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Note: Joel Coffey died in 1789 in Wilkes Co. NC. His will was proved in july 1789 and is as follows: In the name if god Amen-I, Joel Coffee, of North Carolina and County of Wilkes tho weak in Body yet perfect in mind and memory Constitute this mt Last Will and Testament, I give my soul to God my Redeemer and my Body to Buried in a Descent manner and after my just Debts are paid I Dispose of my Worldly Goods as follows, to wit, I give to my wife, Martha, the plantation wheron I now live and all my Household furniture and Two Negroes namely, Harry and Teg, and all my Stock of Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Hogs Enduring her natural life or Widowhood, I also will that as much of my Land be sold by my Executor to pay my Debts. The Remainder of my Land to be Equally Divided among my sons, Cleaveland, James, Joel and Nathan And the Rest of my Negroes to be Equally Divided among my Children to wit, Cleaveland, James, Joel, Nathan, Caty, Jane, Sealy, and if my wife is at present with Child, for it if it Live to share an equal part with the Rest and at the Death or Marriage of my Wife for what I give her to be Equally Divided among all my Children my present Estate to be Improved and kept together till my Youngest Child come of Age or Marry. Nebuzaraden Coffee and my son Cleavland Coffee Executors. I acknowledge this my last Will and Testament made this 27th Day of April 1789- Joel Coffee (his mark) A number of things can be learned from this will. Martha, wife of Joel, was expecting a child or suspected she was pregnant when Joel wrote his will. If we assume that she was no older than 50 at the time, 1739 would have been her earliest possible birthdate. Fifty is an extreme upper limit for childbearing years and she was probably a few years younger, born no earlier than 1745. In naming his executors, Joel referred to Cleaveland as " my son" but he only referred to Nebuzaraden by his full name. So he would unlikely be the Neb that was a brother not a son. If Neb had been disinherited, chances are he would not have been named as an Executor. Chances are that Cleveland Coffey was the eldest son, because he was the Executor, we can assume he was born in 1768 or earlier. If his mother was born in 1745, he was probably born no earlier than 1760. If Cleaveland were born in 1768, Martha was probably born no later than 1750. We can be reasonably certain that Martha was born between 1745 and 1753. If she was born in this time period, her husband Joel , was probably born between 1749 and 1750, although it is possible he could have been born earlier. Many genealogist have claimed, without proof, that Joel Coffey (d. 1789) was born 1730. They also claim that his wife was a Martha Sealy born in 1737. As shown earlier, we can be fairly certain that Martha was not born in 1737. We can be certain that Joel Coffey (1730-1789) and Martha Sealy are identical to Joel Coffey (d. 1789) and Martha (d. 1816) because the same will was used as evidence for the names of their children in both cases. The genealogist who claim that Joel was born in 1730 also claim that he was the father of Nathan Coffey (1760-1823). It is interesting to note that both birthdates are round numbers exactly 30 years apart. Both dates were probably estimates that became accepted over the years and eventually became fact. Those who initially estimated Joel's birthday as 1730 probably put the year of his birth that early because of the birth of his first son who is said to have been born in 1760. In reality Joel Coffey was probably not born as early as 1730. Conclusion-Joel Coffey . between 1740-1750-married 1765-1768-died before July 1789 in wilkes County, NC. Served as a private in the north Carolina militia. born in Virginia, died in Wilkes Co. NC
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