Contents
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Showing both families — every line on the page. Pick a side to hide the other
family's ancestors; Earl, Kristin and their three children stay on either way.
Person · Hooper Van Caffey
The record
- HHomethe fan · what changed · open questions
- MMigrationbirths and deaths on a map, by decade
- TTimeline609 entries · 5 eras
- PPeople290 cards, by generationHooper Van Caffey
- LLines13 surname pages
The evidence
- DDocuments896 thumbnails, filterable
- SSourcesS1–S1207, with where each is cited
The findings
- How the wall came downProeger line
- The glass patentsProeger line
- How the Caffey half was closedCaffey line
- What the DNA saysits own page
- Four routesMigration
- The asymmetryLines
- Open questions20 questions
- Add to this recorda form, read by Earl
How to read this record
Every claim is tagged
Most family trees flatten everything into the same confident typeface. This one does not.
The three research tags below are the whole point of the exercise: they say what a document
proves, what the weight of evidence suggests, and what nobody has found yet. A fourth marks
what the family stated directly, where no document has been retrieved at all — it is kept
separate on purpose and is never quietly promoted to confirmed. A fifth, added on
13 September 2026, marks biological evidence: a DNA result is not a document, and it is not
testimony either. Two further labels mark where this page withholds information
rather than lacking it.
ConfirmedAttested by a document that was actually retrieved and read — a census sheet, a
government index, a grave marker, a family-written obituary.
ProbableStrongly supported but not nailed down: a user-contributed tree, a masked index field,
or a chain of consistent circumstances. Believable, not proven.
Not foundSearched for and not located. This is a statement about the search, not about the
person — the record may well exist somewhere unsearched.
Family testimonySupplied by the family and recorded on their word — no document has been retrieved for
it. Note the diamond rather than the dot: this is provenance, not proof, and it stands
apart from the three record tags above S24.
DNA evidenceBiological evidence consistent with a claim. It corroborates origins; it does
not by itself establish a person or a link. Note the bar rather than a dot or a diamond:
no DNA result on this page is ever counted as confirmed, because no document
was read for it S46.
Living — withheldThe person is living. By the privacy rule for this page, name and relationship are
shown, and at most a year the family has already published. Full dates of birth, ages,
places of residence and record identifiers are held back.
Research in progressA branch that is actively being worked on. The node exists in the structure so the
shape of the family is honest; the detail is simply not in yet.
Person · Hooper Van Caffey
Skip to sources ↧- Born
- October 1832
- Died
- on 30 November 1901
- Parents
- Charles Caffey
- Married
- Amanda Melvina Griffin
- Children
- Thomas Walton Caffey Sr.
- Sources
- 11
Research status
Research status: CONFIRMED — added 24 September 2026 from the 1880 and 1900 Bastrop County censuses, which name him as the father; entered in the family tree the same day.
Life in the order the records give it
Birth1832
Born October 1832, Alabama
Census1850
🆕 In 1850, aged 17, he was living in the Montgomery County, Alabama household of
Charles Caffey, 61, and Nancy, 59: co-residence, not proof of parentage, but the first record for that link
S484. He had a first wife, probably Amy Richardson: his son C. B. Caffey's death certificate names her
S478, and in 1880 his older children, John W., Cordelia D. P., Charles B. and the widowed Fanny E. Willson, have an Alabama-born mother
S479. The Pike County register confirms his marriage to Amanda M. Griffin on 1 May 1870
S482. He served in the
10th Alabama Infantry, held Texas Confederate pension no. 204, and died on
30 November 1901 S481. added 25 September 2026.
Census1880
🆕 The 1880 agricultural schedule for Bastrop County shows him owning his farm:
55 acres tilled and 74 wooded, worth $700, with $1,300 of produce in 1879
S616. added 26 September 2026.
Record1857
🆕 The original Autauga County register has now been read. It records the licence of Hooper V. Coffey and
Amy P. Richardson on 21 December 1857 and their marriage the next day,
22 December 1857, by R. B. Jones, M.G.; he signed the bond “H. V. Coffey”
S646. The typed copy's “May P.” is a misreading of Amy P. added 26 September 2026.
Census1860
🆕 In October 1860
H. V. Caffey, 28, had his own household in the 2nd District of Montgomery County, Alabama (P.O. Ramah), next door to Charles Caffey, 72, and Nancy, 60. With him were a wife, 26, born Alabama, Fanny, 2, and John, 6 months
Confirmed S1151. The wife’s name reads Al…a (Alia or Alva?), not Amy or May, so her name is still open. If you can read it, use “Add to this record”.
Family parents, marriages, children, siblings
Parents1868
🆕
Son of Charles Caffey, now
Confirmed: on 11 March 1868 the administrator of Charles Caffey’s Montgomery County estate swore that “H. V. Caffey” was one of his nine heirs at law
S663. added 26 September 2026.
Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it
Probable
🆕
Probable confirm or correct → His first marriage was probably to “May P. Richardson”, licensed in Autauga County, Alabama, on 21 December 1857
S555.
Evidence: the name Hooper V. Coffey and a date that fits his eldest daughter's birth about 1858. The typed WPA copy and the name May were the weak points; the original register, now read, says
Amy P. and gives the wedding as 22 December 1857
S646.
What is still weak: the register gives no ages or birthplaces, so the match rests on the name H. V. Coffey and the dates. If you know more, use “Add to this record”. In 1870 he and his second wife Amanda were in Pike County with his four children
S543. added 25 September 2026.
