1893 A Pleasant Surprise Party for Alfred Coffman- Elk Grove, California

While researching one of my favorite ancestral uncles, I came across a newspaper article that celebrates his tireless zeal in founding the Union High School in Elk Grove, California.  I am hoping that the local history folks in Elk Grove will recognize his efforts in some way.

Here is a transcript of the article, followed by the Optical Character Recognition and finally a copy of the newspaper article from GenealogyBank.com.  The GenealogyBank.com collection of the Sacramento newspapers has been very helpful to me in both the 19th and 20th centuries.

A pleasant surprise party was tendered Alfred Coffman at his residence last Thursday evening by the patrons. pupils and teachers of the Elk Grove School. Mr. Coffman for many years has acted as School Trustee. He has filled the position admirably, thereby winning for himself the esteem of all. He has been largely instrumental in securing to Elk Grove the Union High School, and wishing to show their sense of his ability and untiring zeal, the friends of Mr. Coffman presented him with a handsome chair. The presentation was accompanied by a few well-chosen remarks by Delos Gage, expressive of the sterling worth of the recipient. A sumptuous repast was partaken of by the guests, who agreed that this was a memorable event in the annals of Elk Grove history. Among those present were: Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Coffman, Mr. and Mrs. Delos Gage, Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Kerby, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Duffy, Mr. and Mrs. Woody, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, Mr. and Mrs. Loll, Mr. and Mrs. D. Sherwood. Mr. and Mrs. Dixon. Mrs. Trueblood, Mrs. Butler, Misses Lena Smith, Mattie Malcolm, Howard, Mabel Leimbach. Lena Loll, Ada Gage, Ella Trueblood, Hortense Woody, Jennie Stewart and Laura Keemy, Messrs. Trueblood, Stewart, A. Gage, S. Gage, John Piekett, Joe Pickett, Loll, Cowart, Kerby, H. Kerby, C. Oltman, G. Oltman, Costella, Howard, Volney, Smith, Trueblood, Leimbach, Dixon, J. Stewart, N. Stewart and A. Gray. 

Here is the OCR version:

A pleasant surprise party WIlS tendered
AU'red Coffman at his resideuce last
Thursday e\'euin~ by the patrons. pupils
and tsachel'll of the Elk Grove School.
Mr. Colfman Cor many yeai'll has acted as
School Trustee. He has filled the posi"
on admirably, tbereby winninJ[ lor himself
the esteelD of all. Ho has been
largely instrumental in secnrinJ[ to Elk
(irove the linion High School, and wishinl[
to ebow their aellse of his ability snd
untirinl[ zeal, the friends of Mr. Cotfman
presented him witb a handsome chair.
The presentation was accompanied by a
few well-cbosen remarks by Delos Galeo,
expre.sive of the sterlinJ[ worth .of the
recipient. A sumptuous reput was partaken
of by the KlieBts, who agreed tbat
tbis WILl a memorable ev.ent in tbe annals
of Elk Grove history. Amon~ those
present were: Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Colfmlln,
Mr. and Mrs. Delos GSEe, Mr. and
Mrs. Clinton Kerby, Mr. and Mrs. Tom
Dull'y, lb. and Mrs. Woody. Mr. and
Mrs. titewart, Mr. and ~1ra. Loll. Mr. and
Mrs. ». Sherwood. lir. and Mrs. Dixon.
)f rs. Trueblood, lire. 8utler. Misses
Lena Smith, Mattie Malcolm, Howard.
Mabel Leiru bach. Lflna Loll. Ada Gage,
Ella Trueblood, Hortense WOO<1Y. Jennie
S~war~ aud Laura Keemy, lle881'8.
Trueblood, Stewart, A. Gage, S. Gage,
John Piekett, Joe Pickett, Loll. Cowart,
Kerby. H. Kerby, C. Oltman, G. Oltman,
Costella. Howard, Volney, tlmitb, Trueblood,
Leimoacb, DixoD, J. Stewart, N.
Stew an and A. Gray.

It was interesting to note that both "Alfred" and "Coffman" were garbled at various points in the article but fortunately both names were recognized properly in a couple of different places which led to my discovery of this article.  I'm just lucky, I guess!

Here is the original image:

Date: 1893-08-22 Paper: Sacramento Daily Union Volume: 86 Page: 6

For more historical background on Alfred Coffman, check out this article:

http://www.ancestorpuzzles.com/2017/03/backyard-history-1-sacramento.html

Lady Bird- Accurate Picture of Sacto Beauty and Anxiety

Like most Sacramentans, I love Lady Bird and will be rooting for this movie on Sunday night.

Homecoming Queen: This portrait of Greta Gerwig appeared in the December-January 2018 issue of Sactown Magazine.

Lady Bird was written and directed by Sacramento native Greta Gerwig. In her directorial debut, her film has landed nominations in several prestigious categories including best picture, best director, best original screenplay, best actress (for Saoirse Ronan), and best supporting actress (for Laurie Metcalf).

Lady Bird is set in my hometown of Sacramento in 2002, the same year that Gerwig graduated from St. Francis High School. Gerwig's alter-ego is Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson, a senior student at a Sacramento Catholic high school. She dreams of escaping the "midwest of California" to attend an East Coast college. Her family is on the edge of economic ruin, and her mother repeatedly informs her daughter that she is an ungrateful brat with no appreciation for the sacrifices of her parents to provide a home and an expensive private school education. Mom's advice is to attend City College, go to jail and go back to city college when she gets out. It sounds rather bleak when you summarize it but I found this movie to be an intensely personal reflection of my feelings about the place that I call home.

