My Genealogy Hound

Jacob Coffman, an enterprising farmer of Knox County, was born in Randolph County, in what is now West Virginia, December 20, 1832, and is a son of Michael and Elizabeth (Hertzog) Coffman, and a descendant of a German family. His father was born in Frederick County, Va., in 1801, and died in Harrison County, W. Va., in 1864. He went to Randolph County with his parents when three years old, where he married and lived until our subject was seven or eight years of age, and then went to Harrison County. While young he learned the blacksmith’s trade, which he followed in connection with farming all his life. He died suddenly of heart disease. Our subject’s mother was also of German descent, but born in Randolph County, Va., in 1804, and died in Taylor County, W. Va., in September, 1885. She and her husband were members of the Missionary Baptist Church for many years, of which church Mr. Coffman was a deacon. Our subject is the fourth of eight children, of whom five are living. His early educational advantages were limited, but being of an observant nature, and by judicious reading, he has become a well-informed man. While young he worked upon his father’s farm and in his shop, and became a good mechanic, but started farming on his own account while very young. In 1866 he sold his property in Harrison County, W. Va., and came to Knox County, Mo., where he has since resided. In 1852 he married Sarah A. Harr, a native of Taylor County, W. Va., and born in 1834, and to this marriage eleven children have been born—four sons and seven daughters, four of the latter now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Coffman are worthy members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and in politics Mr. Coffman is a Democrat, but he has never sought nor held office. Mr. Coffman is a self-made man, and by industry, good management, and the help of his faithful wife, is now comfortably fixed with this world’s goods.