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Surnames: Caffee, Scott
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/oNH.2ACIB/28
Message Board Post:
Looking for additional information relating to the family of James Caffee (aka Coffee,
Caffey) who married Elizabeth Scott (1812 in Washington Co., KY) and they had 3 sons, Wm.,
Levi & John.
Wm.'s story goes like this:
from: Rebel for Rights: Abigail Scott Duniway, by Ruth Barnes Moynihan, p. 22: "The
fact that Jenny Scott's uncles, William and Levi Caffee, were both notorious
alcoholics made things worse. William Caffee was finally tried and executed for murder
after a tavern brawl in Wisconsin."
from:
http://www.geocities.com/old_lead/berry.htm -- Fortunatus Berry build a house &
tavern in 1842 in Gratiot's Grove, Iowa Co., Wisconsin. During the housewarming a
gunfight broke out and one of his neighbors, Samuel Southwick was shot & killed by
another guest, William Caffee, who was tried, convicted & hanged in front of a big
crowd in Mineral Point.
from:
http://www.wisghostresearch.com/new_site/CaseFiles/Caffee/Caffee.html -- William
Caffee & Samuel Southwick attended a housewarming celebration at the Berry home
2/23/1842, in Gratiot's Grove, a small town just south of Mineral Point. There was an
argument between the 2 men and Caffee shot Southwick, killing him instantly, with a shot
near his heart by his pistol. The wound was 1" wide & 6" deep and the pistol
had to be loaded, charged w/gun powder & had a lead bullett. Caffee was indicted for
1st degree murder in 4/1843 with Judge Jackson presiding. The sheriff was George
Messersmith; Wm. R. Smith was district atty and the defense counsel was Moses M. Strong.
The jury found him guilty; Jackson sentenced him to hang. The sheriff, Co. board &
commissioners hired 4 men to guard the log Mineral Point jail (at the time also
courthouse). James James (village blacksmith) riveted irons to Caffee. It was reported
that Caffee had threatened to kill if he got loose. On 11/1/1842,!
a scaffold was erected in a flat area near the point of Mineral Pt. bluff. A crowd
estimated to be 4-5,000 came to watch. The morning of the hanging, Maj. Gray and his local
cavalry co. stood guard at the jail armed w/pistols and sabers in full dress uniforms. For
his las meal, Caffee asked for a slice of Judge Jackson's heart. At 2PM, Maj. Gray and
cavalry lead the parade from jail to gallows, followed by a troop of infantrymen under
Col. Sublett, with a band playing the funeral march. Some reports say that Caffee himself
drummed out the funeral march with beer bottles while riding his casket; supposedly
clothed in a lont white robe and white cap. Rev. Mr. Wilcox read the last rites. Caffee
supposedly requested of the sheriff "a lot of slack."
From:
http://www.ufowisconsin.com/wfiles/files/gh_mineralpoint.html -- Walker-Grundy
House, a log house built in 1836, haunted by a murderer who was hanged in front of it,
11/1/1842. In 10/1981, owner Walker Calvert saw Caffee's headless ghost sitting on a
bench on the back porch, visible for several minutes... the same month, a waitress saw the
same ghost, this time with head, waling on the 2nd floor.
From:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/walker.html -- In 1957, the inn closed its doord and
was vacant for over 7 years. In 1964, the bldg. was purchased by Ted Landon and he wanted
to restore the place. Beginning the work, strange incidents started to occur, including
the sounds of heavy breathing & mysterious footsteps. In 1974, the tavern & inn
reopened but things did not go well with Landon & his partners and in 1978 they sold
to Dr. David Ruf, who put the mgmt of the place into the hands of Walker Calvert, who
would have the greater number of encounters with the ghost -- strange sounds, apparitions
of a headless man (spotted in the dining room in 1981) wearing a fumpled gray suit of
miner's clothing, then vanished. The house is now closed to the public.
Levi, Wm. & John eventually moved with other members of collateral lines to Tazewell
Co., IL. Levi married Martha Roelofson & moved on to OR in 1851-2 and John's
life/family is unknown at this time.