Here are are a few of my favorite reviews that rang true for me:

Homecoming Queen- Greta Gerwig proves that you can indeed go home again with her stunning directorial debut "Lady Bird," a semi-autobiographical story about the Sacramento native’s senior year in high school. In her “love letter” to the River City, she fills the screen with nostalgia-soaked scenes of local landmarks and neighborhoods, revisiting her youth with the thoughtful perspective that only time can bring. And if growing Oscar buzz for the film is any indication, this is just the beginning for the first-time auteur and newly crowned Hollywood royalty. Long may she reign...
 “It took time to realize that Sacramento gave me what home should give you, which is roots and wings,” says Gerwig.
Source: www.sactownmag.com/December-January-2018/Homecoming-Queen

The irony is that Gerwig's love letter to Sacramento will only increase the demand and reduce the supply of what once was an affordable, family-friendly lifestyle. This next review points to issues of economic anxiety that I felt as a child and have never been able to shake:

Lady Bird Is the Rare Coming-of-Age Movie About the Strain of Growing Up Poor
...what struck me as most remarkable about the film is its nuanced, deft handling of social class—a reality teen movies usually address with hyperbole or avoid altogether by making their characters white and comfortably upper middle class by default.
Lady Bird is coming of age in a time when social mobility is an increasingly rare phenomenon; where kids who are born poor tend to stay that way their whole lives and pass that inheritance along to their children. The movie also takes place between 2002 to 2003, a moment where everything around you felt precarious: 9/11 is still at the forefront of the nation’s hearts and minds, the country has invaded Iraq for reasons that wouldn’t become more clear until 15 years later, and the financial crash is just around the corner—all underscoring the listlessness Lady Bird acutely feels in her own life but doesn’t yet have the vocabulary to extrapolate to the world beyond herself.
SOURCE: https://splinternews.com/lady-bird-is-the-rare-coming-of-age-movie-about-the-str-1820228537

Sacramento has always had an inferiority complex that has been foisted upon us by our neighbors from the Bay Area. The ultimate indignity to Sacramento is to say that you are from San Francisco. Having worked in the "The City," for twelve years, I at least have a legitimate claim.

During a disastrous inaugural night as a college student in New York, a drunken Lady Bird tells a fellow freshman that she’s from San Francisco and is immediately rueful for selling out her hometown.
http://www.sactownmag.com/December-January-2018/Homecoming-Queen/

The funny part is that I have never claimed to hate Sacramento but I definitely could relate to angst expressed by Lady Bird.

We want to hate it and we go to great lengths to prove we hate it. We pay so much attention to it that we write about it with tremendous affection...
SOURCE: https://www.reddit.com/r/Emojerk/.../sacramento_is_the_midwest_of_california/

The film is introduced by a quote from a 1979 interview with Joan Didion, also a native of our hometown: “Anybody who talks about California hedonism has never spent a Christmas in Sacramento.”

I felt duty bound to consult the Sacramento Bee for its opinions on the matter.  http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article186040483.html
I agree with the writer featured in the above article that "Lady Bird" is such an accurate portrait of our hometown that it feels like a documentary but certain realities were omitted.

One of my favorite lines in the movie is voiced by her friend, Danny: "Lady Bird always says that she lives on the wrong side of the tracks, but I always thought that that was like a metaphor, but there are actual train tracks."

I graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in 1971, located in the Greenhaven neighborhood.  My house near 24th and Meadowview was definitely on the "wrong side of the tracks" from Greenhaven. The words sung by Janis Joplin always resonated with me: "Oh Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz. My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends..."  I never did get that Mercedes but a few of my high school friends did drive Porsches and BMWs.  We would break the speed limit on I-80 and Highway 50 so we could wait in the long lines to get into the parking lot at the ski areas.

Hanging out with friends from the other side of the tracks helped me to blur my senses to the socio-economic realities in my white flight neighborhood.  Those realities became crystal clear in 1968 when Kennedy High School had riots on the quad.  The "tough kids" both white and black battled it out with the stakes that were yanked from the saplings in our immature campus landscaping. I watched powerless but safe from my perch in the third floor geometry classroom. Our student body president, Cornell West, led the reconciliation efforts and he now describes himself as  a "prominent and provocative democratic intellectual." His critics have branded him as a "socialist." I wonder what he would think of Lady Bird.

My escape from Sacramento did not take me too far away at first. I have always felt fortunate that I was able to attend UC Davis. I had to laugh at Lady Bird when she disdains her acceptance to UC Davis because it has earned its reputation as an agricultural school.  This review was written by a  much younger UC Davis student, who manages to capture my feelings:

Lady Bird: A Review - The Aggie
https://theaggie.org/2017/12/10/lady-bird-review/
Dec 10, 2017 -For UC Davis students in particular, “Lady Bird” speaks volumes. Sweeping shots of  Sacramento highways, the Tower Bridge and rural skylines evoke some sense of pride for the surrounding area of our favorite college town. While Lady Bird resents the fact that she was accepted into UC Davis — for its close proximity to her home and its fame as an agricultural school — she still deeply appreciates her hometown, although she may not see it quite yet herself.

So do yourself a favor and go see “Lady Bird.” See it with your mom. Remind her that you love her and that you do miss home more than you care to let on. See it for the hilarious references to our beloved UC Davis. Remember the feelings that you felt when you were in Lady Bird’s exact place as a high school senior. Immerse yourself in all that Gerwig has to offer to the audiences of “Lady Bird.” Remind yourself that you are [or were] young, naive and probably a bit selfish, but that sometimes, that’s okay.

I have chosen not to contribute to the Alumni Association but I will proudly close with the Aggie Yell: Bossy Cow-Cow Honey Bee-Bee Oleo Margarine Oleo Butterine Alfalfa Hay!!

Reunion with Sibs Yields Fun Pics

Reviewing family photos with your siblings is a fun thing to do when families reunite.  My brother, Faran Cimino hosted us at his house on September 17 and my sister Vicky Smith brought some old family photos that she gave to me and Faran.  I made copies of all of the pictures with my smart phone and downloaded them into a folder on my PC for editing.  I copied both sides of the photo with my camera phone if it had anything written on the back. 

My memories of many events in my childhood is pretty fuzzy.  I think I have tried to bury some of my unhappy memories. Good memories have been lost in the collateral damage. Old pictures can bring some of those memories flooding back. The picture below was one of those good memories.

Kitten rescue at 2352 Craig Avenue, Sacramento, California about 1961
Left to right: Vicky Cimino, Elaine Kelly, Vince Cimino and Nick Cimino with hands on hips.

I am estimating that I was about seven years old which places the date at 1961. It appears that I was pretty proud of myself for crawling under our house and rescuing this litter of kittens.  The mama cat had delivered her kittens inside the foundation of our fireplace.  We could hear the mewing in the vicinity of our fireplace so my parents sent me into the crawl space on the rescue mission.  It was a difficult extraction process reaching inside the opening in the bricks. 

