blog!

Sources:  

  •   Thanks to Lonnie Hoover for photographing Leamon's grave and allowing free non-commercial use of it. 
  •   See Leamon's mom's grave on Findagrave:  http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37016150
  •   1930 Fed. Census for Moore, Muskogee, Oklahoma; Roll: 1915; Pg,: 3A; E.D. 21; Image: 1010.0.
  •   1929 marriage record on ODCR.com/ http://www1.odcr.com/detail?court=051-&casekey=051-MLI+3000558
  •   Location of White Cemetery: Two & 1/2 miles west of Gore on Hwy. 10, & just west of White Chapel Church.
  •   Transporting liquor into Indian Territory, from the Muskogee Times-Democrat, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Saturday, November 29, 1913, page 3.


Maria Dora Jalifi Guerra Childers

The following is for Laura, a researcher who contacted me regarding Dora Jalifi, who married my Great Uncle Ernest in 1961. 
The Social Security Death Index indicates:
  • Dora Jalifi Childers
  • Born 1 Jan 1927
  • Died 14 Jan 2006
  • State (Year) SSN issued Texas - Before 1951
    The 1940 Federal Census finds Dora in Mercedes, Hidalgo County, Texas, with her family, and she is 13 years old.

    Ancestry.com's database, Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964, shows that Dora visited Mexico and returned through Brownsville, Texas. I've copied the transcription (with its misspellings) from Ancestry.com, and below is a copy of the card from which the transcription came:

    1. Name: Maria Dora Jalie De Guerra
    2. Arrival Date: 9 Nov 1951
    3. Port of Arrival: Brownsville, Texas, United States
    4. Arrival Contact: Father Enrique Jalife
    5. Age: 24
    6. Birth Date: abt 1927
    7. Birth Location: Mercedes
    8. Gender: Female
    9. Race/Nationality: Spanish
    10. Record has photo?: No
    11. Record Type: Card
    This is the actual card. Difficult to read, I know. Two pages, please click on both:


    I've no proof of Dora's marriage to Ernest Childers, but family tells me that they were married in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico on November 7, 1961. 

    Ernest was born January 6, 1908, in Keystone, Pawnee County, Oklahoma Territory, and he died in Weslaco, Hidalgo County, Texas on Feb. 8, 1987. Family tells me he had no children with Dora (just his five children from a previous marriage). 

    And this news article from 1966. What a heartbreaking time for Dora's family. She lost a son!


    I found a brief death notice for Dora, but do not know where she is buried. I would appreciate any leads as to her final resting place. I know that her husband Ernest is buried in Highland Park Cemetery in Weslaco. This is from The Monitor newspaper in Hidalgo County, Texas: 


    UPDATE of June 2018:  I was happy to locate an obituary for Dora Childers, as published in the Valley Morning Star newspaper in Harlingen, Texas on January 16, 2006:

              Dora Jalifi Childers

              HARLINGEN - Dora Jalifi Childers, 79, passed away on Saturday, January 14, 2006 at Retama Manor Nursing Facility in Harlingen, Texas.

              She is survived by her loving family: Two sisters: Emma (Robert) Hinojosa of San Antonio, Texas, Eva Castillo of Harlingen, Texas, Two Brothers: Oscar (Amita) Jalifi of Houston, Texas, Herman (Maria) Jalifi of Huntsville, Texas, Numerous Nieces and Nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband; Ernest Childers, Son; Federico Guerra and parents; Enrique and Enriqueta Jalifi.

              Visitation will be today, Monday, January 16, 2006 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. with a service held at 7 p.m. Funeral services will be conducted on Tuesday, January 17, 2006. At 1 p.m. Chapel Service will be held at Rudy Garza Chapel of Peace.
    Interment will then follow at Highland Memorial Park Cemetery in Weslaco, Texas.

              Dora Jalifi Childers was a loving and dedicated daughter, sister and wife. She is dearly loved and missed by all those who knew her. 

    Girdle Your Ankles

    Cankles posed a problem, what? Ankle corsets promised relief after a day of wearing uncomfortable shoes?  This is from a 1920 Texas newspaper. Have you ever "heard the like?"  (Apologies for the blurry quality.)

    East Texas Editor Has A Sad

              While in search of ancestors in newspaper archives, I found this chilling tidbit from a 1922 southeast Texas paper. Apparently an editor was still nursing his anger over losing our nation's bloodiest war. 


              Curious as to when lynching of citizens was outlawed, I found only a 2005 apology sponsored by 80 U.S. senators for not passing anti-lynching laws. I've read this article twice, and don't see that ANY lynching law has yet passed. Ever.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/06/13/senate-apologizes-for-not-passing-anti-lynching-laws.html

              Really? From 1882 to 1968, "nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress, and three passed the House. Seven presidents between 1890 and 1952 petitioned Congress to pass a federal law."  

              I firmly believe that laws are not a deterrent to criminal behavior. But laws sure as hell aid prosecutors when seeking to press charges and to later convince juries to give  l  o  n  g  lengthy sentences to those found guilty.

              So no, Mr. Editor from a town called Liberty. Your right to murder by (white) cloak of darkness or by public hanging was not deemed unlawful in 1922, as you had earlier feared. 


    FEBRUARY 2020 UPDATE:  Were S L O W L Y  making progress, folks, towards a federal law against lynching, FFS:


    "Previous attempts by Congress since 1900 to pass similar legislation repeatedly failed. The Senate approved a similar version by unanimous consent in February 2019. But because of minor discrepancies, the Senate will need to vote on the House's in order for it to land on the president's desk for approval. If the measure becomes law, violators would face substantial fines and/or jail time.

    Between 1877 and 1950, the Equal Justice Initiative estimates that more than 4,000 black people were lynched in a dozen states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

    The bill, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, was written after the 1955 racist murder of a black teenager in Mississippi, which spawned civil rights action."