Coffinberry, Wright Lewis

Coffinberry, Wright Lewis

Male 1807 - 1889  (81 years)

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  • Name Coffinberry, Wright Lewis  [1, 2
    Born 5 Apr 1807  Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4, 5
    Gender Male 
    Residence 1850  Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [6
    Age: 43 
    Residence 1860  1 W. Grand Rapids, Kent County, MI Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 1870  Grand Rapids Ward 1, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [8
    Age: 63; MaleCitizenOverTwentyone: Y; PersonalEstateValue: 3000; RealEstateValue: 10000; Occupation: Civil Engineer 
    Residence 1880  Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [9
    StreetAddress: Summit Street; Age: 73; Occupation: Civil Engineer; EnumerationDistrict: 135; MaritalStatus: Married; RelationToHead: Self 
    Died 26 Mar 1889  Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Buried Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Person ID I18357  My Genealogy
    Last Modified 21 Jan 2022 

    Father Coffinberry, George Lewis,   b. 10 Feb 1760, Martinsburg, Berkeley, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 13 Jul 1851, Mansfield, Richland, Ohio, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 91 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Mother Little, Elizabeth,   b. 1769, Strasburg, Alsace-Loraine, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Jun 1854, Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 85 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Married 5 Dec 1785  Martinsburg, Berkeley, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [10, 11, 12
    Family ID F7396  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Beach, Jane,   b. 1805, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married 18 Aug 1831  Grand Rapids, MI Find all individuals with events at this location  [5, 13
    Children 
     1. Coffinberry, Rebecca J.,   b. 1840, Ohio, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [natural]
     2. Coffinberry, Julia F.,   b. 1843, Ohio, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [natural]
    Last Modified 21 Jan 2022 
    Family ID F21888  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 5 Apr 1807 - Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Age: 43 - 1850 - Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - StreetAddress: Summit Street; Age: 73; Occupation: Civil Engineer; EnumerationDistrict: 135; MaritalStatus: Married; RelationToHead: Self - 1880 - Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 26 Mar 1889 - Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, USA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    wright
    wright

    Documents
    Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950 - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
    Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950 - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
    US, Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
    US, Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
    1850 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
    1850 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
    1870 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
    1870 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
    1880 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
    1880 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry

  • Notes 


    • Capt. Wright L. Coffinberry [Grand Rapids Eagle]

      Capt. Wright L. Coffinberry was born at Lancaster, Ohio, April 5, 1807. His father, George L. Coffinberry, was born in Berkeley county, Va. He was a farmer and cut the first road from Wheeling, W. Va., to Zanesville, Ohio, and drove the first team over it. He went to Chillicothe, Ohio, in its earliest days and four years later removed to Lancaster, at a period when it was first laid out. The mother of the deceased, Elizabeth (LITTLE) Coffinberry, was a native of Berkeley county, Va. His parents fixed their residence at Mansfield, Ohio, in 1809, when their son was two years old. He received a common school education and at eighteen years of age left the farm to learn the trade of millwright and carpenter, which calling he followed thirteen years, winning a good repute as a. mechanic. At the solicitation of the Civil Engineers' Corps of Ohio he enrolled himself in that body in 1836 and has seen much active service in civil engineering in the States of Ohio and Michigan.

      In 1844 he went to St. Joseph, this State, and in 1846 came to this city, where he opened a watch and clock repair shop which he carried on for four years. In 1850 he was elected first city surveyor and three years later was engaged by the government as surveyor of lands in the northern part of the State. In 1854 he was again elected city surveyor and held the position three years. He has platted about one hundred and fifty additions to the city. In 1859 he surveyed a State road from Grand Rapids to Northport, in the extreme north of Leelanaw county, the location of which cost a month's travel on foot carrying a knapsack. In 1860 he fulfilled a contract to construct a road forty miles long north of Newaygo, cutting and bridging it. In 1861. he enlisted and raised a company of 100 men in this city (Co. C, First Regiment Michigan Engineers and Mechanics). He Served as captain One and one-half years during the war of 'the Rebellion, when he resigned.

      His collection of plans and drawings and curious remains of his career in his profession is novel and affords matter for much entertainment. In 1881 he was elected county superintendent of the poor, which position he held for six years, discharging the difficult and delicate duties with marked ability and faithfulness.

      He was married August 18, 1831, near Mansfield , 0., to Jane BEACH, who was born in Pennsylvania and reared in Ohio. August 18, 1881, they celebrated their golden wedding. Mrs. Coffinberry survives him, aged nearly eighty-four years. They have had four children: Emma, who died in 1844; Andrew B. , married and residing in this city; Rebecca J. and Julia F., who have long been widely useful teachers in the city schools.

      Mr. Coffinberry had had an experience covering a list of vicissitudes equal to most men who were representatives of the old pioneer period. He began the work of temperance here many years ago and labored unremittingly in its interest. He was, one of the earliest members of the republican party, and never swerved from fealty to that party.