We are all standing near the opening to the crawl space and "Gram" Elaine is holding a tray of kittens with a dish of milk. Vince is wearing a Yogi Bear sweatshirt. Our father was a telephone installer and you can see the telephone connection on the wall.  I crawled under the house several times to add telephone wire as we had phones in several rooms of the house. Our mother probably took the picture. Gram Elaine was always a "sharp-dressed" woman.  A few years later Gram Elaine was back at the house full-time when our Mom spent several months in the hospital.

Gram Elaine drove a red Corvair Monza convertible to her secretarial job at the State Capitol.  I was allowed to go out to the car and start the engine on the frosty mornings in Sacramento.  I would also get a ride to school at my junior high school which was once named Charles Goethe and has since been renamed to Rosa Parks Middle School.

Here is a chronology of all of the schools that I attended in and around Sacramento:

• 1960-1963 Freeport Elementary Grade 1-3, 2118 Meadowview Road Sacramento, CA 95832  
• 1963-1965 John Bidwell Elementary Grade 4-6 accelerated, 1730 - 65th Avenue Sacramento, CA 95822  
• 1965-1966 C.M Goethe Jr. High School [renamed Rosa Parks Middle School] 2250 - 68th Avenue Sacramento, CA 95822  
• 1966-1968 John Still Jr. High; 2250 John Still Drive Sacramento, CA 95832  
• 1968-1971 J.F. Kennedy High School, Graduation 1971; 6715 Gloria Drive Sacramento, CA 95831  
• 1971-1973 Cosumnes River College; 8401 Center Parkway, Sacramento, CA 95823  
• 1973-1975 U.C. Davis, graduation June 1975, B.A. Political Science 

Vicky shared a couple of other pictures that illustrate our experience at Lake Tahoe where Gram Elaine and Grandpa George lived:

Faran is facing the camera in this shot that was taken on the Valhalla beach at the south shore of Lake Tahoe.  The back of the picture was marked August 1972 so Faran was nine years old. My back is to the camera.  This may explain my basal cell carcinoma that I had removed from my back a few years ago.

Vince and Faran Cimino are playing in the snow at Lake Tahoe. The estimated date on this one is 1965 or 1966. We were very fortunate to be able to spend many weekends and vacations with our grandparents who lived in South Lake Tahoe.

Here are some family group shots that we took in front of Faran's house.

Mark Smith, Vicky Cimino Smith, Denise Brooks Cimino, Brina Cimino, Faran Cimino and Nick Cimino

Faran, Vicky and Nick

Faran displaying his Ford Falcon "Woody" Wagon

Faran has adorned his classic car with surf decals.

Faran, Denise, Brina and Cameron Cimino.
The phone booth in Faran's yard is a nice tribute to our father's career at the phone company.

Backyard History #1 Sacramento

Alfred Coffman- Was He Really an Odd Fellow? 

Alfred Coffman and first wife, Sarah E. Pemberton
This photo was from the Nancy Pemberton-Spangler photo album.
The photo was received from Cal Sale, P.O. Box 41093, Des Moines, Iowa 50311, April 2003.

Have you ever discovered history in your backyard?  Alfred Coffman was my fourth great uncle and he lived almost literally in my backyard in Sacramento.  During my kindergarten year, we moved from Carmela Way to Craig Avenue in Sacramento.  When we first arrived on Craig Avenue we lived on the very southern edge of Sacramento.  On a clear day, we could look out our two south facing patio doors and see Mt. Diablo.

To the southeast of where we lived in South Sacramento was the town of Elk Grove, California. Alfred Coffman settled near Elk Grove in 1875.  I attended John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento and graduated in 1971.  About ninety years earlier, Alfred Coffman was involved in the founding of one of our rivals, Elk Grove High School.  We could not quite see Elk Grove High School out our back window but it was only 10 miles away from my house.

Elk Grove Union High School was the first union high school in the state of California. Sixteen elementary districts voted to tax themselves for a high school, and they all remained as separate districts until the entire K-12 district unified in 1959. Alfred Coffman canvassed the voters in the elementary districts to get their votes for the Union High School.  The high school opened its doors in 1893 at its first site on Main Street now Derr Street and Elk Grove Boulevard in Old Town Elk Grove.   In 1973, my wife, Robin Harrington graduated from the new Elk Grove High School.

My second great grandfather, Archibald Wilson Coffman moved to California prior to 1880 and was residing near his uncle, Alfred Coffman in San Joaquin Township where Elk Grove is located. And the rest as they say is history.  Counting from my direct ancestor, Archibald Coffman, I was in the fifth generation of Coffman descendants to live in California but there were six generations if you include Alfred Coffman in the lineage. Because of the fact that my grandmother, Elaine Coffman was born in New York, I did not realize that I had such deep roots in California.

I was really pleased to learn that Alfred Coffman was a prosperous farmer and a community leader. His biography was published in the History of Sacramento County written in 1890, by Winfield J. Davis:

 "Alfred Coffman was born in Hamilton County, Illinois, June 12, 1823, son of Jacob and Ayre (Fowler) Coffman...Alfred, the subject of this sketch, followed farming and cattle-raising in Illinois, for fifteen years.  In 1875 he came to Sacramento County, and he and his brother-in-law rented the Curtis ranch, which he worked four years.  In 1879 he bought a farm of 320 acres, thirteen miles from Sacramento on upper Stockton road one mile from Elk Grove.  He was married in 1844, to Miss Sarah Pemberton, a native of Kentucky, who died in 1865 [her tombstone says she died 17 Apr 1863] leaving sixteen children, three sets of twins, five living to become twenty-one years of age.  He was married again in 1866 [they were actually married in 1863 in Des Moines County, Iowa], to Miss Elsie Howard, a native of Iowa, by whom he had three children, two of whom lived to become of age... The subject of this sketch carries on a general farming business. He was at one time one of the greatest grain-raisers in this county, having had as high as 7,000 sacks of wheat from one year's crop. In the State fair of 1887-'88 he took a premium on wheat.  He raises his own vegetables, fruit and grapes. He has an orange tree from which he sold $10 worth of fruit in 1888. He is a member of Elk Grove I.O.O.F., No. 274."

San Joaquin Township, Sacramento County, California
The location of the Alfred Coffman ranch is shown highlighted in blue.

