1950 Federal Census With John W and Dorothy (McCormick) Coffee

Happy to find my ancestors living in Dinuba, Tulare County, California in the newly-released 1950 Federal Census. Woo hoo! 

          FROM:  https://1950census.archives.gov/  at ED No. 54-8

          Line 20 - Coffee, John W, head, age 75, married, born in Texas  

          Line 21 - Coffee, Dorothy E, wife, age 74, married, born in Illinois


Now drop down to the questions asked at the bottom of the page, Mr. Coffee is one of six residents who was asked further questions. See No. 20 that is circled?  That line shows his replies. 

via URL:  https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Tulare&name=Coffee&page=1&state=CA

NOTE:  I had earlier posted an incorrect link and image that has since been corrected. Thank you, Carolyn


1890 and 1900 Marriages In Newton County, Arkansas

Familysearch.org has uploaded a copy of the Bond for Marriage, Marriage License, and Certificate of Marriage of Pleas H. Lovell and Samirah Coffee in Newton County, Arkansas in June of 1890. The license was obtained June 2nd, and the couple married in Cassville, Newton County, Arkansas the next day--June 3, 1890.




Familysearch is a free site--but requires registration. The direct link to the Lovell-Coffee marriage data is: 
  https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NMRN-4XT


That marriage came to a bitter end, as Mr. Lovell was sent to prison. Samirah soon remarried William Curtis:


Familysearch.org has the copy of their marriage records here:  https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NMBF-JM4 - as seen below:



Citation:  "Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch : 18 March 2019), 004331445 > image 663 of 686; county offices, Arkansas.


William Curtis was recently widowed when he married Samirah. The couple were together 23 years before he died in 1923 at age 63. Samira lived much longer. She died in 1955 at age 95. She is survived by many great-grandchildren who remember her still. 

 I appreciate Beverly Joe Vaughn for tempting me with her family stories on Findagrave.

Beverly shared lovely photos and history data on her direct ancestors' memorials that I found fascinating. It led me to search for married records to add to my family tree--as I too am a distant Coffee relative. A fun afternoon this hot August day during the Pandemic!

My 3x Great-Grandfather was a younger brother of Elijah Coffee (1799-1873). Elijah Coffee and his wife Peggy (Patrick) Coffee were the grandparents of Elijah "Bud" Coffee. Bud and Samirah Thomas married in December of 1879. They had three girls before Bud's untimely death in 1885 at age 29. 

UPDATE:  I found secondary proof of Samirah Thomas' first marriage. Here Elijah is listed by his initials, and poor Samirah's given name was frequently misspelled, as it is here:




A New Bride, A Heart Attack, And A Contested Will

          On April 12, 1912, John H. Coffee of Kingston, Oklahoma, and Ina Hight of Denison, Texas, were married. A widower who had lost his wife Nancy (James) Coffee in 1895, this was John's second marriage. He was 60. It was the bride's third marriage. She was 40.


          I don't know where they were married, but the license was filed in Grayson County, Texas--just over the Oklahoma border.  Source: Texas, Select County Marriage Records, 1837-2015 (database) via Ancestry.com/


          Born Ina Marie Beasley, her second husband, James Robert Hight, had recently lost his wife, Ruth Ella (Beasley). Yes, Ruth was Ina's older sister.  James was left with the care of their six children. I imagine his concern as a father was a factor in his January 1, 1909 marriage to Ina Marie Greer. 


          It was not uncommon for siblings to marry widowed spouses of family. Ina brought with her the three young children from her first husband, Oscar Gilbert Greer.  One year after marrying, the 1910 Federal Census finds James and Ina living in Comanche County, Oklahoma with their combined ten children. See them on this census page:


MEANWHILE BACK IN LITTLE DIXIE: (Yes, southeast Oklahoma is called that)  The next I find Ina Hight is in 1912 Marshall County after marrying my 2xGreat-Gramps. John has a grocery, a restaurant, and a candy store in Kingston. His obit later indicated "Mrs. Iona Hight" was from Denison, Texas. If accurate, then Ina somehow moved from Comanche County, Oklahoma to northeastern Texas. Would love to know how she met John Coffee. 

