The Proeger Family · Generation 8 — Earl's earliest known

Martin Coffman

Father of Samuel Coffman · of the Hawksbill · d. 1813

Martin Coffman

Confirmed

Father of Samuel Coffman · of the Hawksbill · d. 1813

Married
Mary
Sources
13
Images
6

Research status

Research status: CONFIRMED as Samuel Coffman's father. A Page County chancery bill of 1833 says Jacob and Saml. Kaufman held a Blue Ridge tract “devised from their father Martin Kaufman” S1338; Pierson Judd's later suit shows that Samuel was the one whose administrator was David C. Coffman and whose widow was Susan S1339; and an 1835 deed calls Jacob and Samuel brothers S1342. Added 5 October 2026.

Life in the order the records give it

Record1809
His will, signed 20 September 1809 and proved 8 February 1813 (Shenandoah Will Book H, pp. 338–339), names his wife Mary and “my two sons, Samuel and Jacob Kaufman”. Jacob has the home plantation and pays Samuel £800, the Blue Ridge tract is divided between the two, and £100 goes to the President of the United States for the poor S1337. He died before 8 February 1813. These are the pages the 1940 family book cites S66
Death1788
He was executor of Henry Hershberger's will in 1788, and in 1790 guardian of Henry's eight younger children S1350. Henry's wife was Nancy, the widow of David Coffman

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Names
In the records he is Martin Coffman, Cofman, Kaufman and Kauffman; in Page and Shenandoah the same family is indexed under every one of these spellings
Marriage1793
His wife Mary joined him in a deed of 1 August 1793 giving 191 acres on the Hawksbill to a Christian Coffman “for the natural love and affection” S1352, and was examined on it as “the wife of the above named Martin Coffman” in September 1808 S1353. Her maiden name is not on any record read. The “Funkhouser” on a family chart has no record behind it S103. A 1771 grant names a Mary, daughter of John Lienberger, as the wife of a Martin Coffman, without saying which one; that is a lead only

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Open question
⚠️ He is not the Martin Coffman of the White House, whose 1805 will names seven sons and no Samuel. The 1785 tax list keeps the two men apart, one on the Hawksbill and one at the White House. Earlier this record read the 1805 will as his, and so marked the 1940 book's citation as wrong. It was the right citation for this Martin
Probable
Probable confirm or correct → Son and heir of David Coffman: PROBABLE (strong). A Martin Coffman is called “Heir at Law of David Cofman decd.” in two Fairfax grants of 22 and 23 March 1779 S1345S1346 and “Eldest son & Heir at Law of David Coffman dec’d”, with Mary his wife, in a deed of 20 May 1783 S1344; David's widow swore that he was David's true heir S1349. Evidence that this is the same Martin: the name, a wife Mary in 1783 and in 1793, land on the Hawksbill, gifts of land to a Christian Coffman in both 1783 and 1793, and the Comer family as neighbours of both. What is weak or missing: no single record says that the heir of David in 1779–83 is the man who made the 1809 will. The Shenandoah land tax books of 1782–1815, following “Martin Coffman, Hawksbill” acreage to his estate and to Jacob, would settle it. Know more? Use “Add to this record”

Photos & documents 0 photos · 6 documents

Documents (6)

Documents · 6 page images all documents

Retrieved from the UNT Libraries' Portal to Texas History, or — for the University of Texas Cactus yearbooks — from Texas ScholarWorks. Each thumbnail opens the full page scan, which can also be downloaded. The quoted text is the OCR that ships with the scan, copied verbatim; the page image is the authority.

# ph1-shen-db-1793-martin-mary-coffman-to-christian-love-affection - Record: Shenandoah Co. Deed Book 1792-95: 1 Aug 1793, Martin Coffman & Mary his wife to Christian Coffman, 'for the natural love and affection', 191 acres on the Hawksbill (survey 25 Nov 1765, grant 2 Mar 1789). - Source: FamilySearch Full-Text, Virginia Wills and Deeds / county records. Image ARK https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS42-GQFB-4 - Read status: FS OCR; image saved - Bears on: Hawksbill Martin with wife Mary. - Captured: 5 Oct 2026, Coffman→Europe phase 1 (`research/proeger-genealogy/COFFMAN-EUROPE-PHASE1-20261005.md`).

