This is an interesting discussion. I must say for the record, that I do not have
any Rice Coffee/y in my ancestory and that all of my information provided here
comes from several well documented sources cited in earlier posts on this matter.
I have completed no personal research on this line.
I have no Coffee/y reference that mentions anything about the Berry woman, and
have never heard of the Berry children account until this exchange began. I'd
like to see it if anyone has a copy, or can tell me where to find it. Randall,
can you tell me which WFT volume you found the Berry info on?
The Thomas Coffey (b 1742) who married Sarah (Sally) Fields sometime between 1775
and 1780, was the son of John Coffey and Jane Graves. They were in Wilkes County,
NC at least as early as Jan., 1779 when he settled land in that county. He died
here in 1825.
Elizabeth (birth date not known), who married Thomas Fields was Thomas Coffey's
sister. They also moved to Wilkes County and is shown in land records for that
county as early as 1787. Thomas' will was made 10 Jan 1807 and probated Feb.,
1807 (Will Bk 2, p195)
The Fields siblings were children of Richard Fields and Elizabeth Murrell.
Rice who married Sarah Bradford was the nephew of Thomas Coffey and Elizabeth
Coffey. He was the son of their sibling, James Coffey who married Eliz.
Cleveland. This Rice was born c1766 in Amherst Co., VA. If Elizabeth Berry was
a sister of Sarah and Thomas Fields, then she would have been a generation older
than this Rice. I do not know of a Rice born earlier than this one.
This Rice was on the 1788 and 1789 and the 1796-1799 North Carolina tax rolls. He
is not on the 1790 or 1800 census for that state. He first appears in TN on the
1812 Bedford Co. tax list. That is the first extant list for that county. A short
account of Rice, written by a grandson, Rice Abner Coffey about 1890, says that
Rice and family moved to TN in 1808. It also says that all of his children,
except the last three were born in NC which would put the migration date to TN a
bit earlier than 1808.
If the Coffey/Berry children were born in NC, then this Rice is certainly in the
right place at the right time. Elizabeth Berry would have been 11+ years older
than Rice and about 41 years old at the time of the second child's birth in 1796.
I have put out a couple of feelers on this and will let the list know if I find
anything new.
Jack
RWFields wrote:
I got this about Elizabeth Fields from a Berry genealogy on the WFT.
She is
not my ancestor just a sister to an ancestor.
It is said that after her husband, Bradley Berry died of Rheumatic Fever in
the Revolutionary War, Elizabeth moved to Wilkes County, NC and became the
mistress or common law wife of Rice Coffey. It is thought she moved to Wilkes
County, NC to be near relatives. Her brother, Thomas was married to Elizabeth
(Betty) Coffey and her sister Sarah (Sally) was married to Thomas Coffey.
They were all living in Wilkes County, NC.
Rice Coffey may have been part of the company of travelers when Elizabeth went
from Virginia down to North Carolina. She had two children by him, William
and Mary. She gave the children her married name and Coffey's. According to
William Coffey Berry's detailed account of the family history, Rice Coffey did
acknowledge the children as his.
There was more but this is all I have at the moment.
Randall Fields
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