Person:James Coker (6)

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James A. J. Coker was born in 1829 probably in Walton County, Georgia and died 02 May 1873 in Chattooga County, Georgia. He married Mary (Polly) Ann Ellison on 18 September 1851 in Chattooga County, Georgia.

The father of James A. J. Coker is probably John Coker. A search for this John Coker in the 1830 U.S. census on Ancestry yielded no positive results. Since John Coker's marriage to Martha Doyal occurred on 25 Nov 1830 after the birth of James A. J. Coker; it is not known if she was his mother.

The only connection uncovered to date to show kinship between John Coker and James A. J. Coker is the census data.

A person of James A. J. Coker's age was enumerated in the 1840 U.S. census in the household of John Coker in Walton County, Georgia.

Free white males:

• 30 to 40 (John Coker)
• 10 to 15 (James Coker)
• Two under 5 (Newton H. Coker) and unknown

Free white females:

• 30 to 40 (Martha E. Doyal Coker)
• Two - 5 to 10 (Elizabeth) and (Lucy A. Coker)

No slaves.

James Coker was enumerated in the 1850 U.S. census in the John Coker household in Walker County, Georgia.

• John Coker, 42, farmer, Georgia
• Martha E. Coker, 39, birth place [blank]
• James Coker, 21, Georgia
• Elizabeth, 19, Georgia
• Lucy A. Coker, 16, Georgia
• Newton H. Coker, 14, Georgia, attended school
• July A. Coker, 10, Georgia, attended school
• Leonard F. Coker, 8, Georgia
• Mary S. Coker, 5, Alabama
• Parks R. Coker, 2, Georgia

Catoosa County. was created in 1853 from Walker and Whitfield Counties in Georgia. [Ancestry's Redbook, p.149]

The James Coker household was enumerated in the 1860 U.S. census in Catoosa County, Georgia. Page 989, Ringgold Post Office

• Ja. Caker, 31, m, Farmer, value of real estate [blank], value of personal estate - 115, Georgia
• M. A. Caker, 31, f, Georgia, cannot read or write
• M. J. Caker, 6, f, Georgia, attended school
• J. R. Caker, 4, m, Georgia, attended school
• M. E. Caker, 3, f, Georgia

Both John Coker and James Coker were living in Ringgold, Catoosa County, Georgia in 1860 as well as James' brother Newton H. Coker.

On 4 March, 1862, James A. J. Coker enlisted in the CSA as a Private in Company H, 39th Infantry Regiment Georgia. His unit number was 388. On 8 March 1864, James Coker was listed as a POW at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. (Paroled at Camp Morton, Indiana) He was exchanged on 26 February 1865 at City Point, Virginia. He was honored for Distinguished Service.

39th Infantry Georgia - [1]

The following article was published in the Confederate Veteran, Vol. VI, No. 12 Nashville, Tenn., December , 1898.

Treatment of Prisoners At Camp Morton

    Elder J. K. Womack

That den of misery a little north of Indianapolis, known as Camp Morton,was constructed as a fairground. Temporary stables for horses were erected in long rows. These were converted into barracks for Confederate prisoners.

In the fall of 1863, soon after the battle of Chickamauga, Gen. Joe Wheeler made a raid into Middle Tennessee, during which event Joel Womack, Jim Hood, Pete Donald, Jeff Barlow, Josh Dillon, Will Pickett, and I were captured, near Cainsville, Tenn. We were first placed in jail at Murfreesboro, sent' from there to the penitentiary in Nashville, thence to the barracks in Louisville, and finally to Camp Morton. There was not a bunk in the division, so our bed during that winter was an oilcloth spread upon the earth in the aisle of these barracks. Those who had preceded us were in much want. They were dirty, pale, emaciated, ragged, and lousy. Only a few had a change of clothing. We slept in our clothing every night to keep from freezing. There were two hundred and fifty prisoners in No. 7, and about four thousand in the prison. Those who had occasion to be up at night walked upon us unavoidably, as we slept in the only outlet. We were often spit upon at night by comrades who had colds. Camp life as a Confederate soldier was hard, but prison life in Camp Morton was harder. Daily rations were eaten immediately upon being issued. We were supplied with one loaf of bread and one small piece of beef, and nothing more. It happened occasionally that we would draw this about eight o'clock in the morning, and then not get any more until the following day, late in the evening. When this was the case we became so hungry that we would stand and look for the wagons to come through the gates with our bread. Sometimes, by stealth, we would pick up potato peelings thrown out from the cook rooms, roll them into balls, and cook and eat them with a relish. The beef bones were broken into small pieces, boiled in clear water, the grease dipped off and poured into a saucer, and sold as bone butter at ten cents a half cake. Crawfish were caught in the ditches, boiled, their pinchers pulled off when hot, and then converted into most excellent soup. A cutler's dog, killed and barbecued, furnished food that we relished.