When I was growing up, we knew the "upper Stockton road" as Stockton Boulevard.  Half of the 320 acres that he bought in 1879 were owned by Hans Feickert in 1991.  We visited with Hans and he shared many of the historical documents that he had collected. The Alfred Coffman ranch contained 160 acres in the southwest quarter of section 25 and another 160 acres in the northwest quarter of section 36. The Feickert place was the NW quarter of section 36 and six acres to connect to Upper Stockton Road.  Hans was able to locate the Curtis ranch which was 640 acres about two miles south of Elk Grove as shown in his hand drawn map and notes below.

This article from the Elk, the 1922 yearbook of Elk Grove High School on pages 9 &10 tells the story of Alfred Coffman's role in founding the high school:

"In the spring of 1893, a meeting was held in Toronto Hall, and the subject [of a new high school] discussed.  [The leaders of the high school movement] secured the services of Mr. Alfred Coffman, a trustee of Old Elk Grove District, and a man who, though having had very little schooling in his boyhood, took a deep interest in promoting education among the boys and girls.    Mr. Coffman drove through eighteen districts, interviewing all the residents and trying to convince them of the advantages that a union high school would be to their community.  He asked the head of every family to sign his name to a paper, stating whether he was in favor of or opposed to, the movement.  Dr. McKee carefully arranged that, in Mr. Coffman's campaign, Elk Grove was kept the central point of the territory canvassed.    The opposition which the recent campaign for a new high school met, vividly recalled those days of 1893, when interest was waxing warm in the establishment of the high school.  Mr. Coffman met with many rebuffs, which sometimes really amounted to insults.    But his earnest work was rewarded.  An election was called in each district and a vote taken on the establishment of the union high school; it carried in sixteen districts." 

Alfred Coffman died on 28 August 1897 and the following article appeared in the Sacramento Union newspaper.

Sacramento Daily Record-Union, Sunday August 29 1897, p. 11 "A GOOD CITIZEN GONE-- Alfred Coffman's Death the Result of His Injuries"     "Last Monday Alfred Coffman a well known citizen living near Elk Grove, was thrown from a load of wheat by a sudden movement of his horses, and his breast was badly injured.      He died yesterday morning, it being supposed that an artery burst and that he bled to death.  He was a native of Illinois, aged 74, and leaves behind a number of children-three sons, John, William and Marion Coffman, and four daughters, Mrs. L.B.Locke, Mrs. J.H. Anderson, Mrs. E.W. Rivers and Mrs. E.B. Holmes.  Mrs. Rivers of this city is the only daughter living in this county, the others living elsewhere in the State and in the East.  The funeral will take place tomorrow at 2 p.m. from his late residence.      Mr. Coffman was a man whose integrity and sterling qualities had won the regard of his friends and neighbors, and they will deeply regret the loss the community has sustained in his death." 

The image below was posted on Ancestry.com:

I also have a transcript of an article about the funeral from the Sacramento Bee:

The Evening Bee, Tuesday August 31, 1897 "ALFRED COFFMAN'S FUNERAL--One of the Largest Ever Seen in Vicinity of Elk Grove-- The funeral of Alfred Coffman, who was a prominent citizen of Sacramento County, took place at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon from the family residence near Elk Grove.  The funeral was one of the largest ever seen in that part of the county, and it was under the auspices of Elk Grove Lodge, No. 274, I.O.O.F. The following members of the lodge acted as pallbearers: John Mahon, H.S. Putney, Geo. Taylor, W.D. Haas, S.W. Kennedy, H.G. Alltucker. The members of the Elk Grove High School, which Mr. Coffman had helped to establish, attended the funeral in body.  The sermon was preached by Rev. A.C. Duncan."

The article above helps to confirm the role of Alfred Coffman in the founding of Elk Grove High School and the appreciation felt by the students.

New headstone of Alfred Coffman in San Joaquin Township, Cemetery.
There was another stone on the grave that measured five feet high when I visited in 1991.

A visual clue from this headstone is that the three interlocked links of the chain is the symbol of the Odd Fellows.  Here is the information from the Odd Fellows Register that I obtained in the 1990's by visiting the lodge building:  IOOF Lodge #274 Register, Elk Grove, California; #9 Alfred Coffman, Rank 5, Age 55, Occupation- Farmer, Residence- Elk Grove, admitted by card, May 2, 1878; Last Place of Membership & Name of Lodge- Blandinsville #263, Illinois; Appointed Office When Passed- 3;

The 1890 history of Sacramento County tells us more about Alfred Coffman's role with Elk Grove Lodge, No. 274, I.O.O.F. The lodge met at Elk Grove, Saturday evenings, in the hall over Everson's store.  It was organized May 2, 1878 and Alfred Coffman was a charter member and the first treasurer.  He was also treasurer in 1890.  There were 36 members in 1890 which was the largest number in its early history.  The Odd Fellows Building was valued at $800 in 1890.  So Alfred Coffman was indeed an "Odd Fellow."

The Elk Grove Odd Fellows building was photographed and this photo was placed on Waymarking.com  in 2011.

Archibald Coffman: Alaska Miner and Mare Island Fireman

Archibald Coffman is one of my most intriguing ancestors.  He was born near La Harpe, Illinois on the family farm.  His parents were William Fowler Coffman and Elizabeth Wilson.  He was a farmer and had a reputation for being very good with horses.  He went "North to Alaska" to mine for gold and came back to California and worked at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.  He was a teamster and a a fireman until he retired from federal service about 1919.  Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a picture of him. However, I have collected some very interesting documents, photos related to his work and stories about my 2nd great grandfather and I share them with you in this continuing series on my Coffman ancestors.

Modified Register for Archibald Wilson Coffman

First Generation

      1. Archibald Wilson Coffman  was born on 3 Jun 1850 in McDonough, Illinois  to Elizabeth Wilson, age 34, and William Fowler Coffman, age 34. He was the eighth child among a family of nine children.  He died on 18 Sep 1935 in Oakland, Alameda, California. He was buried on 21 Sep 1935 in Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, Alameda, California.

Archibald married Harriet Anne Ketcham  daughter of James Henry Ketcham and Mary Lucinda Fairbanks on 10 Feb 1871 in , Hancock, Illinois. Harriet was born on 5 Feb 1853 in Manchester, Dearborn, Indiana. She died on 3 Sep 1938 in Oakland, Alameda, California. She was buried on 5 Oct 1938 in Mountain View Cem, Oakland, Alameda, California.

