David and Marsha Grady Family
Our COLEMAN FamilyMarsha's maternal grandmother is Juanita Elizabeth COLEMAN, daughter of James William COLEMAN and Mamie MCMILLIAN. As she is still living, I won't list her vital details, but I have included two pictures of her when she was newly wed to her first husband, Alfred Robert WHITE, Marsha's grandfather. She continues to be a wonderful influence to our lives!
Thanks to tireless leg-work by Betty COLEMAN MANNING, we have traced our COLEMAN family back to Phillip COLEMAN, born about 1770 in Georgia. By about 1830-1840, Phillip, and his wife Sarah (maiden name unknown), were in Butler County, Alabama. Both Phillip and Sarah died sometime after 1850, as they appear (ages 80 and 70) in the 1850 Federal Census for Butler County.
Their son, James Richard COLEMAN, Sr., was born about 1803. His place of birth is listed alternately in census records as Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, which leads Marsha to believe that the family may have been in the area now known as Alabama as early as 1800, prior to its statehood, when it would have been part of the Mississippi territory.
James Richard, Sr., appears in the 1850 Federal Census for Butler County as Richard Coleman, age 47, a farmer, with his wife, Rachael (maiden name unknown), and their children. The 1860 Census for Butler County, also lists a John COLEMAN and a Jacob COLEMAN who are about the same age to be brothers of James Richard, Sr. - however, their birthplaces are listed as South Carolina and Georgia.
One COLEMAN researcher relayed a story that Rachael COLEMAN was believed to be a Native American, possibly a daughter of William WEATHERFORD, also known as Red Eagle - however, Marsha has found no documentation to support this claim. She is believed to be buried in an Indian Cemetery, near Highway 10 in Butler County.
The COLEMAN family in Butler County lived near the BURKETT and BILBRAY families, and several of the children from these families intermarried.
James Richard COLEMAN, Jr., son of James Richard, Sr., and his wife, Rachael, was born 8 December 1845. His death certificate lists his place of birth as Louisiana, although the family was probably living in Butler County, Alabama at that time.
Searches of Civil War rosters of Confederate States Army regiments shows J.R. COLEMAN, as a Private, Company F, 8th Alabama Infantry Regiment, which consisted primarily of recruits from the Mobile, Perry, Dallas, Coosa, and Butler County areas. Marsha has requested additional information on his Confederate service.
J.R. (as he was known) married Sarah A. BILBRAY, daughter of John and Easter Elizabeth BILBRAY on 5 November 1866 in Butler County, Alabama.
As early as 1893 (based on BLM records), J.R. had purchased over 100 acres of land in what is now know as the Wildfork community in Monroe County, Alabama. However, his death certificate indicates he had been there since 1888.
J.R. COLEMAN donated land for construction of a school, known as Coleman School, which was located at the site near where Coleman Assembly of God Church now stands. Coleman Cemetery began as a family cemetery, but now serves as the cemetery for members of the church.
Sometime after the death of his first wife, Sarah BILBRAY COLEMAN, on 22 August 1909, J.R. COLEMAN married again, as his estate settlement in 1915 refers to a widow, Mrs. M. A. COLEMAN. J.R. died 8 August 1914 from an infection caused by a decayed tooth, and is buried next to his wife, Sarah, in Coleman Cemetery.
J.R. and Sarah COLEMAN had eleven known children, J. Victoria COLEMAN CASTILLOW, Willam Henry COLEMAN, James Amos COLEMAN, George Jackson COLEMAN, Mary Alice COLEMAN GREEN, Jane "Janie" Lunora COLEMAN MELTON, Ida Everline COLEMAN JONES, Phillip Marvin COLEMAN, Louis A. COLEMAN, Jesse Nathaniel COLEMAN, and Laura COLEMAN (died young).
Their second child, and oldest son, William Henry COLEMAN, was born 31 October 1868 in either Butler or Monroe County. He married Josephine Waring BAAS on 29 Nov 1889 in Monroe County. They had six known children, Annie Eugenia COLEMAN HANKS, James William COLEMAN, Cullen Busey COLEMAN (died at age 11), Florence W. COLEMAN (died in infancy), Joseph Warren COLEMAN, and Carrie COLEMAN.
James William COLEMAN, born 22 January 1896, was married to Mamie MCMILLIAN, daughter of Crawford Andress MCMILLIAN and Elizabeth MASON on 29 April 1917. He died 16 September 1941, after which Mamie married James LAWRENCE. Jim and Mamie's only child was Juanita Elizabeth COLEMAN, Marsha's grandmother.
Reports:
Photographs
Coleman Family PhotographsRelated Files and Transcriptions:
James Richard Coleman, Jr., Land Grant, 12 May 1896
James Richard Coleman, Jr., Land Grant, 29 April 1893
Inventory of Coleman Cemetery, Wildfork, Monroe County, Alabama
Estate Settlement, James Richard Coleman, 1915, Monroe County, Alabama
Military Records of Phillip Coleman - War of 1812 and Subsequent Bounty RecordsRelated Families:
Marsha's WHITE Page
Marsha's BILBRAY Page
Marsha's BAAS Page
Marsha's McMILLIAN PageRelated Census Records:
Miscellaneous COLEMAN Census Records - Miscellaneous census records for COLEMAN families transcribed by Marsha; includes Butler County AL and Monroe County AL
Miscellaneous CASTILLOW Census Records - Miscellaneous census records for related CASTILLOW families transcribed by Marsha; includes Monroe County AL
Miscellaneous GREEN Census Records - Miscellaneous census records for related GREEN families transcribed by Marsha; includes Monroe County AL
Miscellaneous JONES Census Records - Miscellaneous census records for related JONES families transcribed by Marsha; includes Monroe County AL
Miscellaneous MELTON Census Records - Miscellaneous census records for related MELTON families transcribed by Marsha; includes Monroe County AL
Miscellaneous SIRMON Census Records - Miscellaneous census records for related SIRMON families transcribed by Marsha; includes Monroe County AL
Miscellaneous SMITH Census Records - Miscellaneous census records for related SMITH families transcribed by Marsha; includes Butler County AL
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