John E. Coffee
John E. Coffee (
December 3,
1782 â€"
September 25,
1836) was a military leader and a
US Congressman for the state of
Georgia.
Born in
Prince Edward County, Virginia, Coffee moved with his father to a plantation near Powelton, Hancock County, Georgia, in 1800. Coffee settled in
Telfair County, Georgia in 1807 where he engaged in agricultural pursuits.
As a general in the Georgia state militia, Coffee cut a road through the state of Georgia that would be called "Coffee Road" to carry munitions of war to the Florida Territory to fight the Indians during the
Creek War.
John Coffee served a member of the
Georgia Senate from 1819-1827; 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 reelected to the
Twenty-fifth United States Congress on
October 3,
1836; the announcement of his death not having been received. Coffee died on his plantation near Jacksonville, Telfair County, Ga., on September 25, 1836; interment on his plantation near Jacksonville, Ga.; reinterment in McRae Cemetery, McRae, Ga., in 1921.
Note: Researchers often confuse General
John R. Coffee, the military leader in the
War of 1812, with General John E. Coffee. John R., also known as "Tennessee John" and John E. were first cousins.
Coffee County, Georgia is named in honor of John E. Coffee.
*
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress*
History of Old Jacksonville, GA