They had the following children:

               2 F         i.  Viola Nevada Coffman  was born on 9 Oct 1871 in Illinois, USA. She died on 3 Apr 1966 in Castro Valley, Alameda, California, USA. She was buried on 6 Apr 1966 in Chapel of Memories, Oakland, Alameda, California.

Viola married David Hughes  son of David Yyalid Hughes and Jane Lloyd on 9 Oct 1894 in Oakland, Alameda, California, USA. David was born on 17 May 1868 in West Derby, Lancaster, England, Uk. He died on 30 Aug 1952 in Oakland, Alameda, California. He was buried in Chapel of Memories, Oakland, Alameda, California.

               3 M        ii.  Otis Leslie Coffman  was born on 19 Nov 1876 in , Hancock, Illinois. He died on 11 Jan 1958 in Oakland, Alameda, California. He was buried on 14 Jan 1958 in Mountain View Cem, Oakland, Alameda, California.

Otis married Grace May King  in maryland. Grace was born on 27 May 1885 in , , New York. She died on 25 May 1968 in Napa, Napa, California. She was buried in Mountain View Cem, Oakland, Alameda, California.

               4 M       iii.  Ernest Ellsworth Coffman  was born on 22 Jul 1879 in La Harpe, Hancock, Illinois. He died on 17 Sep 1934 in Oakland, Alameda, California. He was buried on 28 Sep 1934 in Mountain View Cem, Oakland, Alameda, California.

Ernest married (1) Mae Blanche Moss  daughter of John Moss and Anne B. Lanstein on 5 Feb 1907 in Oakland, Alameda, California. Mae was born on 19 Feb 1882 in Galveston, Galveston, Texas. She died on 9 Nov 1963 in Oakland, Alameda, California. She was buried on 11 Nov 1963 in Sunset View Cemetery, El Cerrito, Contra Costa, California.

Ernest married (2) Mildred Jane Loveless  daughter of Joseph De Fayette Lovelace and Lenora Bozeman on 22 Oct 1931 in Alameda, California, USA. Mildred was born on 11 Aug 1898 in Fresno, California, USA. She died on 16 Apr 1989 in Hollister, , California.

SOURCE NOTES FOR ARCHIBALD WILSON COFFMAN:

!CENSUS: 1850 & 1860 with parents in McDonough County and Hancock County, Illinois.

!MARRIAGE: 1871 COFFMAN, ARCHIBALD  married KETCHUM, HATTIE  in HANCOCK County Illinois on 02/09/1871   Document reference numbers: 4/  67  3746  

Sometime before 1880 he came to California and farmed near where his uncle, Alfred Coffman, was farming near Elk Grove in Sacramento County, California:

!CENSUS:1880; Census Place: San Joaquin, Sacramento, California; Source:  FHL Film 1254071;  National Archives Film T9-0071;     Page 323B            
Relation Sex Marr Race Age Birthplace
A. W. COFFMAN Self M M W 29 IL  Occ: Farmer Fa: KY Mo: KY
Hattie COFFMAN Wife F M W 27 IN  Occ: House Keeping Fa: IN Mo: IN
Viola COFFMAN Dau F S W 7 IL  Occ: At School Fa: IL Mo: IN
Otis L. COFFMAN Son M S W 47 IL  Occ: At Home Fa: IL Mo: IN
Ernest E. COFFMAN Son M S W 11M IL  Occ: At Home Fa: IL Mo: IN
John GILMORE Other M S W 46 PA  Occ: Farmer Fa: PA Mo: PA
Hugh BATES Other M S W 48 IRE  Occ: Farm Laborer Fa: IRE Mo: IRE
A. B. COFFMAN Brother M S W 21 IL  Occ: Farm Laborer Fa: KY Mo: KY
O. W. ELEWINE Other M S W 26 VA  Occ: School Teacher Fa: VA Mo: VA

!RESIDENCE: 1882-1884 California, Sacramento Co., San Joaquin TWP; Great Register, pg. 17 1882 & pg. 23 1884

For some unknown reason, Archibald moved to Tehama County, California and purchased a farm of 279 acres.

!LAND: Deed Dated May 5th 1885, Tehama County, California, from John Bates of Tehama County to A.W. Coffman of Sacramento County in consideration of sum of $4,464, Gold Coin does sell parcel of land described as the NW quarter and the West half of the North East quarter and other pieces of Section 21 Twp 26 North, Range 5 West M.D.B.M containing Two hundred and seventy nine acres.

!RESIDENCE:1886 Great Register of Voters of Tehama County; Archibald W. COFFMAN, age 36; b. Illinois; farmer; Res: South Red Bluff; Reg. Date: 1886; SOURCE: TEHAMA COUNTY GENEALOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY R. Scott Sherman rssroots#pacbell.net; P O Box 415, Red Bluff CA 96080-0415

!LAND: Deed Dated April 12, 1887, Tehama County, California from Bank of Tehama County to A.W. Coffman for $1 the land described as the West half of the NW quarter of Section 21, Twp 26 North, Range 5 West, M.D.M.

!RESIDENCE: 1888 Great Register of Voters of Tehama County; Archibald W. Coffman, age 36? (transcribed date); Birthplace: Illinois; Residence: South Red Bluff; Registration date: 23 Apr 1888; page 11.  Also listed in South Red Bluff is Pelham Howard Coffman, on page 11.  This information was gleaned from the California 1890 Index of the Great Register of Voters, 3 Vol. Set at Sacramento Root Cellar.

!RESIDENCE: 1892 Great Register of Voters of Tehama County; Archibald W. Coffman, age 42; Occupation: Farmer;  Birthplace: Illinois; Residence: Red Bluff; Precinct: Red Bluff No. 1; P.O.: Red Bluff; Registration date: 23 Aug 1892

!RESIDENCE: 1894 Great Register of Voters of Tehama County; Archibald W. Coffman, age 67? (transcribed date; actual age was 44); Height 5' 8 3/4"; Complexion: Light; Eyes: Brown; Hair: Brown; Occupation: Farmer;  Birthplace: Illinois; Residence: Red Bluff; Precinct: Red Bluff No. 1; P.O.: Red Bluff; Registration date: 23 Aug 1892

It appears that Archibald Coffman resided in Tehama County for nine or ten years and then moved to Oakland, California.  There was another family of Coffmans in Tehama County that appear to have followed a similar pattern but it is unknown whether there was a relationship between the two families.