# ph1-shen-db-1808-commission-mary-wife-of-martin-coffman - Record: Shenandoah Co. Deed Book 1808: commission (16 Sep 1808) and return (24 Sep 1808) privily examining 'Mary Coffman the wife of the above named Martin Coffman' on the 1793 deed to Christian Coffman; recorded 12 Dec 1808. - Source: FamilySearch Full-Text, Virginia Wills and Deeds / county records. Image ARK https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS42-QWD6-W - Read status: FS OCR; image saved - Bears on: Hawksbill Martin and wife Mary alive Sept 1808, a year before the 1809 will. - Captured: 5 Oct 2026, Coffman→Europe phase 1 (`research/proeger-genealogy/COFFMAN-EUROPE-PHASE1-20261005.md`).

In the record Generation 8 — Earl's earliest known

Martin Coffman · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

13 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S66Charles Fahs Kauffman, A Genealogy and History of the Kauffman-Coffman Families of North America, 1584 to 1937 (York, PA, 1940), 834 pp. Free scan held at Archive.org, Allen County Public Library copy. Searched twice, to opposite effect. On 15 September 2026 the full text was searched for "Page County," "Luray," "David Coffman," "David Kaufman," "Dee," and "Emily": the Luray branch is present (D-series, ~55 Shenandoah and ~58 Rockingham mentions), but no match to Dee Coffman (b. 1857) or to his parents by those names was found, and the Page County wall was broken through the vital registers instead [S82]. On 16 September, with David Carl Coffman's name and dates in hand from his gravestone [S83], a second search on the new names reached entry FI1a, p. 562, which gives his exact dates (13 Dec 1812 – 25 Jan 1883) and names his father Samuel Coffman (b. 1779) and his mother Susanna Coffman (22 Jul 1779 – 25 Apr 1865), with Martin "Hawkbill" Coffman (d. 1809) a generation above, citing his will at Shenandoah Co. Will Bk. H, p. 338. A compiled secondary source, and the two generations it supplies are tagged Probable, not Confirmed. A 1940 published genealogy is a scholar's reading of records, not a record; the will it cites has not been read here. ⚠️ SAMUEL IS NOW CONFIRMED as David C.'s father by two Library of Virginia registers (his 1871 marriage licence and 1883 death register, both naming "Saml. Coffman"). The 1814 death date is unsourced and probably wrong: the 1820 census shows him still heading a household, and a Samuel Kauffman estate appears in Page County probate — Page County did not exist until 1831. The Martin "Hawkbill" Coffman will cited as "Will Bk. H, p. 338, 1809" does not match Shenandoah County's actual records (1805 will, Will Book E/F, seven sons without a Samuel). Martin as Samuel's father is Unsupported as stated. The book also disagrees with the gravestones on two dates: it gives Emily's birth as 17 April where the stone reads 7 April, and her death as 1867 where the stone and the Page County register say 1868. The stones are followed.
  2. S103Robert William Coffman — four pedigree sheets, Genealogical Society of Utah forms (copyright 1936). Compiled by Robert William Coffman (1906–1990), Earl's maternal grandfather; kept after his death by his son David Coffman, who photographed and sent all four to Earl on 18 September 2026. Blue-ink cursive throughout, with a later layer of pencil block capitals on the right-hand column of Chart 1 and red annotations in a third hand. All four images are on this page. FAMILY TESTIMONY, and graded as such — a pedigree chart is not a record. Its value here is that it is testimony from inside the family, written down by a careful man with the 1940 Kauffman-Coffman book open beside him, and it carried two facts nothing else on this page had: the names PETER H MARTIN and JANE BELL [S105][S106], and the wedding date 5 Mar 1799 [S104]. ⚠️ Where the sheets disagree with a record, the record wins on