LOCAL HISTORY
BY BETTY OBENDORF Curator, Polo Historical Society After I found the war record of Daniel Roby, I wanted to find out about his parents, Sarah Coffman Roby and James Roby. Linda can find for me the genealogy of a family on the Internet but not the history of the family. That you will find at the library in the obituaries. I have not been going to the library because of the virus. But Linda did find out about someone in the Roby family already doing research on the family. So I emailed John Davenport and he was glad to hear from me. He did not have some of these family pictures and someday I will send him the packet of pictures. But for now he could send me the history and answer some of my questions about the family. Sarah was born to Christian and Elizabeth Chapman Coffman. She was born on Feb. 6, 1815 in Hagerstown, Pennsylvania. She also was called Sallie Coffman Roby. The early last name was “Kaufman.” Sarah and James Roby were married in 1836. It was not until 1851 that several of the Roby family headed for Illinois. Sarah and James along with their family were among those who traveled west. At that time the rest of the Coffman family stayed in the east. The family of Sarah and James were Ann 1836-deceased, James Jr. 1839-deceased, David (Daniel)-1840-1862, Sarah Jane 1842-1925, Mary Catherine 1847-1926, Susan 1850-1933, Simon 1853-deceased, Elizabeth 1855-1926, George 1857-1920, and Arthur 1861-1938. The Roby family members that traveled west were farmers and they settled in Rockvale Township of Ogle County.
Sarah and James Roby
Sarah Roby In 1861 Daniel would have left for the Civil War with the 15th Regiment. He signed up at the Presbyterian Church in Polo to go with Company H. After 1865 the whole Roby family headed for Iowa and lived near Lincoln, Iowa in Grundy County. John Davenport found no evidence of any of the family having stayed in Illinois. Some of them did move over into Nebraska and so they traveled back and forth. John Davenport’s great grandfather married the oldest daughter of Sarah and James in 1883 in Iowa.
She had been married once before to Russell Morrow and he had died in 1881. So that was John’s connection to the Roby family. John described the Roby family as “hardy, patriotic, and ambitious folk who sacrificed a son in the Civil War when living in Illinois.” Sarah Coffman died Feb. 5, 1905 at the age of 90. She died in Springview, Nebraska. Her husband had already died April 19, 1898. Sarah had many brothers and sisters. The children in the family of Christian and Elizabeth Chapman
Coffman were: James Coffman 17921848, Elizabeth Coffman 1793-1815, Elizabeth Coffman 1796-Deceased, Daniel Coffman 1801-1852, Henry Coffman 1801-1877, Ellen Coffman 1805-1892, Rachel Minkiny Coffman-1806-1858, David Coffman 18061885, Christopher Coffman 1806-1904, John C. Coffman 1811-1896, Sarah Coffman 1815-1905, Mary Coffman 1815-Deceased, George Coffman 1817-Deceased, Sallie Coffman 1819-Deceased. A number of the Coffman family eventually made their way to this area with a number of them staying.
Jeff & Joe’s First Jeep Jamboree Sept. 26: Jump in your Jeep and join the fun in Downtown Polo from 1pm-5pm. Sponsored by Jeff’s Refs & Chesty P’s. Free drawing for shirts at 4 p.m.
Garage sales will be Sept. 26. Be sure you visit our local downtown business’s while out visiting the garage sales. The Polo Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner the last Monday of September is canceled.
show civic leadership through volunteerism and service to their community. Services provided to the community should be based on volunteerism outside of the nominee’s normal employment duties. Those wishing to nominate a candidate that they feel is deserving of these prestigious awards can send in your contact information, the nominee information and the reason you feel the candidate is deserving of this prestigious award to the Polo Chamber of Commerce at P.O. Box 116, Polo, IL 61064.
POLO CHAMBER CHATTER 50-50 Raffle Tickets The Polo Chamber is selling 50-50 raffle tickets from the Car Show that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tickets are available at Scholl Insurance Agency, Inc., Chesty P’s, Jeff Refs, Haldane Custom, and First State Bank. Stop by one of these businesses to purchase your tickets. Thank you for supporting the local businesses and the Polo Chamber of Commerce. The drawing will be at 4 p.m. Sept. 26 at Louise Quick Park.
Chili Cook Off The Polo Chamber of Commerce Chili Cook Off that was scheduled for Sept. 26 will be canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Town-Wide Garage Sales
Citizen, Volunteer of the Year Each year the Polo Chamber of Commerce recognizes one Polo citizen as the Citizen of the Year and one citizen as the Volunteer of the Year. Eligible nominees should consistently
OGLE COUNTY NEWS Ogle County Newspapers / oglecountynews.com • Friday, September 11, 2020
The Roby family headed for Illinois in 1851
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