          Here are two images from the 1913 Polk City Directory for Kingston, Oklahoma showing John's restaurant and grocery:



          Sadly, their new marriage was shortened, as my maternal 2xG-Grandfather suffered a heart attack in early November 1913. He died two weeks later. Ina notified John's two adult children: John, who lived in New Mexico, and Elizabeth in Gravois Mills, Missouri. John's obituary made the front page of The Kingston Messenger.  The WEEKLY paper, mind you!
 


Can't read it?  It says:   A PIONEER CITIZEN PASSES AWAY -- Death of J.H. Coffee After an Illness of a Short Time.
          Last Monday night, after an illness of about two weeks, Mr. J.H. COFFEE, one of our oldest citizens, laid down his        life's burdens and went to his last rest. He was well thought of by all our people, a man of honor, integrity and uprightness. He was loyal to the church of his faith, the Christian church. He was born in Mt. Sterling, Ky., March 9, 1850, going from there to Missouri in his early manhood, where he was married to Miss Nancy C. JAMES, Sept. 1, 1872. Two children were born to them, John COFFEE, now residing in New Mexico, and Mrs. Lizzie PAGE, now living in Missouri. His wife died at their Missouri home August 9, 1895, soon after which he came to this section and located near here. About eleven years ago he purchased property in town and opened up the business which he conducted to the time of his death. April 12, 1912 he was married to Mrs. Iona HIGHT of Denison, who survives him. He was buried Tuesday afternoon in the cemetery here. The funeral services were held in the new church of which he was so proud, Rev. J.H. LAWSON of Denison, conducting the services. Mr. John COFFEE, of New Mexico, and little daughter, and Mrs. Martha EDMON, his sister, and her daughter, Mrs. Ida THOMPSON, of Texarkana, Ark., Mr. Tom COFFEE and family of Madill, and Joe COFFEE, of Calera, nephews of deceased, were here to attend the funeral. 
__________________

         
          They came to Oklahoma for their dad's funeral. Upon learning of John's will leaving them $2 each, they promptly hired lawyers to contest the will. But after a few weeks, it ended well. John's children dismissed their claim. 

          Descendants may find these 19 pages interesting, as they are actual copies from the court's probate file. Woo hoo! Click on each page, and move the horizontal scroll bar to the right to see all 19. Errors and all! White Out wasn't yet invented.



          Meet the gentlemen in question:  John H. Coffee, born March 9, 1852, and died November 17, 1913


          I'm grateful to Aunt Nancy for sharing her worn copy of his obit long ago. It gave me the clues necessary to begin my search. And I so appreciate RaeJean for contacting me this summer. What a thrill it was to find a message from Ina's descendant! She helped knock down a genealogy "brick wall" of many years.



          

Oklahoma Allotment Records Online

      Land records from 1899 to 1907 for citizens of the Five Civilized Tribes were just uploaded onto Family Search's website--for free viewing. Did you get that? FREE! Fold3, an Ancestry-owned site, has had this database--but for paid subscribers only. 

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1390101?collectionNameFilter=false

      The Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory were: Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw.

      Citizens of these tribes who were (1) then living in Indian Territory and (2) whose membership had been approved by the Dawes Commission were allotted land previously held in common by each tribe. Natives had the option of improving their property or selling to land-hungry settlers moving into northeast Oklahoma.

      When people learned to capture that black ooze puddling on their land, millionaires were created. Construction boomed, tent "cities" housed immigrants from other states eager for work and the chance to buy land. Non-Native residents pushed for greater economic control. Demands were made for statehood. President Teddy Roosevelt signed the docs making Oklahoma a state in November of 1907. 

     The only family I've found on this database descend from my mother's first cousin--twice removed. Thomas Jefferson Coffee, great-grandson of Irish immigrant, Ambrose Coffee, was born in Missouri. He married Louella Christian in 1888. She had Dawes Enrollment No. 3046, and Tom was "adopted" into Louella's Chickasaw tribe by marriage. They raised their family in Marshall County along the Texas/Oklahoma border. See Louella's documents at the link below.  Click the arrow on the upper left of that page to scroll the many documents within Louella's folder or to resize the images. Pretty nifty, eh?