!RESIDENCE: 1894-1899 Coffmans in Oakland‏ From:  Jane Risser (jane.risser@sbcglobal.net) Sent: Sun 8/02/09 1:24 AM To:  Nick Cimino (ncimino@hotmail.com) Hi Nick, Hope all is well with you.  I was perusing some city directories recently and saw these.  Thought I'd cc you in the off-chance you don't have these.
From: Husted's Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, and Alameda Co. Directory =
1894 p. 143
Hoffman, Archibald W., emp SP Co. r [resides] 1675 12Th            
Coffman, August L. emp Cal Door Co., r 1675 12th [should be Otis]            
Coffman, Ernest E. student, r 1675 12th            
Coffman, Viola N. Miss, teacher, r 1675 12th
1895 [sorry, forgot to get the page #]            
Coffman, A.W. rpr SP Co. r 1675 12th
     "      , A L emp Cal Door Co., r 1675 12th [should be "OL" for Otis]
     "      , U Miss teacher, r 1675 12th   [should be "V" for Viola]
1897 p. 152
Coffman, Archilbald W. repr SP Co. r[resides] 413 12th            
Coffman, Ernest, student [resides same]            
Coffman, Hattie Mrs. lodgings 413 12th            
Coffman, Otis L collr [ bill collector] Gas Consumers Assn., [1008 Broadway, Gas Appliances], r 413 12th
1899 p.142  
Coffman, Archibald rpr SP Co, r 413 12th            
Coffman, Ernest E., emp SP Co. r 413 12th            
Coffman, Hattie Mrs. furn rms 413 12th            
Coffman, Otis L, r 413 12th
1899
Classified Section Furnished Rooms p. 664  Coffman, H. Mrs. 413 12th
Teachers Viola not listed, so she must have been working for a school, rather than teaching privately as a music teacher might do, for example. By 1916, Otis has moved out:
1916 Oakland Directory p. 230  
Coffman, Otis L mgr r 725 55th = NOTE: SP Co. Transportation-Rail offices located at Oakland Pier, foot of Broadway.  -Jane

!RESIDENCE: 1896, Great Register of Voters for Alameda County on Ancestry.com Name: Coffman, Archibald Wilson Occupation: Car repairer Age: 46 Height: 5' 8" Complexion: Light Color of eyes: brown Color of hair: dark Country of nativity: Illinois Local Residence: 413 12th, Oakland Proprietor or head of house: Yes Floor: 2 Source Citation: California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll No.: 4; FHL Roll No.: 976450

!BIOGRAPHY: ----Original Message Follows---- From: Jane Risser jrisser#earthlink.net To: Nick Cimino ncimino#hotmail.com Subject: Viola at Normal School Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 09:06:05 -0700 Your theory of Archibald/Harriet moving to Chico for a time, and allowing Viola to go to school sounds plausible.  I'm wondering how this might fit in with a note my grandfather David Hughes left in the miner's scales he left me.  The note says [and I'll quote it in its entirety]:
     "Archibald Coffman, great-grandfather.  Born in Kentucky.  Came to Illinois [sic] and married a farmer's daughter, my great-grandmother. He was a farmer, and a good one, but he had an irresistible desire to go places.  All his life he greatly loved horses, and he knew a lot about them.
     After he married my great grandmother in Illinois, whose family had come there from the New England States, he moved to California to run a ranch.
     While he was in California the gold rush in the Yukon took place and he went there leaving his family in Tehama County.  He stayed there about 3 years and these scales are the ones he used up there."
     I once looked up the dates for the Yukon Gold Rush to try to verify the time frame.  The Klondike Gold Rush was in 1897-98.  I think that must be what he was referring to.
NOTES BY NICK CIMINO: Archibald Coffman was actually born in Illinois but his father was born in Kentucky and migrated to Illinois from Kentucky.

Property of Jane Risser

!HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
http://www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/cspn/curklon/klondoc101.html
Weight and Approximate Cost of an Outfit                                    
 Weight     Cost
Clothing...............................  112 lbs.       $75.00
Groceries.............................  1249 lbs.     $75-$90.00
Footwear.............................  35 lbs.       $25.00
Hardware.............................  225 lbs.       $40.00
From Gold Fields of Alaska (NAT&T Co., Chicago, 1897).

!SOURCE FOR FOLLOWUP:
http://www.btc.gov.yk.ca/archives/findingaids.html Index to the Creeks and Tributaries: Series 10, Mining Recorders: record books for placer mining claims, 1896-1969 White Pass and Yukon Route Dalton Trail Series 10, Placer Mining Records, 1894-1972  

!MIGRATION: 1898-1899: A. Coffman-Second-class passenger on steamer Excelsior, departing Seattle, 2/27/98 for Valdez, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2/28/98; NOTE: There is no birthplace information and with only a first initial it is difficult to confirm that this record applies to Archibald Coffman.

!HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
http://www.alaska.net/~vldzmuse/timeline.htm
The Gold Rush begins: July 16-18, 1897 The Excelsior arrives in San Francisco with $400,000 in gold from the Klondike. On July 18th, the Portland docks in Seattle with $700,000 in Klondike gold. Newspapers spread the word rapidly across the country. The gold rush begins. Although most stampeders would go to the Canadian Klondike, about 3,500-4,000 listened to the newspaper reports of even greater amounts of gold waiting to be discovered in Alaska's Copper River area and chose to pursue the Valdez Glacier trail to the Copper River gold fields.

