Coffee High School "IF these walls could talk" now only a memory!!

Home Economic Fashion Show Features Winter Scene

With strains of Winter wonderland filling the air. The annual Home Economic Fashion Show was held in the Coffee's auditorium on Friday, December 3.
Mrs. Gann and Mrs. Southern, the home economics teachers were presented with corsages in appreciation for their help in arranging the fashion show.

Home Economic Fashion Show

One student walked onto the stage modeling a sports outfit.

She is keeping in step with the latest fashion changes.
For she has chosen black tarpon cloth for her very stylish bell-bottom slacks.
Her slacks are fitted and slightly flared a the bottom.
For her jacket, she has chosen, red, gray, and black plaid cotton.
Her jacket features long set-in sleeves and a very low scooped neckline.

She walks to the edge of the stage, turns, poses, and exits the stage followed by other students.
Fads and Fashions during the 60s were pierced earrings, and paper mache pins for the Coffee girls.
For the boys are paisley shirts, new scrub denim jeans, with initials on the right back pocket, weejum shoes, and no socks.
The mod move is print shirts with London-look collars and cuffs which are paired with hip-slingers pants. The boys also are wearing London Fog Jackets in shades of blue, yellow, and beige.

The first semester was sewing.
The second semester was cooking, baking, how to arrange a table, flower arrangement, and furniture, and how to place furniture in a home.

1. Rich Short Cakes served with strawberries and whipped cream.
2. Waldorf Salad chilled and served on a bed of crisp lettuce and garnished with maraschino cherries
3. Italian Pizza -covered and refrigerated overnight. Brushed with oil added sauce and baked for 15 to 20 minutes at 450.
4. Pizza Sauce topped with, parmesan, mozzarella cheeses, sausage, smoked sausage, weiners, hamburger, and pepperoni.
5. Italian Spaghetti - brown meat in olive oil, drain and add onion, pepper, and garlic cook for 5 minutes and add all other ingredients. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
6. Cherry Dream Whip- Graham Cracker Crumbs for the crust, dream whip mixture, for filling.
7. Refrigerator rolls
8. Types of rolls: Fruit Buns, Cinnamon rolls, Cloverleaf, Parker-House Rolls, Crescents Rolls, Braided Rolls, and Knots.
9. Notes on bread: Thick bread, yeast bread
10. Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes, salad rolls a cracker pie MEAL
11. Sunset Salad - jello salad
12. Baked Macaroni and Cheese
13. Tahitian Delight -Jello Salad
14. Never fail pie crust
15. Lemon Gold Cake
16. Lemon Butter Cream Frosting
17. We learned the difference between custards, pies, and puddings
18. Ribbon Sandwiches
19. Punch made with cool-aid, cold water, sugar, pineapple juice, grapefruit juice, gingerly, and lemon juice.
20. Chili Con Carne

Chili Con Carne

Next, we learned how to set a table and all bout the different types of items that go on the table.
What are the types of eating Utensils?
1. Sterling silver
2. Silver plated
3. Inlaid silver
4. Stainless steel

Silver Wear 

What types of dishes are used?
1. China
2. Porcelain
3. Earthenware
4. Melamine

How the pattern is put in China?
1. Hand Painting
2. Transfers

What determines whether the pattern will be permeant or not?
1. underglaze
2. overgrazed

Crystal fine glassware lead is added to the crystal.
We then learned about the different types of Furniture.
1. Early American Colonial American 17 Century
2. Duncan Phyfe Federal American 19 Century
3. Modern Contemporary 20-century
4. Victorian 19th Century
5. Eighteenth Century English 18 Century
a. Queen Ann
b. Chippendale
c. Sheraton
d. Hipple white
6. French Provincial 19th-Century

Types of Furniture

We learned about Flower arrangement
Finally, we had to draw a room using the furniture styles listed above.
It was a very interesting year and we learned a lot.
I love to cook and sew.

Designing a room 

History of Coffee High School before it was demolished in 2016.

Coffee Gym 

Coffee Front Office 

Back view

2010 & 2015 Coffee Cemetery then and now

September 8, 2010 

I saw a tree full of these

Road to the cemetery 

Coffee Cemetery could not be seen from the road. There was a historical marker telling the information about the Cemetery.
We pulled into someone's driveway and pulled up to the area where one could park to enter the road leading to the cemetery. There was a gate that I had to go through. Then down this long dirt road to the cemetery.
The cemetery was well kept but there was no way to get inside the wall, so I leaned over the wall to take pictures of the graves. 
Many of Coffee's family members are buried in this cemetery.
Just a few feet away are several unmarked slave graves. 

