John E. Coffee

John E. Coffee (December 3, 1782 – September 25, 1836) was a military leader and a Congressman for the state of Georgia.

Early life

He was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and was a grandson of Peter Coffee, Sr. (1716 – November 1771) and Susannah Mathews (1701–1796). He is sometimes confused by researchers with his first cousin John Coffee, a general in the Tennessee militia.

John E. Coffee moved with his parents and family to a plantation near Powelton in Hancock County, Georgia, in 1800. In 1807, he settled in Telfair County, Georgia, where he developed his own plantation.

Military career

As a general in the Georgia state militia, Coffee cut a road through the state of Georgia, which would be called "Coffee Road," to carry munitions to the Florida Territory to fight the Indians during the Creek War. It is now called the "Old Coffee Road".

Political career

John Coffee's cenotaph at the Congressional Cemetery.

John Coffee served as a member of the Georgia Senate from 1819 to 1827. He was elected as a Jacksonian Democrat to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth U.S. Congresses and served from March 4, 1833, until his death on September 25, 1836. He was re-elected to the Twenty-fifth United States Congress on October 3, 1836, after his death, the news of his death not having been received.

Coffee died on his plantation near Jacksonville, Georgia, on September 25, 1836, and was buried there. In 1921 his remains were re-interred in McRae Cemetery, McRae, Georgia.

Legacy and honors

In addition to Old Coffee Road, Coffee County, Georgia, ^[1] and General Coffee State Park were named in honor of John E. Coffee.

References

1. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Printing Office. p. 86.

External links

• United States Congress. "John E. Coffee (id: C000583)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• History of Old Jacksonville, Georgia

John E. Coffee at Find a Grave