!HISTORICAL CONTEXT: H.W. McCurdy, Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA Editor, Gordon Newell;    
      The wooden steam schooner Excelsior built by Peter Mathews at Eureka, Cal. in 1893 for C.A. Hooper of San Francisco and operated for many years by the Pacific Steam Whaling Co. (p. 143)
      The Pacific Coast maritime history of 1898 is predominantly that of the great Kondike gold rush launched the previous summer... (p. 27)
      The Pacific Steam Whaling Company of San Francisco had the steamers Valencia, Excelisor and Wolcott in service from SF via Puget Sound to Cook Inlet and Copper River. (p. 36)

!The following could be a contemporary visitor to the Valdez Glacier: Hazelet, Cheever George. (Also Hazlett, Powell; Hazlet, George C., C1900); Born: OH, Oct. 11, 1861, Hazelet Diary; Oct. 14,1861, C1900; Hometown: Omaha, NE; Wrote excellent Diary of his party's crossing Valdez Glacier, trip down Klutina, up to Chisna area from 1898-1901; Second-class passenger on steamer Excelsior, departing Seattle, 2/27/98 for Valdez, Seattle P-I 2/28/98; Arrived in Valdez on Excelsior, 3/17/1898, Hazelet Diary, p. 31; crossed Valdez Glacier, wintered in Copper Center; "quits" in 1899, but after 4 months at home returns; etc. Hazelet Diary, p. 31; Powell visits claim on Chistochina, Powell, in Abercrombie, Abercrombie 1900, pp. 133-134; Power of Attorney, ML, Bk. 3 (F&J) pp. 170 ff; Agreement for Hazelet Mining Association, ML, Bk. 3 (Bks. J&F), pp. 176-177; Notices of Location by Power of Attorney, ML, Bk. 3 (Bks. J&F), pp. 187-190; Address: 1920 Capital Ave. Omaha, NE, names and addresses section, Dooley Diary
SOURCE: http://www.alaska.net/~awss/History.html   This site provides excerpts of several books about the Valdez Gold Rush of 1898-99.

!SOURCE TO SEARCH FURTHER: Passenger and crew lists of vessels arriving at Seattle, Washington, 1890-1921. (M1383) Film #1454937 Customs records of passenger manifests inbound, 1894-1909 : Port Townsend, Tacoma, and Seattle.( M1484) Film # 1445995 Fortunately, almost all Immigrant Passenger Lists (post 1891) have been indexed. The exceptions are the Seattle lists, which were only found in the last twenty years or so, and some smaller ports that only had a handful of lists.  
!CENSUS: 1900 Database: 1900 United States Federal Census December 31, 2005 11:15 AM
Name: A Coffman; Home in 1900: Nome City, Northern Supervisors District, Alaska;
Age: Not listed; Estimated birth year: Not listed;
Date of locating in Alaska: June 1900; Race: White Occupation: Not listed
Source: Passenger List of Steamer Cleveland of Seattle
Also in Nome at the same time is Jesse M. Coffman b-Mar 1868 in IL, home post office address was Sacramento, California.
On the steamer Victory of Seattle there is a T. Coffman and  on the steamer Sealandia (sp?) of San Francisco there is a W. Coffman.

!HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
Los Angeles Herald, 27 June 1900; SOURCE: California Digital Newspaper Collection; https://cdnc.ucr.edu
NOME STEAMERS
Glad to Get Into Port at Seattle
SOME DAWSON DUST
MANY STORIES OF DANGER AND DEATH.
The Latest Big Strike at Topkuk,
Where Six-Foot Claims Have Yielded Fortunes
Seattle, June 26—The steamer Cleveland arrived from Cape Nome at 1:30 this morning with 15 passengers and a nominal amount of gold. She reports a severe storm at Nome on June 5, in which the schooner Alaskan, from San Francisco, was beached and is a total loss. Her passengers were saved by the revenue cutter Bear. She also has news of the wreck of the small sloop Gypsy in the same storm, and two of her crew were drowned. One was named Scotty Stewart. The Cleveland arrived at Nome on June 3, sailing nine days later. She was compelled, with all the other steamers, to stand out to sea till the gale moderated. She reports seeing safe at Nome the Corwin and her tow, the Catherine Sudden, Robert Dollar, Aloha, San Bias, Dora, Albion, Thrasher and Mary D. Hume. At Dutch Harbor —C. D.Lane, Charles Nelson, schooner Hera, transport Lawton, McCulloch, gunboat Wheeling, Dispatch, Perry, Homer, Edith, Sunol, Rube Cousins and Martha Tuff. The other vessels not reported are supposed to be beating their way through the ice to Nome. The Senator had a few plates dented by the ice and had to return to Dutch Harbori for repairs. The Robert Dollar arrived at DutchHarbor Just as the Cleveland was leaving for Seattle and will be due here in about a day. All the vessels at Nome are safe with the exception of the Alaskan, which ran on the beach and is a total loss with her 660 tons of cargo. Her passengers are safe. Her cargo went adrift and became the prey of beach people. Several lighters want ashore In the storm, but nothing was lost. The Catherine Sudden, which was in the tow of the Corwin, was in trouble on the way up, being dismasted and crushed slightly by ice. Clam Jumping was still in vogue when the Cleveland left. As a result of thisthere ware scores of personal encounters almost dally, but nothing more serious than'flsticuffs had resulted. The Second Steamer The steamer Cottage City arrived here today from Skaguway with $200,000 in dust and drafts and a number of passengers from Dawson. The latter left Dawson June 6, and confirm the reports of the finding of young Relfe's body near Mlnto. Among the interior passengers are George Avery and John Anderson. who are said to have $50,000 each with them. News of two sudden deaths in the interior is brought down by the steamer. Robert Hall of Victoria, of the Klondike corporation, dropped dead at White Horse. Dominick Stofolimo of Pennsylvania, a grade foreman, was killed at White Horse by a falling rock.

!RESIDENCE: About 1900 Index to Precinct Register, Fifth Precinct, First Supervisor District, Sacramento, Cal.  ancestry.com
Name Age Residence No.
Coffman, Archibald William (sic) 49 5th Avenue Hotel 18
Coffman, Ernest Ellsworth 21 5th Avenue Hotel 19
The index says that he was registered there from 1900-1910.  

!RESIDENCE: 1901 Sacramento City Dir: Coffman A W, emp SP Co , r Fifth Av Hotel.

!RESIDENCE: 1905 Oakland per father, William's obituary.

!RESIDENCE: 1909 Oakland City Directory, Coffman Arch W., teamster, boarding at 798 46th.

