Henry and Amy (Coffee) Foley

Henry & Amy (Coffey) Foley

Henry and Amy Coffey Foley had six children known to us, based on the listing of their children in their family bible which their son, Richard brought with him to Kentucky. They are as follows:

URZILLA FOLEY "Daughter of Hennery Foley and Amy his wife" was born March the 26th day in 1742

RICHARD FOLEY "Sone of Hennery Foley and Amy his wife" was born September the 28th day in 1745

ELISABETH FOLEY was born in February the __th day in 1748.

HENNERY FOLEY Junr. was born in April the __th day 1749.

JOHN FOLEY was born June the 8th day in the year of our Lord 1755.

HANNAH FOLEY was born in March the 2nd day in 1758.

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We do not know where they lived in Virginia. Their son, Richard and his family left VA for KY from what was the original Frederick County. There is only one known reference in Frederick Co., Virginia for Henry:

Frederick Co, Va Order Bk 8, p, 74: [UK Microfilm M160], HENRY FOLEY & AMY, his wife, Plts: "On the motion of the plaintiffs, the case is dismissed." Henry Foley & Amy, his wife Vs. Samuel Sorder, Deft. [This was pertaining to a land sale.]

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There are several references which may be for Henry. These are cited here. [this part of Virginia was in Dunmore County until 1778, then Frederick County, and now Shenandoah County.] Henry and Amy may have moved to Montgomery County in their later years.

MONTGOMERY CO, VA REFERENCES:

1781 - TITHABLE TAX LIST ON CLINCH/BLUESTONE RIVER, NEAR TAZEWELL CO.

1782 - 1787 - TAX PAYER - HENRY FOLIE - 1 POLL

1788 - TAX LIST - HENERY FOLIE, 0 MALES 16-21

1783 - LIST OF PETITIONERS TO COMMANDER OF MILITIA BY RESIDENTS OF UPPER SETTLEMENT OF CLINCH RIVER FOR PROTECTION AGAINST SAVAGES.

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Frederick Co., VA Order Bk 11, p. 48: [UK Microfilm M160] - Foley vs. Price

"The Petition of Henry Foley against Joshua Price is dismissed being & agreed by the parties."

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[NOTE - Nancy Foley Johnson: The first Foley researcher I am aware of in this line is Musetta "Musa" James Foley. She was a maiden lady who visited family and their neighbors and copied from their family bibles, family writings and wrote down her conversations with them. I must point out here that in Musa's notebook she states:

"Henry and Amy and family lived in the valley of the Upper Clinch River in southwestern VA during the revolutionary war.

She added the words "Montgomery County" under 'lived' and over "Upper Clinch".

There is no mention of a reference for this information. She also states that this area was the frontier of VA and that Henry Foley with a number of his neighbors protested against service in the army because it would leave their families exposed to the mercies of the Indians who frequented that section of the country. We do not know if Musa Foley found a reference for a Henry Foley and assumed that it was ours, if she was told this by some of the family she interviewed, or just where she came by this information.

Recently (2002], information regarding one other of the children of Henry and Amy, [Hannah] has come to light. For 35 years, Richard who married Margaret Wilson and brought his family to Kentucky was their only child we knew of. While searching the Internet, this writer discovered queries from descendants of one Hannah Foley, daughter of Henry Foley, who was born in 1758. This birth year matched the date we had for our Hannah. Also, Hannah had an Amelia and a William and William named a daughter "Amy". Several generations on down one daughter is named Amelia and called Amy. Another is named Hannah F. (possibly the "F" was for Foley). William, son of Hannah Foley, also named a daughter Ursula, the name of his mother's oldest sister.

The information this discovery of Hannah brought to light included a birth year for Henry Foley of 1717. Where this information originated was lost from the memory of the person, Marilyn Francis who had obtained it. It was downloaded in a GED program, but she did not have any records of who sent it to her.

[Note - NFJ: If it were not for the family bible that starts with the children of Henry and Amy, we would not be certain that these were the correct Foleys, but it has been handed down via these Foleys to the Marrs family to the Smith family. William S. Foley, sr. borrowed the bible and made a copy of the record pages about 1960. He then had the copies notarized. At the present time - December, 2003- the bible is in the possession of Lynn (Smith) Baker of TN.]

