.
1. My mom: Mabel L. Coffey(b:15 Oct 1902-d. 23 Sep 1979)
2. Her dad: father Thomas Hardy Coffey (b: 28 Feb 1881-d.
23 Jan 1951.
3. His mom: Samanth Ann RIDGWAY (b. 06 Aug 1851)
4. Her dad: William Alexander RIDGWAY(b. 25 May 1825-
(in Weakley Co., TN) d. 08 Jul 19i7 in Buford, AR.
Note (a): He traveled w/ his family to San Antonio, TX along
with the DAVY CROCKETT clan when he was a
little boy about 9 or so.
Note (b) He was marr. 1st to my relative: Emaline Killibrew
Kennedy (b. 18 Dec 1829 in KY-d. 04 Sep 1874 in AR.
His memoirs are in the San Antonio Library. "The Last
Man Alive Who Knew DAVY CROCKETT", a front page story
from Sun/Times Express dated 1912.They had 15 children
of which my gr.grandma "Sam" was the oldest daughter.

After this I am not sure: Maybe: John RIDGWAY 1791 , then James RIDGWAYmarr. to Elizabeth Chizenhall, then Samuel C. RIDGWAYmarr. to Elizabeth Woodson, then Thomas RIDGWAY, then Sir Thomas RIDGWAY(RIDGEWAY), Sr. in England.

Any corrections/additions to this last paragraph would be appreciated. MK


N

FYI: The book Ridgways USA confirms the information you have back to Samuel Ridgway and Elizabeth Woodson. It lists William Alexander Ridgway as a son of John Ridgway (1791-1859) and Rebecca Goodwin (1807-1887). One difference is that it gives his wife's name as Evangeline Killebrew Kennedy. I suspect your records are more accurate in this regard, but who knows? John was the son of James Ridgway and Elizabeth Chizenhall, and James was the son of Samuel Ridgway and Elizabeth Woodson. The authors of the book were unable to find any earlier members of this line than Samuel. I hope this is helpful. Regards, Susan

Samuel was the "bound" boy I believe. I can not put my hands on an article in Walnut Ridge, AR, "Dispatch" at the moment; however, an article was written circc 1940 about my Great Grandma "Sam" Samantha Ridgway. At that time she was in her 80's and celebrating her B.D. by fishing on the Black River. She pointed out that she was the oldest daughter of Wm. A. Ridgway and had 14 siblings. All were deceased at that time except for about 4 or 5. She named John and James both in TX alive at that time and to sisters, Mrs. Cope and Mrs. Scott still alive. She stated that her ancestor was a runaway from England and related to Sir Thomas Ridgeway. He ran away to America at age 14 and was a "bound" boy to pay for his ship passage. He missed out on a large amount of money upon his grand dad's death because he left the "e" out of Ridg(e)way. I just moved about 400 miles from original address and can not locate article at this time. Thanks for the info. I appreciate the correct line up of the 'upper group'. MK

I forgot to mentio that in the newspaper article that my grandmother (Sam Ridgway Cofffey) wrote. She mentioned that the "bound" boy's ancestor was Sir Thomas Ridgeway in England. Also she had a brother alive named Leander. He & his wife Cora stood up as witnesses at my grandfather Thomas Hardy Coffey and Carrie Bell Lafferty's wedding in Walnut Ridge, AR 1900.

I am great-granddaughter of John Almus RIDGWAY -- eldest child of William Alexander RIDGWAY -- and have worked many years on our family.

Our ancestor and mother of John Almus and Samantha Ann (and others, totaling 15) was Evangeline Killebrew "Angeline" KENNEDY. She was never in Arkansas, having died suddenly in Pemiscot County (the "Bootheel"), Missouri.

At the time they migrated, Samantha was already married to George COFFEY.

My father's sister Cleora Helen {KING} ROBERTSON of Baxter County, Arkansas recorded WAR's narrative from about 1906 at her great-grandfather's home in Buford.

Samantha had two brothers in Texas: James Lorenzo RIDGWAY and Leander Calvin "Hoss" RIDGWAY. Son of James L. was Thomas Henry RIDGWAY, an attorney in San Antonio, Texas, and it was at his urging that WAR wrote his memories from about age nine -- when he had seen Davy CROCKETT in Tennessee. Davy CROCKETT had a hunting site near WAR's uncle Richard "Dick" RIDGWAY. WAR never mentioned traveling to San Antonio in his narrative.

I have rather good records on all of WAR's children and have some pictures of Samantha and her daughters. My grandmother (her niece) called her "Aunt Mant." I do know that locals called her "Sam." Perhaps you could help with COFFEY information, as not sure mine is correct.

Although this is long after your post, perhaps you'll see this and get in touch with me.

Peggy {KING} Truesdell
truesdellp@att.net