!OCCUPATION: 1909-1919 Teamster at the Navy Yard, Mare Island, CA; U.S. Civil Service Commission Official Register of the United States; Univ. Nev. Reno mfm G252

Pay Wagon 1906; Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California;  Pay wagon in the early days Mare Island employees were paid from a pay wagon drawn by two horses. The wagon was always accompanied by an armed and mounted marine. When the pay wagon stopped at selected spots, the master of each shop would cause a whistle or bell to sound, and employees would rush out and line up according to pay number. All wages were paid in either gold or silver coins. Paper money did not come to mare island until 1917. ) i this pay scene took place in 1906, on california avenue in front of building 99a. SOURCE: Mare Island Historic Museum, Sue Lemmon

Pay Wagon 1909; Archibald Coffman probably received his pay from Mare Island at this pay wagon. In 1909, the treasury moved on wheels. The pay cart made semi-monthly tours of the Yard and paid employees at the shops and offices. Workers were paid in" gold and silver coins then, and "take home pay" meant the same as tfgross pay." The last fourfooted workers were replace~ by cars and trucks in 1930. SOURCE: Mare Island Historic Museum, Sue Lemmon

!RESIDENCE:  The census and city directory listings below indicated that Archibald resided at Mare Island and at 330 Santa Clara in Vallejo.  He did not register to vote there however.  I checked the Voter Registers for Vallejo from 1904 to 1916 and did not find his name listed.  He was also not registered in Oakland in 1910 or 1920.  He was registered in 1924 at David and Viola's residence.  He is listed as retired and as a Democrat.   The rest of the family were Republican except Otis and Grace Coffman who were Democrats.

!RESIDENCE: Ancestry.com has him registered to vote as follows: Solano County 1918-1928 The attached image lists him in Vallejo as a Teamster in Vallejo Precinct No. 2.  The document image is from the California State Library accession No. 41521 Call No. qc929.3 1920 and is entitled Index of Registration, Solano County, 1920.

!CENSUS:1910 Solano County, CA; VOL 117, ED 194, SH 3, FAM 62;NA Soundex film# 149;
Coffman Archibald partner 53 B-IL profession= teamster at Navy Yard out of work 8 months Enumerated with David H. VanBuskirk who may be the husband of a cousin.

!RESIDENCE-OCCUPATION: 1911 Vallejo, Benicia, Fairfield & Suisun Directory; Coffman, AW, driver fire engine, resides Mare Island

SOURCE: Mare Island Historic Museum, Sue Lemmon

SOURCE: Mare Island Historic Museum, Sue Lemmon

!RESIDENCE-OCCUPATION: 1915 Vallejo, Benicia, Fairfield & Suisun Directory; Coffman, AW, teamster Navy Yd.

Mare Island Naval Shipyard 1919: Building 99 the Fire Engine Garage and 99A Fire Department Office and Residence SOURCE: Mare Island Historic Museum, Sue Lemmon

Building 99 Interview View 1919 SOURCE: Mare Island Historic Museum, Sue Lemmon

Building 99 Interior View SOURCE: Mare Island Historic Museum, Sue Lemmon

!CENSUS:1920 Solano County, CA; VOL 126, ED 210, SH 17, LN 58;NA Soundex film# T1261-35; profession= teamster at Navy Yard; Roomer at 330 Santa Clara, Vallejo; marital status=single;parents Born-KY  !LAND: Date unknown. Reported by my grandmother to have owned a rooming house in lower part of Oakland near 6th and over towards the bay but was not able to find his name in the land record index at the Alameda County courthouse.

!RESIDENCE: 1921 Oakland City Directory; Coffman, Archibald W.  r. 742 46th; this was the residence of his daughter Viola and her husband David Hughes.

!RESIDENCE: 1920-1935: Oakland per remembrance of Otis Coffman below.

!RESIDENCE: 1923 Not listed in Oakland City Directory

!CENSUS: 1930; Coffman, Archibald; Age: 79; Birthplace: Illinois; Enumerated with David and Viola Hughes; Relationship: Father-in-law;  Race: White; Roll: T626_102; State: California; County: Alameda; Township: Oakland; ED: 33; Page: 17A; Image: 0412

!BIOGRAPHY: Family narrative by Otis (Bud) Coffman, Felton, CA, Jan 1992; "What little I know of my Coffman grandparents seems almost inconsequential. They along with my Uncle Ernest and Aunt Viola and my father and mother all lived in North Oakland, California within a radius of three miles from my boyhood until their demise.  I have heard tell that grandfather worked as a fireman for the city of Vallejo, California.  He took me to my first circus on San Pablo Ave., Oakland next to the Oakland Baseball team park when I was a young teenager.  My grandfather lived with his daughter, Viola for several years and a short time with my parents."

!BIOGRAPHY: Interview with Elaine Coffman Kelly by Nick Cimino, 4 Nov 1989      My grandfather owned a rooming house in Oakland.  My dad lived there after after he divorced my mother.  I remember that he chewed tobacco and he had a spittoon and he was spitting the brown juice into it.  I used to take the street car down there.  I do not remember if I ever stayed the night.  He worked for the Mare Island Fire Department.  They had horses.  He bought this property down in the lower part of Oakland about 6th or 7th and over from Grove.  It was walking distance because I remember walking down there to see my dad before I was married about 1925.  My dad and uncle had the tire company about that time.

!BIOGRAPHY: Interview with Vivian Coffman McGrath by Nick Cimino, 10 Nov 1989      Grandpa Coffman lived at Aunt Viola's house for a time.

!DEATH:1935 CA Death Certificate #35-050041; Copy issued 24 Sep 1990 #336711 Mountain View Cemetery records transcribed 11 Nov 1989; Native: Illinois; Age at death: 85 yrs. 3 mos. 15 days; Mortuary: N. Gray & Co. San Francisco; Place of death: Fairmont Hospital; Cause of death: Carcinoma of lip.

!BURIAL: 1935 Mountain View Columbarium, Section 107, Niche 5D, Tier 6.  Date of inurnment 9 Dec 1935.

!OBITUARY: 1935 Oakland Tribune September 20, 1935 Vital Statistics- Deaths; COFFMAN- In Oakland, September 19, 1935. Archibald Wilson Coffman, father of Mrs. David Hughes, Otis L. and the late Ernest E. Coffman.      Friends are invited to attend the funeral service at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Cathedral Chapel, 2850 Telegraph Avenue.

My grandfather, Engel True Mayne was a funeral director for N. Gray & Co.
and arranged the funeral for his wife's grandfather.

There is a conflict in the cause of death from the death certificate and the funeral home record.  It appears that he had a carcinoma of the lip perhaps caused by his chewing tobacco habit.  The pneumonia may have actually been the cause of death according to the medical certification on the death certificate.