Every man who was able to walk was required to fall in line for roll call about sunrise each morning. The Yankee sergeant who called the roll for our division was named Fiffer. I never heard a kind word fall from his lips. He was about grown and really a demon in human flesh. I have seen him walk through our barracks with a heavy stick in his hand, striking right and left on the heads, faces, backs, or stomachs of the poor, starving prisoners, as though they were so many reptiles, crying out: "This is the way you whip your Negroes." I dislike to write this, but it ought to go down in history.

Our division was not the only one that suffered from inhuman treatment. Division No. 12, near the center of the camps, had a sergeant named Baker. One bitter cold morning while we were standing in line stamping the earth to keep from freezing a pistol shot was heard, and immediately the piteous cries of a prisoner were wafted to our ears. The poor fellow had stepped a little out of line at roll call, and for this crime(?) was shot down. I saw Fiffer strike prisoners over the head with a loaded pistol. Death had thinned our ranks so much during the first winter that we had a bunk the next. We were packed in like sardines on our sides in spoon fashion. When one became tired he would cry out, "Turn!" when all would turn from right to left or left to right. We existed in this condition, with the thermometer below zero, in open stables without door shutters, hungry, and shivering with cold, having only one stove for two hundred and fifty men. How good a piece of corn bread from home would have been at that time!

While memory lasts I can never forget the great war and that cruel prison.

The James A. Coker household was enumerated in the 1870 U.S. census in Chattooga County, Georgia as follows: Page 155, Broom Town post office

• James A. Coker, 41, Farmer, 250, 150, Georgia
• Mary A. Coker, 41, Keeping home, Georgia
• John R. Coker,16, Farm laborer, Georgia
• Martha E. Coker,12, No occupation, Georgia
• Adelia C., 8, f, Georgia
• Julia A. Coker, 5, Georgia
• Francis Coker, 4, m, Georgia
• Lula P. Coker, 2, f, Georgia
• Smith, Charles, 17, Farm laborer, North Carolina, cannot read, cannot write
• Michell, Andrew, 60, Farm laborer, Georgia, cannot read, cannot write

James Coker died before his 44th birthday. According to a descendant, Marilyn Houser, James was killed by Graves Ellison. His widow Mary and minor children continued to operate the farm.

James Coker - CSA - jacket

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} John Coker, dwelling/family #693, Taylor's Ridge Valley, in Walker, Georgia, United States. 1850 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   NARA M432, roll 85, p. 392, 30 Jan 2005.

   / digital image on www.ancestry.com

2. ↑ Ja. Caker, dwelling #446, family #442. Ringgold Post Office, in Catoosa, Georgia, United States. 1860 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   NARA M653, roll 114, p. 9 (stamped), 03 Feb 2005.

   / digital image on www.ancestry.com

3. ↑ J. A. J. Coker, in United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Georgia. (Washington, District of Columbia, United States: United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office)
   page 5, April 1864.

   J. A. J. Coker enlisted in Summerville by Edwards for 3 years or end of war. (County of Chattooga assumed because he was a resident of Chattooga County in 1870). /www.footnote.com

   James A. J. Coker; CSA enlistment
4. ↑ James A. J. Coker, in United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Georgia. (Washington, District of Columbia, United States: United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office)
   page 11, 16 May 1863.

   Captured and wounded. /www.footnote.com

   James A. J. Coker POW; captured Champion Hill, MS
5. ↑ James A. J. Coker, in United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Georgia. (Washington, District of Columbia, United States: United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office)
   page 13 , 12 Apr 1864.

   Captured in Chattooga and transferred to Nashville, TN and then to Kentucky. /www.footnote.com

   James A. J. Coker, POW, Captured 12 Apr 1864
6. ↑ James A. J. Coker, in United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Georgia. (Washington, District of Columbia, United States: United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office)
   page 7, 19 Apr 1864.

   As a Pow he arrived in Louisville at the Military prison. /www.footnote.com

   James A. J. Coker, POW; transferred from KY to IN
7. ↑ James A. J. Coker, in United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Georgia. (Washington, District of Columbia, United States: United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office)
   page 7, 22 Apr 1864 .

