My Genealogy Hound

JOHN COFFEY is one of the prominent farmers and live stock dealers in Cumberland county. He is engaged in general farming on his fine farm of 200 acres, all under a high state of cultivation, and is a man of large experience in business transactions, and being a good judge of character, he has been wise in the management of his affairs, and in the selection of business associates. He was born in Southampton township Feb. 9, 1830, a son of James and Mary (Highlands) Coffey, and grandson of William Coffey, a native of Pennsylvania.

James Coffey was born in Delaware county, Pa., in 1811, of Irish descent. He became a farmer and distiller, and was a prominent man in his locality. In his religious belief he was a strict Presbyterian, in which faith he, died at the advanced age of eighty-six years, in 1897. He was three times married. The name of his first wife is not known. For his second wife he married Mary Highlands, who was born in Southampton township in 1812, daughter of James Highlands, whose father emigrated to America from Ireland prior to the Revolution and was a soldier in the Colonial army. She died in 1836, the mother of five children, namely: William A., of Carlisle; John; George W., of Kansas; Julia A., who married Levi Strohm, of Leesburg; and Mary, wife of John Noaker. By his third marriage, James Coffey became the father of Robert J., of Colorado; Elizabeth, of Carlisle; and Margaret.

John Coffey was but six years of age when his mother died. His early years were all spent on the farm, and as he began life for himself with little or no means, he is pre-eminently a self made man. His school days taken altogther did not exceed a period of two months. He was employed by his father and other parties until he was twenty-four years old, when he leased the old Samuel Adams farm, where he is found today — having remained here for the long period of fifty years. The land is all under a fine state of cultivation, and with it Mr. Coffey has engaged extensively in buying and selling horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. In politics Mr. Coffey is a Democrat, after the kind of Thomas Jefferson, and for several years he has been a member of the school board, and he has also served as treasurer and assessor of his township. He has taken an active part in local politics, but has never sought any of the honors for himself. His judgment in public matters is greatly relied upon, and he is often called upon by the party’s leaders for advice and counsel.

In 1862 Mr. Coffey recruited a Company for service in the Union army, and took them to Harrisburg. Upon the organization of the Company the men elected a captain, and Mr. Coffey, feeling that he himself was entitled to the office, quietly returned home.

In 1854 Mr. Coffey married Elizabeth Rank, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Koser) Rank; she died in 1889, leaving the following children: Ella, wife of George A. Reese, a farmer of Southampton township; James Bernard; Charles William, in the clothing business in Shippensburg with his brother James B.; and Delia E., housekeeper for James B.