this page, and three such places are printed rather than hidden: the chart's 1888 birth and "Columbus" for James Harris Timberman Jr. against his Ohio certificate's 23 Oct 1886 and Cambridge [S79]; its "Martin Coffman d. 1809" against the county's 1805 will; and its Martin against the 1799 bond's "Geo." ⚠️ Chart 3 (the Swiss Kauffman generations) and the surname-study sheet are published as documents and NOT as descent. The Swiss chain carries no citation of any kind, and the surname sheet — Kauffmans on the councils of Berne, Zurich, Solothurn and Lucerne, 1303–1582 — has nothing on it connecting any of those men to this family. ⚠️ The sheets arrived through a phone and cap at 720 × 1280 pixels; a chart field is 12–20 pixels tall at that size, which is why several readings are graded Probable. A re-photograph at full resolution would close about a dozen of them.
  3. S1337Will of Martin Kaufman, signed 20 September 1809, proved 8 February 1813 — Shenandoah County, Virginia, Will Book H (1810–1814), pp. 338–339. FamilySearch image 3:1:3Q9M-C9PF-HX8S. Read from the image, 4 and 5 October 2026. He names his wife Mary Kaufman and “my two sons, Samuel and Jacob Kaufman”: Jacob takes the home plantation and pays Samuel £800; Samuel has 3 acres of meadow and part of the orchard; “the tract of land I own on the blue ridge” is to be divided equally between the two sons; £100 goes to the President of the United States for the poor. At probate Jacob Kaufman was granted administration with the will annexed, with Saml Coffman his security. These are the page numbers the 1940 Kauffman-Coffman book cites. Confirmed Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ft1004a-shen-willbk-1810-14-martin-kaufman-will-1809-dgs7646182-img451.jpg.
  4. S1338Page County chancery 1833-010, John Prince [Printz] Sr v. Samuel Kaufman etc. — bill of complaint. Library of Virginia Chancery Records Index, CFN 139-1833-010, image 0002. Read from the image, 5 October 2026. “a certain Jacob Kaufman and Saml. Kaufman were jointly entitled to a tract of mountain land in the Blue ridge in said county of Page devised from their father Martin Kaufman.” Samuel had sold his half to Pierson Judd. The decree of 3 April 1834 divides the tract into equal halves. Confirmed Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ph2-lva-page-chancery-1833-010-prince-v-kaufman-bill-devised-from-father-martin.jpg.
  5. S1339Page County chancery 1847-010, Pierson Judd v. David Coffman, administrator of Samuel Coffman — bill, filed December 1846. Library of Virginia, CFN 139-1847-010. Read from the image, 5 October 2026. On 19 March 1833 Judd contracted “with one Samuel Coffman of the county of Page” for 180 acres, “being his half of an undivided tract” (the Blue Ridge tract of the 1833 suit). “The said Samuel Coffman departed this life intestate … and David Coffman qualified as the administrator.” The defendants include Susan Coffman, widow of Saml., and the heirs Wright, Grayson and Ruffner. This is what ties the Samuel of the Blue Ridge tract to David C. Coffman. Confirmed Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ph2-lva-page-chancery-1847-010-judd-v-coffman-admr-bill-p1.jpg.
  6. S1342Page County Deed Book, pp. 330–331 — Jacob Kaufman and Eve his wife to John Printz Senr, 30 April 1835. FamilySearch image 3:1:3Q9M-C3QL-KSMJ-8. Read from the image, 5 October 2026. Half of “a tract … near the Blue Ridge, which the said Jacob held jointly with his brother Samuel Kaufman … the whole tract containing three hundred and sixty acres”. Confirmed Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ph1-page-db-1835-jacob-kaufman-brother-samuel-blue-ridge.jpg.