[Note - NFJ: There has been a question raised as to Amy's name; might it have been a corruption of Anny looking like Amy, when written ?...because, there is a Stafford Co VA marriage record on 24 December, 1738, one Henry Foley married an Anne Courtney. Anne was the daughter of John Courtney (who died in 1756 in King George Co, VA) and possibly Susanna Mathews. A brother, William Courtney married Mary Barbee, d/o Thomas and Margaret Barbee. Ref: Foley findings v-5 #4, p. 226].

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Ltr. from Dr. James Courtney to NFJ, 29 March 1993:

"The published accounts I've seen give the same information - 'Henry Foley to Ann Courtney, 24 Dec 1738'. You might want to check the source [there is none given] for Henry to Amy Coffey. If this is an original record then it has to be your line and correct - and it most likely means that Anne Courtney died early (in childbirth, perhaps) and Henry [was] married secondly to Amy Coffey if each record does exist.

Ann Courtney Foley had a brother, James Courtney who had an only daughter named Rosanna and she married William Butler in 1772 in King Geo. Co Va.

[NFJ NOTE: See ref. to Henery in K.Geo. Co. below] The entry [I assume in the same source as Henry-Ann marriage] of a child, Hannah being born to John Foley and Rosina/Rosanna, 20 Sept 1742, Stafford, Overwharton Parrish.

I found an interesting item in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, V. 37, p. 330, Caroline Co. VA Marriage Bonds, Sept 1836: Armstead Folly married Ellender Borne, security, John Courtney Folly. I wonder if this Foley is a descendant of [Ann] Courtney? I am enclosing a sketch of the John Courtney. J.C."

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Ltr. C. Rhodes dtd. Mar 7, 1996:

I have my Foley family back to a John Foley from Stafford Co, VA born in the late 1600's. This John could POSSIBLY be the son of Thomas FOLIO who died at Stafford Co, VA in 1689 (I need more data to prove this). Thomas' wife's name was Martha. They had children:

Richard
Thomas
John
Brian (he always used the surname, FOLEY)
Anne

In researching in Stafford Co and surrounding counties, I found the following:

John (C.Rhodes ancestor)
James " "
John (Jr.?)
Richard
Henry

The above group are all listed as "tobacco tenders", dated circa 11 Nov. 1724 in THE REGISTER OF OVERWHARTON PARISH, STAFFORD COUNTY, VIRGINIA, 1723-1758, p.164.

I also found mention of a Henry Foley who witnessed a deed in King George Co., VA on 4 June 1736 (from King Geo. Co. VA Deed Bk. 2, pp. 37-41) In addition to that on pp. 6-7 and 32-37, in the same Deed Bk. 2, it has previously mentioned Bryan Foley buying land in 1714-15. His lineage is as follows: Elizabeth Foley Gerrard > Bayless Foley > James Foley, Jr > James Foley, Sr. > John Foley Sr (ca 1763-1762)

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There are several references to a Henry Foley who m i g h t be the same as this one. None of these are proven:

"Monongahela of old or historical sketches of South-Western Pennsylvania to the year 1800" by James Veech. Pittsburgh 1858-1892:

In the Appendix to chapter vii, under the title of 'List of settlers in Fayette (Co. VA) and in contiguous parts of Greene, Washington, & Westmoreland counties in 1772: copied from the official assessment rolls of Bedford County for 1773, there is not a single Foley listed, however, there are names of families which were later located in the Strasburg area of Virginia and even later in the south Elkhorn vicinity of Fayette County, Kentucky, where Richard and his family settled.

[NOTE-NFJ: It is merely conjecture on my part, but possibly ours were there and somehow their names were overlooked. The coincidence seems very interesting. These families (ie. Craig, Grow, Jenkins, Moore, Miller, Marr, Roberts, Sutton, Stone, Wilson, Bryan, Downing and Funk ) all seemed to migrate to the same locations. This listing included the townships of Pitt, Springhill, Tyrone and Rostraver.

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Bockstruck, Virginia's Colonial, pp. 137-38:

- Dunmore's War 1774 -
The names of the soldiers on the pay rolls at Romney and Winchester:

Capt. Joseph Bowman's Roll:
Benjamin Wilson, Lt.:
Henry Foley

[NFJ: other surnames in this roll that could be family ties or friends to our Foley family are:

Abram Kellor, Michael Keller, Henry Miller, William Miller, William Wilson, John Calfee, and Archibald Wilson].

