Evan Adair Calfee (1802 - 1869)

Born 23 May 1802 in Adair, Kentucky, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Woods) Calfee — married 18 Dec 1823 in Bibb, Alabama, United States

Descendants

Died 18 May 1869 at age 66 in Coosa, Alabama, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kathleen Harper [send private message]

Biography

Evan was born in 1802 in Adair County, Kentucky. I can trace his movements with the census from Kentucky to Tennessee to Alabama, and can see that he moved with his father, John C. Calfee, and his siblings, eventually settling in Coosa County, Alabama.

His father and most of his siblings settled in nearby Bibb County. Rumors have it that Evan was married three times and had sixteen children. What I have found in the records is that Evan married only twice at most, and was married to his first wife Elizabeth from his early 20’s until she died in 1866. They had thirteen children that I can confirm. I think the rumors have been transferred from Evan’s father, John, who did have three wives and may well have had sixteen children.

At any rate, they were definitely patriarchs of large broods of children!

Evan spent most of his adult life amassing parcels of land and farming. He had, as nearly as I can determine, about 400 acres in two counties. His home place was nestled on the southeast side of Hatchet Creek surrounded by hilly, forested terrain.

As Evan settled in Alabama in the early 1820’s, it is likely that his home was a large cabin, or set of cabins connected with a dog-trot. He may well have improved the homestead over the years to accommodate his growing family, and by 1857, he was well known and well off enough that he ran for, and was elected as Coosa County’s state representative where he served in 1857-58. Evan also served as a Justice of the Peace in the early 1830’s. Several marriage records still exist showing Evan as the officiator of the wedding ceremonies. Apparently he was deeply involved in the local social and political scene.

Federal census records show that Evan was a small planter who owned about eight slaves. Rumors abound that he owned upwards of forty souls, but records indicate otherwise. Unfortunately these records do not give much information about the individuals Evan owned. They are listed only by sex and age.

When war came to the South, Evan’s two oldest sons enlisted in the Confederate States Army immediately. John Lewis Calfee, the oldest son, died early in the war in Mississippi, most likely from measles. Robert Evan Baylor Calfee, the second son, died at the Battle of Antietam at Sharpsburg, Maryland, and I have never been able to determine if he was buried there in a mass grave or if they somehow were able to bring his remains home to Alabama.

Two of Evan’s sons-in-law also died during the war, John William Burt, my grandpa’s great-grandpa, died just a week before the end of the war in a dirty prison camp in Columbus, Ohio. He contracted Typhoid Fever and is buried in the old Camp Chase graveyard in that town.

Unfortunately, John’s grave is mis-marked with the name of JW Burk due to an error in the paperwork from Camp Chase. I am hoping to one day have this error fixed.

John’s widow, Sarah Ann Amanda Calfee Burt, remarried after the war a kind gentleman and veteran of the CSA by the name of David Crockett Coffman. He and Sarah went on to add three more children to their family and David raised John Williams children as his own, eventually settling at Rush Springs, Oklahoma.

It is apparent by the naming of Evan’s descendants that he was loved and revered by his children and their children. There are no less than five of his grandchildren who bore his name in some form. Even today, there are Calfee descendants named after Evan.

The records are a little sketchy in the years following the war. Some say he remarried after Elizabeth passed, that may be true. All I know for certain is that Evan was listed on the tax roles in 1866 and died in 1869.

Evan was buried with Elizabeth (known as Betsy to the family) in a church graveyard in an unmarked plot in Weogufka, Alabama. At some time in the past decade, Evan’s descendants placed a simple stone on Evan’s grave marking his and Elizabeth’s final resting place.

Bio by S Harper Burns

• Fact: Residence (1850) Coosa county, Coosa, Alabama, United States
• Fact: Residence (1860) 2nd Subdivision, Coosa, Alabama, United States
• Fact: Burial (1869) Weogufka, Coosa, Alabama, United States of America

Sources

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 14 July 2019, 16:32), entry for Evan Adair Calfee(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:KT9J-V3H); contributed by various users.
• US Census 1830; Census Place: Bibb, Alabama; Series: M19; Roll: 2; Page: 151; Family History Library Film: 0002329