      He had been connected with the Odd Fellow and Masonic orders for many years. During his early residence in this city he was a member of the Lyceum This was, superseded by the Lyceum of Natural History. During the war the latter barely existed, and finally was merged in the Kent Scientific Institute, which is an important institution of the city. Of this he has always been an active member, serving at different periods as the president of all these societies, and for several years he was chairman of the committee on archaeology He had made many explorations in that line, collecting many valuable relies in archaeology.

      He was a man of abounding kindness of heart, of the most absolute integrity with profound religious convictions which actuated his every moment of life, and with a reputation as a man and a citizen which is a rich legacy for his family. His death will be mourned in many a household besides his own, and his wise counsels and exemplary life will be remembered with Pleasure by all who have had the rare good fortune to, know him.

      Mr. Coffinberry left his home in Grand Rapids, Mich., Tuesday morning, March 26, 1889, in his usual health, and expired in a street car, without a moment's warning. He was a gentleman of unusual vigor, both of body and mind, and this continued until the day of his death.

  • Sources 
    1. [S1631] U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2016;), Presbyterian Historical Society; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Accession Number: 01 0221 51A 2 Box 1.
      Record for Wright Lewis Coffinbury
      US, Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
      US, Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 - Wright Lewis Coffinberry


    2. [S108] Download - Coffinberry, Leslie Ann Kelly Edmunds, darryl_leslie@email.msn.com, (Name: GEDCOM Import;).
      Date of Import: Mar 10, 2001

    3. [S760] FindAGrave.com, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;).
      Record for Wright Lewis Coffinberry

    4. [S142] Genealogy of the Coffinberry Family: Descendants of George Lewis Coffinberry (1760-1851) Revolutionary War Soldier, compiled by Mrs. Beatrice Berman Scott b. 1893, (Name: published 1927;), page 51.

    5. [S1629] Obituary - Wright Lewis Coffinberry, (Name: Grand Rapids Eagle;).

    6. [S376] 1850 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, (Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2005;), Year: 1850; Census Place: Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan; Roll: M432_353; Page: 188B; Image: 370.
      Record for Wm L Coffinberry
      1850 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
      1850 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry


    7. [S1630] Michigan, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1827-1870, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 1999;).
      Record for Wright L. Coffinberry

    8. [S1114] 1870 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2009;), Year: 1870; Census Place: Grand Rapids Ward 1, Kent, Michigan; Roll: M593_681; Page: 226A; Family History Library Film: 552180.
      Record for Wright L Coffinberry
      1870 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
      1870 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry


    9. [S381] 1880 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2005;), Year: 1880; Census Place: Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan; Roll: 588; Page: 249D; Enumeration District: 135.
      Record for Wright L. Coffinberry
      1880 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry
      1880 United States Federal Census - Wright Lewis Coffinberry


    10. [S256] My Ancestor George Ludwig (Lewis) Coffinberry, Marjorie McCaddon Constanz.

    11. [S142] Genealogy of the Coffinberry Family: Descendants of George Lewis Coffinberry (1760-1851) Revolutionary War Soldier, compiled by Mrs. Beatrice Berman Scott b. 1893, (Name: published 1927;), pages 8-11.
      [George Lewis Coffinberry] married December 5, 1786, at Martinsburg, West Virginia. Married Miss Elizabeth (Klein) Little, who was born near Alsace Loraine about 1769. Elizabeth Little believed herself to be a descendant of royalty. She was gifted with language and from her pen came forth at command prose and poetry, and her writings, if they had been cared for and published, most certainly would have made her known as a lady of letters in the western world.
      An item of interest to those of this present generation was the fact that in the days of Elizabeth Little, false teeth or plates were unknown and so she made her own teeth, by taking a cow’s horn and soaking it in water until flexible, then carefully shaping it to her mouth and by filing teeth in it, made a very serviceable set of lower and upper teeth. The only fault with these kind of teeth was the fact that they wore out too soon and the same performance had to be gone through with again.
      Elizabeth Little had a brother that we know of. A Mrs. Cope of Chattanooga, Tennessee, claims to be a descendant of this brother.

      ...

      ELIZABETH LITTLE COFFINBERRY, wife of George Lewis Coffinberry, was a blonde with blue eyes. Her hair kept its golden tinge until she was quite an old lady. Her father was George Kline (Little) and her mother was Elizabeth Truggat. They were both born in Strasburg, in Alsace, early in the eighteenth century, and were married there. They came to the town of Chambersburg in the colony of Penn, where they both died within six months after their settlement, leaving George Little, 2 years old, and Elizabeth, 6 months old.
      These children were taken to Martinsburg, Va., by their mother’s sister, who reared them and where George was married to Caroline Roush, and Elizabeth to George Lewis Coffinberry. The name of her family was originally Kline, but was later changed to Little. The word Kline means “little” in the German language. Elizabeth Little Coffinberry always told her children that some day they would come into a great heritage through her people, but just what this was I do not know.


    12. [S948] West Virginia, Marriages Index, 1785-1971, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2011;).
      Record for George Lewis Coffenberry

    13. [S142] Genealogy of the Coffinberry Family: Descendants of George Lewis Coffinberry (1760-1851) Revolutionary War Soldier, compiled by Mrs. Beatrice Berman Scott b. 1893, (Name: published 1927;), page 18.