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

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Early life

John E. Coffee was born in

Prince Edward County, Virginia Prince Edward County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,849. Its county seat is Farmville. History Formation and county seats Prince Edward County was formed in the Virginia Colony in ...

in 1782. He 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 John R. Coffee (June 2, 1772 – July 7, 1833) was an American planter of Irish descent, and state militia brigadier general in Tennessee. He commanded troops under General Andrew Jackson during the Creek Wars (1813–14) and during the Battle ...

, who served as a general in the Tennessee

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

. John E. Coffee was 18 when he moved with his family to

Hancock County, Georgia Hancock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,735. The county seat is Sparta. The county was created on December 17, 1793, and named for John Hancock, a Founding Father of the Amer ...

, in 1800. His parents developed a cotton

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

near Powelton, based on the labor of enslaved African Americans. In 1807, the younger Coffee settled in

Telfair County, Georgia Telfair County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 16,500. The largest city and county seat is McRae-Helena. In 2009, researchers from the Fernbank Museum of Nat ...

, where he developed his own plantation.

Military career

As a general in the Georgia state militia, Coffee supervised construction in the 1820s of a supply road through the state of Georgia. It was called "

Coffee Road Coffee Road as it became known, was a supply trail cut through the southern Georgia frontier in the early 1820s by General John E. Coffee, with the help of Thomas Swain. After establishing the counties of Early, Irwin, and Appling in 1819, the Ge ...

" and enabled the transportation of munitions to the

Florida Territory The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish ...

to fight the Indians during the Creek Wars. It is now called the "Old Coffee Road".

Political career

John Coffee served as a member of the

Georgia Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia Ho ...

from 1819 to 1827. He was elected as a

Jacksonian Democrat Jacksonian democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that expanded suffrage to most white men over the age of 21, and restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, An ...

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 The 25th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 183 ...

on October 3, 1836, after his death, the news of his death not having been received. Coffee died on his plantation near

Jacksonville, Georgia Jacksonville is a town in Telfair County, Georgia, United States. The population was 140 at the 2010 census. History Jacksonville was the original county seat of Telfair County. Land lot 340 in land district 8 was declared to be the permanent co ...

, on September 25, 1836, and was buried there. In 1921, his remains were reinterred in McRae Cemetery, McRae, Georgia.

Legacy and honors

In addition to Old

Coffee County, Georgia Coffee County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,092, up from 37,413 at the 2010 census. The county seat is Douglas. Coffee County comprises the Douglas, G ...

, and

General Coffee State Park General Coffee State Park is a Georgia state park located near Douglas. The park is named after politician, farmer, and military leader General John E. Coffee. The park is host to many rare and endangered species, especially in the cypress sw ...

were named in honor of John E. Coffee.

References

External links