In the record
Generation 5 — Kristin's great-great-grandparents
- S478Texas, U.S., Death Certificates — C. B. Caffey, Austin, 1948 (no. 9724). Ancestry record 83851818. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Probable C. B. Caffey, born 7 October 1865, Mobile, Alabama, died 15 February 1948 at the Texas Confederate Home for Men, Austin; father Hooper Van Caffey; mother Amy Richardson, born Alabama; buried Elgin. The informant was the institution, so Amy Richardson as Hooper's first wife is held as probable. The 1880 census (S479) agrees: his older children have an Alabama-born mother.
- S4791880 U.S. Federal Census — Hooper V. Caffey household, Wards Store (Snake Prairie), Bastrop County, Texas (ED 10, p. 17). Ancestry record 6521306. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Hooper V., 48; Mandy, 30, born Georgia; John W., 20; Cordelia D. P., 17; Charls B., 14; Annie B., 9; Thomas W.; Jessie [?]; James C., 2; and the widowed daughter Fanny E. Willson, 21. One page, two hints (record 7179290 for Amanda). The children to Charls B. have an Alabama-born mother, those from Annie B. on a Georgia-born one.
- S481Texas, U.S., Confederate Pension Applications — widow's application no. 27929, Mrs. Mattie Caffey, 1914. Ancestry record 78940. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Mrs. Mattie Caffey, 63, born Georgia, widow of Hooper Van Caffey, who died 30 November 1901; he served in the 10th Alabama Infantry and held Texas pension no. 204. She gives the marriage as 15 April 1869, Pike County, and says she came to Texas in December 1872; post office Elgin. Filed May 1914, allowed from 1 June 1914. The Pike County register (S482) gives the marriage as 1 May 1870, and that date stands. The county of death is overwritten, probably Caldwell.
- S482Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records — Pike County, pp. 405–6: H. V. Caffey and Amanda M. Griffin, 1870. Ancestry record 1425700. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Licence and bond 21 April 1870, H. V. Caffey and Miss Amanda M. Griffin, bondsman J. L. Soles; married 1 May 1870. One image, two hints (record 901425700 for Amanda).
- S4841850 U.S. Federal Census — Charles Caffey household, 2nd District, Montgomery County, Alabama, p. 152. Ancestry record 15675750. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Dwelling 19: Charles Caffey, 61, born North Carolina, farmer; Nancy, 59, born North Carolina; Elizabeth J., 22; Hooper V., 17, born Alabama, farmer. Thomas (66), Michael (68) and Lindsey R. Caffey (34), all born North Carolina, live within four dwellings. The 1850 census names no relationships, so this is co-residence, not proof that Charles was Hooper's father. It is the first record for that link.
- S5431870 U.S. Federal Census — “Henry V. Caffee” household, Beat 11, Pike County, Alabama. Ancestry record 13080425. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed “Henry V.” [Hooper V.] Caffee, 38, farmer; Amanda, 20; Fanney E., 12; John W., 10; Cordelia, 8; Charles B., 5. Taken 16 weeks after his second marriage. The given name is the enumerator's; the household is his.
- S555Alabama, U.S., County Marriages — Autauga County, vol. 4, p. 176 (typed WPA transcript). Ancestry record 56096. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Probable “Hooper V. Coffey” and “May P. Richardson”, licensed 21 December 1857, married by R. B. James. A typed copy, not the original register. “May” is probably a copying slip for Amy, the name on his son C. B. Caffey's death certificate.
- S6161880 U.S. census, agricultural schedule — Bastrop County, Texas, SD 5, ED 10, p. 15. Ancestry record 3788782. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Line 8: Caffey, Hooper V., owner; 55 acres tilled and 74 of woodland; farm worth $700, implements $100, livestock $230; 8 weeks of hired labour; the farm's 1879 production $1,300. “Wards Store” in the index is the enumerator, A. B. Ward, not a place.
- S646Autauga County, Alabama, marriage register, p. 176 (licence, return and bond; original). Ancestry record 900992142. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Hooper V. Coffey and Amy P. Richardson: licensed 21 December 1857; married 22 December 1857 by R. B. Jones, M.G.; surety G. W. Green; Henly Brown, judge of probate. The bond is signed “H. V. Coffey”. The Ancestry index and the typed WPA copy read “May P.”; the register reads Amy P.
- S663Estate of Charles Caffey, Montgomery County, Alabama — administrator’s affidavit of the heirs at law, sworn 11 March 1868. Alabama, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1753–1999, Ancestry database 8799, record 3383818, image 007652336_02679. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Confirmed Lindsey R. Caffey, administrator, swears that Lindsey R. Caffey, H. V. Caffey, Jane Caffey, Polly Stoudemire, Sarah Eylands, Dorcas Green, John L. Caffey, Sophia Owens and Drucilla Eylands, all of full age, are the heirs at law of Charles Caffey, deceased. The same file holds the appraisement and inventory of 21 November 1860 and a petition for dower set for 1862. The file does not name Charles’s own father.
- S11511860 U.S. census, 2nd District, Montgomery County, Alabama, P.O. Ramah, p. 127, dwellings 962 and 963 (13 October 1860). Ancestry record 12147200. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 26 September 2026. Confirmed Dwelling 962: Charles Caffey, 72, farmer, real estate $2,500, personal $340, born South Carolina; Nancy, 60, born Maryland; Jane, 28; Mary Stoudenmire(?), 30; James, 14; Hooper, 12; Charles, 10; Mary, 8; all born Alabama. Dwelling 963, next door: H. V. Caffey, 28, born Alabama; his wife, 26, born Alabama, whose name reads Al…a (Alia or Alva?); Fanny, 2; John, 6 months. No relationships are stated. The wife’s name does not read Amy or May on the image. The last four in Charles’s house carry no surname ditto; they may be Caffey grandchildren or Stoudenmires. The same image is filed under Ancestry record 12147198.
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