   Discharged from the Military Prison in KY. /www.footnote.com

   James A. J. Coker, POW; transferred from KY to IN
8. ↑ James A. J. Coker, in United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Georgia. (Washington, District of Columbia, United States: United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office)
   page 15, 23 Apr 1864.

   Arrival date of 23 Apr 1864 at Camp Morton. /www.footnote.com

   James A. J. Coker, POW, Indiana, transferred for exchange
9. ↑ James A. J. Coker, in United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Georgia. (Washington, District of Columbia, United States: United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office)
   page 14, 26 Feb 1865.

   Abstract has an alternate date of capture and capture location; captured 08 Mar 1864 at Lookout Mountain, TN. /www.footnote.com

   James A. J. Coker, captured 08 Mar 1864
10. ↑ "Murder in Chattooga County", in Macon, Georgia, United States. Georgia Weekly Telegraph and Georgia Journal and Messenger
    Volume LXVI-no. 49 / p. 2, 13 May 1873.

    "A man named Ellison shot and killed another named Jas. Coker, last Friday on Lookout Mountain, in Chattooga County. There was an old grudge between the parties, and on that day Ellison was passing Coker's house with a double barrel shot gun on his shoulder. Coker was in his yard and made some remark relative to the old grudge, when Ellison said: "If nothing but a fuss will do you I'll settle it right here," whereupon he fired and lodged a load of buck shot in Coker's breast, killing him instantly." / www.Genealogybank.com

11. ↑ James A. Coker, dwelling/family #251, in Chattooga, Georgia, United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule
    NARA M593, roll 141, p. 155, 03 Feb 2005.

    / digital image from www.Ancestry.com

12. ↑ Coker to Ellison, in Chattooga, Georgia, United States. Marriage Records
    Chattooga Marriage Book 1, p. 178, Jul 2008.

    Marriage license issued to Andrew J. Coker and Polly A. Ellison on 12 Sep 1851 by T. T. Hopkins, CCO. Marriage solemnized on 18 Sep 1851 by A. Y. Lockridge, M.G.

13. ↑ Spurlock to Coker, in Chattooga County, Georgia. Chattooga. Land Records
    Chattooga County Deed Book H, p. 589, 2008.

    I copied this information from the Lafayette Public Library in Lafayette, Walker County, Georgia. You need to ask the librarian for the Coker file. The abstract of the deed record is by a G. G. Starkey. Abstract: Coker. J. A. J. Spurlock, Theo Deed: 28 Oct 1871; Rec.: 16 Mar 1881, Book H, p. 589; Theo Spurlock to J. A. Coker (both of Chattooga Co.), part of 234, 13 & 4th this the 28 Oct 1871 for $158.00 all that tract of land or parcel of land known as lot (234) east half of lot containing (80) eighty acres more or less. Theo Spurlock [seal]. I have no doubt that this is correct, but failed to obtain the clerk's copy of the deed; I obtained a copy of the index which confirms the date, recorded date and the book and page #. I also have copies of 2 other deeds which support the abstract.

14. ↑ Leisley to J. A. J. Coker, in Chattooga, Georgia, United States. Deed Records. (Chattooga, Georgia, United States)
    Book H, p. 588, Jul 2008.
    John Leisley to J. A. J. Coker - Deed- 1873
15. ↑ Heirs of James Coker to Lum Weathers, in Chattooga, Georgia, United States. Deed Records. (Chattooga, Georgia, United States)
    Book 10, p. 209, 19 Dec 1890.
    Heirs of James Coker, deceased to Lum Weathers - Deed - 1890
16. ↑ John R. Coker, in Vital Records Service, Georgia Department of Human Resources . Georgia Death Certificates.

    Place of Death: Lafayette, Walker County, Ga
    Full Name: John R. Coker
    Sex: Male
    Color or Race: White
    Single, Married, Widowed, Divorced: Widowed
    Date of Birth: Nov 14 = 1853
    Age: 82 Years, 8 Months, 20 Days
    Trade, Profession, or Particular Kind of Work Done: Farmer
    Birthplace: Don't Know
    Father's Name: Andrew Jackson Coker
    Father's Birthplace: Ga
    Mother's Maiden Name: Don't Know
    Mother's Birthplace: Don't Know
    Informant: C. C. Coker
    Informant's Address: Summerville, Ga R. F. 2
    Burial Place: Trinity Cemetery, Lafayette, Ga
    Burial Date: 3/4/1936
    Date of Death: Mar 3, 1936