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-61B9-G87?i=1093&wc=MXHP-M38%3A967441201%2C967570901%3Fcc%3D1390101

(Again, forgive my clunky URLs as I know NOT how to make them short and sweetly clickable)

      My Coffee cousins might be interested in seeing two grainy pages of Tom Coffee's actual Application for Enrollment into the Chickasaw Nation in December 1902. As a reminder, Tom was a first cousin to our John Willis Coffee. See both pages:    


      Did you see in what town he was living in 1902? Aunt Helen would have gotten a kick out of seeing that. Hmmm, her dad once lived near there as his own father had a shop in Kingston, Oklahoma. Nancy has a photo of him riding a bicycle on the street near his dad's store. Could John W. have had a fondness for the town of Helen, for whatever reason, and this played into his or Dorothy's decision to name their youngest daughter Helen? 

-- Source:  Oklahoma Applications for Allotment, Five Civilized Tribes, 1899-1907.  Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 17 October 2016. National Archives and Records Administration, Southwest Region, Fort Worth, Texas

Coffee Family Articles From The Kansas City Star

I'm reading old newspapers today while someone elsewhere in the house is loudly cheering his West Virginia Mountaineers' football game.

Here are some odds and ends collected from the Kansas City Star newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri. I hope my Coffee cousins enjoy these clippings:

Five year old Guy Coffee, Jr. made the FRONT PAGE, of the November 2, 1939 Kansas City Star with news of his stolen fire truck. Some of my Coffee relatives will recall that Guy's grandmother Daisy was the first of our John W. Coffee's three wives.


Tragedy averted! Fire truck was returned. Saints be praised. November 3, 1939 at page 19:


From Thursday, June 6, 1946, page 3, Kansas City Star:



Apparently Guy Coffee, Sr. excelled at bowling. I found mention of his prowess on the sport pages. Several are clipped below, beginning with this photo from March 10, 1924. See him seated in the middle:


From January 12, 1936, Guy Coffee, Sr. played with a bowling team from Boonville, Missouri. He is listed here with the "Three O'Clock Squad." 


From the Sunday, September 23, 1945, Kansas City Star at page 22:


And Mrs. Guy Coffee was both president and an active member of the Missouri-Kansas Cat Club. I would have loved talking with her, as I too enjoy cats. See both images in the gallery: the first article ran on page 20, April 20, 1949, and the second is from Tuesday, April 19, 1949, page 8.



I wonder if this collie pup was a big help to young Elwood in rounding up the cows? This article from page 6 of the Sunday edition of the Kansas City Star, September 8, 1946:


The elder Guy Coffee kept a pet raccoon names Jimmy at Kansas City's shelter. How cool is that! 


Guy Coffee, Sr.'s mother, Daisy Franke, raised Pomeranian and Pekingese puppies. I found several newspaper ads with puppies for sale, breeding,  and/or boarding.

Daisy was also a cat person, as I found a Lost Cat ad from August 1935 that read: "LOST -- Red, Persian, male; neuter; reward. Daisy Franke, 3117 Chestnut, LI.6368". I hope she found him. And do you suppose "LI.6368" was her telephone number? 

See this announcement of Daisy Franke's  speech to the Missouri Valley Toy Dog Club on March 25, 1934 at the Baltimore Hotel. I would have liked to have heard her AND the meeting of the ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic-- "General Grant Circle No. 31." 


Until only a few decades ago, newspapers referred to married women by their husband's name. Mrs. Coffee was born Mary Ruth Alexander. She married Guy Coffee, Sr. in Kansas City on April 24, 1918. But Ruth's name did not appear in her father's obit of Monday, July 15, 1935, page 3:



A sudden death. Mr Coffee's obit was published March 6, 1954, page 12:



From July 4, 1951, an obit for Daisy Franke:



Graduation from high school - published May 15, 1952




Mary Ruth Coffee was promoted. This from the May 4, 1954 Kansas City Star, page 23. Love the photo!



From another Kansas City paper in January 1962:



On page 60 of The Kansas City Star, June 27, 1971:


--By the way, West Virginia beat Texas Tech: 48 to 17. BOOM!