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Gwathmey, "Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, pp. xiii and 280:

Foley, Henry, Rom. [Rom.= A list of militia paid at Romney in 1775]

It is probable that these were Colonial troops late in receiving their pay. It is noted that practically all of them immediately joined the army of the Revolution.

In ref. to the above Gwathmey book, Michael E. Pollock of FREDERICK FINDINGS states that. . .

In addition to Henry Folley, are also listed a Daniel, John and Mark Foley. What makes these three men so significant is that John's service was listed as being in the KY Co, VA militia, while Daniel and Mark were both in G.R. Clark's Ill Regiment in which Abraham Bowman was an officer. [NFJ NOTE: Richard Foley and family came from VA to John Bowman's Station (now KY) with 19 other families under the leadership of Abraham Bowman). Daniel received a pension for his service and it would be interesting to see what, if anything, the application had to say about his background and family. I have not established what became of Mark Foley, but there was a Daniel in the 1800 tax list/census of Montgomery Co, which had a common border with Fleming Co where a Henry resided. There is reason to believe that these men were a part of a single, extended family.

I believe that examining the pension file of John Foley and what can be determined about the military service of Daniel and Mark would be in order. Until we are able to identify the captain(s) under whom the latter two served, we cannot know. When the residence of the Capt. is known (and most are not), identifying the residences of his soldiers is much easier. When it is not, it becomes necessary to study pension files and other available records to identify where the co. was raised.

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References in Montgomery County, Virginia which m a y be for this Henry:

TAX LIST 1782 - HENRY FOLIE, 1 POLL

TAX LIST 1788 - HENERY FOLIE, 0 MALES 16-21

TAX PAYER 1782-87 - HENRY FOLIE - 1 POLL

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"VA Tax Payers 1782-7 Other Than Those Published By U.S. Census Bureau" p. 44 by Fothergill -UK/SC F 225.F60 1978.

[NFJ NOTE: other Foleys in Montgomery Co VA at that time were] :

Foley, Barnet 1788 & 1790: 0-0-2 Census

" " 1788 Tax List -

Foley, Moses 1787-89: 0-0-3 & 0-0-6 & 0-0-5 Census

Foley, Thomas 1788 Tax List -

Henry is the only Foley shown in the county for those dates. A Henry Foley lived in Montgomery County Virginia during the revolutionary war as shown below in:

TITHABLE TAX LIST 1781 - CLINCH-BLUESTONE RIVER NEAR TAZEWELL CO.

and:

"PETITION OF INHABITANTS OF UPPER CLINCH RIVER, VIRGINIA" VIRGINIA HISTORICAL MAGAZINE - PRESTON PAPERS - VOL. 29

p. 33-5:

This was a petition to the commander in chief of the Montgomery County militia and to the court martial of that county, stating their reasons for not marching on the latest expedition against The British army in North Carolina:

The reason for their inattendance was that because of their "detached and exposed situation they are rendered liable at all times to an invasion from the savages who have never failed to visit some part of their settlements the beginning of every season for several years past....and now it appears that such fears were but too well grounded by the mischief committed on or near Indian Creek and also at the rye coves and other places down the clinch river and the hour uncertain when the like mischiefs might have happened in our own settlement. Thus detached as we are and placed in so dangerous a situation, the ties of nature and humanity forbad the leaving of our families and the most dearest connexions we have upon earth, thus exposed to the mercy of the cruel savages who sell known kind of warfare are an indiscriminate destruction of all ages and sexes."

It is signed by 35 men and the name "Henry Foley" appears ninth in the first of two columns.

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Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp.246-47:

MONTGOMERY COUNTY (VA) DELINQUENT TAXES

- "Wm. Ingram's Insolvents Revenue 1798-99, Sept. Allowed"

-"A list of Deinquents of the Revenue for the year one thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety Eight. In the district of James Hoge. In the second Battalion and In the Eighty sixth Regiment, September the 3rd day 1799."

-"HENRY F A R L E Y...gone to Wyth [created from Montg. Co] 35 cents"

[NFJ: could this be our Henry and the person who wrote the names down just misunderstood the pronunciation or accent?? A note at the beginning of this chapter states that "...placenames or family traditions are difficult to identify because they have changed or disappeared. Phonetic spellings and ambiguous references often leave us with little more information than we had to begin with...Some are easy to identify even when misspelled as are Wythe. Although perhaps not as specific as we would like, the residences in these lists at least give us a starting place. However, a word of caution is in order...These people did not register their destinations with the local sheriff as they left. He usually collected the information from friends, family or neighbors after the departure. His purpose was to show that they were no longer residents, not provide forwarding addresses."]

