U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
Two Generals Named Coffee Fought For Old Hickory
Jacksonville Might Be "Earlyville" or "Clarkville" Had Bullet Been An Inch Higher
This article is compiled by Julian Williams.
In 1803, Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins persuaded Creek Indian Chief William McIntosh to talk to President Thomas Jefferson about building a federal road from the banks of the Ocmulgee westward.
At this point, Hawkins probably didn't realize he was advocating something which would, in thirty years or so, wind up being a "Trail of Tears."
He also didn't know that a soldier, Indian fighter, engineer and Congressman-to-be would build a road from Jacksonville, Georgia, on the banks of the Ocmulgee to the vicinity of Tallahassee, Florida.
This road, originally called the Alapaha Road, would form some of the western boundary of what would become Coffee County, pass through what is now Alapaha, Nashville, Cecil, Barwick, and Thomasville - on its way to Tallahassee.
It came to be the Coffee Road and is now referred to as the Old Coffee Road.
It is still existent in places - in fact, some folks have their addresses listed as Old Coffee Road.
General John Coffee (1782-1836) and Thomas Swain of Jacksonville were commissioned by Governor John Clark to build this great passageway.
This 1822 effort also laid the initial leg of what was to be extended to Mobile, Alabama, New Orleans and on to California.
Motorists still use many miles of a modern highway which had its beginnings in the efforts of General John Coffee, Thomas Swain and many dedicated workmen of the Big Bend area.
Coffee County is named for this great man, General John Coffee.
Not long after Chief McIntosh and President Jefferson had their talk, a man who would become a governor of Georgia came to Jacksonville as the judge of the old Ocmulgee Circuit; his name was Peter Early.
He served from 1807 (when Telfair County was created) until 1813.
At that time, he hung up his judicial robe in the old courthouse at Jacksonville and went to the governor's mansion in the state's capital - Milledgeville.
Governor Early was an able jurist and administrator and had greatly aided the settling of the frontier on the Ocmulgee at Jacksonville and surrounding areas.
It is interesting to note that he was a Princeton graduate of 1804 and was appointed by Congress, when he was a member there, to be a manager in the impeachment proceedings against Samuel Chase, a prominent Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Back to General Coffee.
There was another General John Coffee.
He was close to General Andrew Jackson and saved his life on several occasions (either dealing with duels or fighting Indians and the British).
This General John Coffee was a first cousin of our General John Coffee.
He resided in Tennessee, near the residence of General Andrew Jackson (hero of the Battle of New Orleans).
Jacksonville, Georgia, is named for General Jackson.
There is a county there named for that General Coffee - Coffee County, Tennessee.
In fact, he was very close to General Jackson - he married Rachel Donelson's niece (Rachel married Andrew Jackson and the circumstances of that marriage caused a heap of trouble for Andrew Jackson because he did believe in defending the honor of dear Rachel).
It also caused a lot of trouble for those who chose to fight with him.
It seems that she didn't have an official divorce when she married ole Andy and by the time they got it all straightened out it was fodder for a lot of gossip.
And gunplay!
Because in that day things were settled at the duel.
On one occasion, General Jackson had worked himself into a duel with one of the best shots in Tennessee, - if not the best.
Charles Dickinson did not miss.
Nevertheless, it is said that close friends, probably including John Coffee, told General Jackson that he needed to wait until his opponent had fired because he did not have a chance if he rushed his first, and only, shot.
Jackson agreed and let Dickinson get his shot off.
Dickinson could not believe he missed.
Jackson raised his pistol and it snapped.
But the rules declared that he should get a shot that fired.
He slowly raised his pistol again and killed Dickinson.
Then it was found that Dickinson had indeed hit Old Hickory with a bullet that came within a hair-breadth of the heart, shattering two ribs in the process.
General Jackson lived to tell about another of his many duels but the bullet could never be removed and caused him trouble the rest of his life.
It is interesting to note that General Coffee of Tennessee was the General Coffee of Alabama.
A county there is named for him.
He went south to fight the Indians and later to negotiate treaties with them.
When our school system recruited teachers in Alabama they would always run up to our table when they saw the sign, "Coffee County" but we could never persuade many of them to come to Georgia.
It is also interesting to note that both General Coffees were wounded in battles with the Indians, and both probably fought with General Jackson at the great Indian Battle of Horseshoe Bend and against the British at New Orleans.
After his soldiering days, our General Coffee from Jacksonville, Georgia, was re-elected to Congress on a Monday in 1836.
But, he had died the Saturday before!
Because of no telegraph the people did not get the word and voted him in.
Thus, he became the only dead man ever elected to Congress!