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.

Susan Neff Boggs (1837-1906)

      My maternal great-grandfather's first wife, Daisy, is difficult to trace. Records show her with varying names. Census sheets list her as both "daughter" and adopted daughter. The potential for error in censuses can be high due to the many volunteers who've transcribed notes from enumerators. But clues can be helpful when taken as a whole. A wider picture is needed. And Daisy's mother Susan is the focus of this post.

      Susan was born October 23, 1837 in Dayton, Ohio to David and Susan Margaret (Waitman) Neff. I believe she was their sixth of seven children. After the death of his first wife (and mother of 12 children!), Lemasters Martin Boggs, age 70, married 41 year old Susan in Franklin, Iowa, about 1878. By the 1880 census, Susan and Lemaster appear with a three year old named "Daisy Johnson" in their household. She is described as "daughter" yet both her parents' birth locations are listed as "unknown."

      Did Susan have Daisy with an earlier husband or is Daisy a foundling they adopted?

      Iowa's 1885 State Census finds Susan and Lemasters, and daughter Daisy here as "Anna D." age 7:

                    Household Member - Name - Age
                    Lemaster M Boggs 75
                    Susan Boggs 47
                    Anna D Boggs 7  
                    Amanda Houseman 23 (housekeeper)

      From an 1885 Iowa newspaper article:

      Lemasters left Susan a widow in 1899. She apparently moved to Morgan County, Missouri where she is living in rural Haw Creek at the time of the 1900 Federal Census. She is "head of household" white, female, born in Oct 1837, age 62, and living with:

                    John Coffee, boarder, white, male, born Feb 1876, age 24.
                    Daisy Coffee, adopted daughter, white, female, born May 1878, age 22.
                    Guy Price, grandson, white, male, born Jan 1897, age 3.
                    Umareela Coffee, granddaughter, white, female, Dec 1897, age 2.


      Notice a few irregularities? Daisy and John appear to be married--and were so on November 21, 1897. But contrary to custom, Susan does not refer to John as son-in-law to the census taker--but "boarder." Daisy is back to being listed as adopted daughter. Susan's three year old grandson has a different surname than his two year old sister. But both children have the same birth year. And why the name Price for little three year old Guy? He was born January of 1896. Was Daisy married prior to her 1897 marriage to John Coffee? A search in this county finds an "Elwyn Price" living in nearby Versailles, and his 26 year old son, Guy Price. A Morgan County history of notable figures described Elwyn Price as a "stockholder and director of the Bank of Versailles." Was there a relation? Or did Daisy--on a whim, name her child after the banker's son? Oh, the joy of deciphering censuses!

      By 1905 Susan is living in Kansas City, Missouri. A city directory page shows her name, marital status as widowed, first name of husband, and her residence address:

                    Boggs Susan wid Lamaster M r 4115 Flora

      Susan Boggs passed away the next year, and her grave is in the Elmwood Cemetery, Kansas City. Just recently Ancestry.com/ uploaded new probate cases, and Susan Boggs' case was among them. 38 pages' worth. Only a few are shared below. Click on each within the gallery to view or to enlarge. She died intestate (without a will) at age 68.


and these three final pages:

--"Missouri, Wills and Probate Records, 1766-1988" via Ancestry.com/ originally from "Kansas City, Missouri and Jackson County, Missouri Probate Records and Case Files, 1853-1955." Woo hoo! Don't you love new databases!

--Neff/Boggs marriage date: via researcher Ed Woodyard


Update To Previous Post On Lizzie Coffee Page

Months ago I wrote of my Mom's Grand-Aunt Lizzie
http://treepig.posthaven.com/lizzie-coffee-page-daughter-of-john-h-and-nancy-james-coffee  and how we lost touch with her family.

Well, I learned of her daughter Monta's final resting place. And it is in the same cemetery as our beloved Aunt Helen. Fancy that! I hope to find Lizzie's burial place soon.

See Monta Belle (Page) Webster's page on Findagrave:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=141143279

(Hmm, wish I knew how to turn that choppy looking URL into something I could give a subtitle.)

I obtained Aunt Lizzie's date of death from here:

Source: Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1940-1997.