Information about the Coffee family:
General John R. Coffee son of Captain Joshua and Elizabeth (Graves) Coffee married Mary Donelson, on 3 Oct 1809 in Davidson Co., TN. There were ten known children born of this union: Mary (Hutchings), John Donelson, Elizabeth, Andrew Jackson, Rachel Jackson (Dyas), Alexander Donelson, Catherine Harriet, Emily, William Donelson, and Joshua Coffee.

General John R. Coffee fought in the War of 1812 under the command of Andrew Jackson. He raised the 2nd Regiment of Volunteer Mounted Riflemen, which was made up of primarily Tennessee militiamen and a few Alabamians. On 4 Sep 1814, he was involved in the Andrew Jackson - Benton Brothers duel. He married Mary Donelson daughter of John and Mary (Purnell) Donelson and relative of Andrew Jackson's wife Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson. His father Captain Joshua Coffee is believed to have served in the Revolutionary War.

He was a merchant, a partner in land speculation with Andrew Jackson, and worked as a surveyor in Florence, Lauderdale Co., AL. Surveying the boundary line between Alabama and Mississippi. www.findagrave.com

Coffee Cemetery 

Coffee Cemetery 

I went back to the Cemetery Site on April 10, 2015.

I no longer had to walk through the woods to get to the cemetery. 

There was a sidewalk near the cemetery and the cemetery could be seen from the road, which was once hidden in the woods. 

I could not get very close to the cemetery because of the construction. 

Walmart bought the land next to the cemetery and before they would let Wal-mart could build a store, the area had to be surveyed for slave graves and many grave sites were found. That area was set aside and Walmart built its store but not on top of any grave sites.

Coffee Cemetery 2015

Every orange flag represents a slave grave

2015 ~ Friday, April 10, General Coffee defining moments with Andrew Jackson Florence Library, Florence, Alabama

Attended a one hour talk about General Coffee, his life, and journey during the war of 1812 and the Indian Wars. http://tennessee.gov/tsla/history/military/tn1812.htm

The War of 1812 and Indian Wars
http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/exhibits/veterans/1812.htm

Felix Grundy a Nashville lawyer, along with a group of Democratic-Republicans known as the War Hawks, provided the rhetoric necessary to lead the nation into a conflict that many considered unpopular.
War Hawks and set the tone for the War Hawks by proclaiming he would rather have war than further submit to British insults.

Henry Clay, Was the leader of the War Hawk fraction. 

Andrew Jackson, His victory in the New Orleans Battle catapulted him into a national celebrity and was elected the President of the United States

George Washington Campbell, Served as Chairman of the Committee of Military Affairs.

John Coffee was Jackson's right-hand man during the war and he advanced to Brigadier General during the war. 

John Sevier, he headed the Military Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives during the War of 1812. He and Andrew Jackson hated each other.
http://www.tn.gov/tsla/exhibits/1812/intro3.htm

Mr. Brown talked about battles at Talluwshatchee and Talladega 
(3 and 9 November 1813)

battle of Emuckfau and Enotochopco 
(22 and 24 January 1814)

Battle of Battle of Horseshoe Bend -the battle that ended the Creek Wars. (27 March 1814) 

On April 1, 1814, John Coffee wrote a letter to his wife, Mary, describing the Battle of Horseshoe Bend:

"I crossed the river with 700 mounted men and 600 Indians and took possession of the other bank to prevent them swimming over the river and escaping – all was executed well, the enemy fought with their usual desperation, but we overpowered them, and after Cannonading them about two hours, we charged their works by storm and put the whole to death but a few that hid under the banks of the river, the slaughter was great we counted 557 dead bodies on the ground beside about 300 that was shot and sunk in the river, making in the whole that we killed from 850 to 900 – and took about 500 prisoners squaws and children – we lost on our part of white men 26 killed and 106 wounded besides 23 friendly Indians killed and 47 wounded . . ."

http://www.tn.gov/tsla/exhibits/1812/creek5.htm

Meyers Brown was very informative and covered a lot about General Coffee's involvement in the War of 1812, his association with Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, George Washing Campbell, Felix Grundy, John Sevier and many others.

Most of this information can be found at the Tennessee Archives.

Tall tombstone belongs to John Coffee and around our family members
taken September 8, 2010

Brick wall around the Coffee Cemetery

Taking the path to the Coffee Cemetery 

Walmart donated $25,000 dollars to the restoration of the Coffee Cemetery and members of the Historical Society are in the process of cleaning it up and making it a historic site to visit.

Anyone interested in helping contact the historic Society of Florence.