These lists were transcribed by Julia M. Case from the Tax and Fiscal Records, Montgomery County, Virginia, Original Records, Archival and Information Services Division, Library of Virginia.

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Cartmell:

-The 8th. Va regiment was comprised chiefly of valley [Shenandoah] men.

-One officer mentioned by Col. (Rev.) Peter Muhlenberg, who commanded the regiment as "efficient officers fitted to command the 8th. Regiment" was Capt. Abraham Bowman, who was commissioned as a colonel in January of 1777 [two years before he was to lead the Foleys and other families from VA to Bowman's station in KY].

-no muster rolls are in existence [for the 8th.?]. Men were detailed in 1778 to recruit the rifle companies.

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From the Henry Foley bible we might conclude that Henry and Amy Coffey were married a b o u t 1741 (since their first child was born in March 1742).

"FOLEY FINDINGS" reports:

"There are no Virginia marriages for this pair in Orange County 1743-1778, Montgomery County through 1800, early Dunmore County, Shenandoah County, or Frederick County."

Also stated therein:

There were, however, other Foleys in Fayette County whom we cannot identify. They are:

- 1788 TAX LIST - FAYETTE COUNTY, VIRGINIA (KY):

Peter Foley - male over 21 years of age (Fayette in those days covered what would have been several present day counties.

- 1789 TAX LIST - FAYETTE COUNTY, VIRGINIA (KY):

Henry Foley - it appears that this Henry might well be the son of Henry and Amy Coffey Foley and brother of Richard. He is shown for the first time in 1789 as living in the same area on South Elkhorn Creek, as being 21 (or over) and as having 4 horses, but no acreage listed. Nor does he have any during his stay in Fayette. He is listed from 1789 - 1795 as living in this area and possessing 12 cattle in 1792.

Wm. S. Foley noted that he wondered if he could have been living with his brother, Richard and then left in 1795 after Richard's death in 1795? The 1790 census shows him in Fayette County, but the 1800 census shows him in Fleming County. The 1810 shows him as Henry Foley, Sr, a male 45 years and up. This could easily have been Richard's brother Henry, born 5 April 1749. There was a John Foley who lived in Fleming County about this time. He could have been Richard and Henry's only other brother, John, but there is no proof.

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There is p o s s i b l y a clue to the name of Henry Foley's mother [or perhaps, aunt] contained in "Wills of Virginia before 1799" by William M. Clemmens:

FOLEY, MARY - PR. WILLIAM COUNTY, VIRGINIIA, WILL FILED MARCH 5, 1781

Sons: HENRY, ISAAC AND JACOB FOLEY

Brother: BENJAMINE COOPER

There is no proof that this is our Henry, but the names of his brothers are repeated over and over in generations of our line, however, in Foley Findings, vol. 3, #4, p. 183:

"Family of Jacob Foley and Mary Cooper [ref. Vol. 2, #3]: Jacob died ca 1778. Inventory of his estate in pr. Wm. Co., VA WB G, p. 5-7, dated 6 Jul 1778. Mary's will proved 5 mar 1781 in pr. Wm. Co. WB G, p. 1102, in which she refers to father to care for sons Henry, Isaac and Jacob and then brother Benjamin Cooper. There are no records, marriage, census or land, in this county or all of VA for the given names of Henry and Isaac that would match with a birth date in the 1780's.

There was a Jacob Foley, b. in 1780 who appeared in later census in Rockingham Co. Possibly the three sons of Jacob & Mary took the name of Cooper after the death of these parents. William S.Foley notes that: Our Henry was born about 1720. If Mary, above, died at age 75-80, she could easily be Henry's mother. Prince William County is also in the northern section of Virginia near Alexandria.

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L. Fiebrandt, editor of "Foley Findings", says that from the listing of Henry and Amy's children, if a naming pattern was used, it c o u l d be that Henry's father was possibly Richard, and Amy's father possibly John. The mother of one may have been either Ursula or Elizabeth.

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Nancy Foley Johnson
1 December 2003

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