Mary Coffey, known as Polly, was the fifth of six children born to Thomas Coffey (1741/42-1825) and his first wife Elizabeth Smith. She was born ca. 1775 in Albemarle Co., VA. Soon after, her mother died and her father remarried. In the late 1770s the Coffey family and others moved south into the upper Yadkin River Valley of North Carolina, clearing a farm on the north side of the river in what is now Patterson, Caldwell Co. On July 3, 1796 Polly married her first cousin William Coffey, son of Thomas's brother Benjamin.
According to family genealogist Laurence H. Coffey, the couple settled "On Buffalo Creek about eight miles north east of the old [Thomas Coffey] home." ("Thomas Coffey and His Descendants" [Chattanooga, 1931], 80). There, according to L.H. Coffey, they raised three children: Austin (ca. 1799), Elijah (ca. 1808), and William Jr. (b. 1812). However, a fourth child (b. 1805-1810), presumably a daughter named Elizabeth, is listed in the household in 1810 and 1820.
According to L.H. Coffey, Polly Coffey died about 1828 and was buried in the Hull/Hill graveyard.
NOTE: the present location of this Hull/Hill Cemetery is uncertain. Laurence H. Coffey in "Thomas Coffey and His Descendants" (1931) wrote that the graveyard "became neglected and almost lost from notice to the present generation." He described its location as 1/2 mile east of the Thomas Coffey homestead.
Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 30 November 2019), memorial page for Mary “Polly” Coffey Coffey (1775–1828), Find A Grave Memorial no. 104256179, citing Hull Hill Cemetery, Patterson, Caldwell County, North Carolina, USA ; Maintained by John W. Coffey (contributor 47365586) .
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