  7. S1344Shenandoah County Deed Book, pp. 191–192 — 20 May 1783. FamilySearch image 3:1:3Q9M-CSKK-61KQ. Read from the image, 5 October 2026. “Martin Coffman Eldest son & Heir at Law of David Coffman dec’d & Mary his wife” to David Coffman, 360 acres on Hawksbill Creek, part of the 200 acres conveyed to David Coffman deceased by Henry Crum in May 1741, and of later grants. Confirmed Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ph1-shen-db-1783-martin-heir-of-david-to-david-coffman.jpg.
  8. S1345Northern Neck (Fairfax) grant, 22 March 1779, to Martin Cofman, 282 acres — grant book p. 157. FamilySearch image 3:1:3Q9M-CS21-J36K-L. Read from the image, 5 October 2026. “unto Martin Cofman of Shanandoah County, Heir at Law of David Cofman decd., a certain Tract … by a Survey thereof dated April the 18th 1751 made for the said David Cofman by George Hume”, forfeited for want of payment and re-granted on application. Confirmed Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ph2-nn-grant-1779-martin-coffman-heir-of-david-282ac-survey-1751.jpg.
  9. S1346Northern Neck (Fairfax) grant, 23 March 1779, to Martin Cofman, 337 acres — grant book p. 158. FamilySearch image 3:1:3Q9M-CS21-J3XH-M. Read from the image, 5 October 2026. Again “Martin Cofman of Shanandoah County Heir at Law of David Cofman decd.”, on David’s survey of 18 April 1751, bounded by Adam Comer’s line, James Mersey’s corner, Conway’s line and Cofman’s corner. Confirmed Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ph3-nn-grant-1779-03-23-martin-coffman-heir-of-david-337ac.jpg.
  10. S1349Affidavit of Nancy Harshbarger, 22 March 1779 — Proprietor’s office papers (Dunmore/Shenandoah surveyors’ book). FamilySearch image 3:1:3Q9M-CSKJ-SSM6-R. Read from the image, 5 October 2026. “This Day Came Nancy Harshbarger before me … and affirmed that Martin Cofman is the true heir of David Cofman Deceased … NB the said Nancy Harshbarger allso give up her thirds of all the Land.” Martin Hall, J.P. Witnesses Martin Cofman, Philip Sammer, Adam Comer, Mikel Comer. Docket: “Cofmans plan 282 acs. Martin Cofman proved to be Heir at law, the Widows Dower relinquished.” Confirmed Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ph3-dunmore-surveyors-1779-nancy-harshbarger-affirms-martin-heir-of-david-dower.jpg.
  11. S1350Shenandoah County Will Book, pp. 239–240 — probate of the will of Henry Hershberger, 28 February 1788. FamilySearch image 3:1:3Q9M-C9PF-HF35. Read from the image, 5 October 2026. The will was “exhibited by Martin Kauffman & John Hackman Exors therein named”; the executors’ bond is signed by Martin Coffman, John Hockman, Joseph Strickler and Peter Fox. In 1790 Martin Coffman was guardian of Henry’s eight younger children. Confirmed Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ph3-shen-wb-henry-hershberger-will-probate-martin-kauffman-exor.jpg.
  12. S1352Shenandoah County Deed Book 1792–95 — Martin Coffman and Mary his wife to Christian Coffman, 1 August 1793. FamilySearch image 3:1:3Q9M-CS42-GQFB-4. Read from the FamilySearch full-text transcription; image saved. “For the natural love and affection”, 191 acres on the Hawksbill (surveyed 1765, granted 1789), running to “Martin Coffmans bottom land” and to Michael Comer’s corner. ⚠ Transcription only. Probable Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ph1-shen-db-1793-martin-mary-coffman-to-christian-love-affection.jpg.
  13. S1353Shenandoah County Deed Book 1808 — commission of 16 September 1808 and return of 24 September 1808. FamilySearch image 3:1:3Q9M-CS42-QWD6-W. Read from the FamilySearch full-text transcription; image saved. The justices examined “Mary Coffman the wife of the above named Martin Coffman” on the 1793 deed to Christian Coffman; recorded 12 December 1808. So the Martin of 1793 was alive, with his wife Mary, a year before the 1809 will. ⚠ Transcription only. Probable Image held at familytree-docs/coffman/ph1-shen-db-1808-commission-mary-wife-of-martin-coffman.jpg.

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