According to the oldest church record in possession of the Coffey Christian Church, the first date mentioned is February, 1842. It speaks of the Church of Jesus Christ being planted on Hickory Creek in Daviess County, MO. Later in June, 1853, the church was reorganized. About 46 names are listed as members of the original church. Among those names are many that are familiar in the history of Coffey, and the names also of the ancestors of many in this community and the present church.
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The first entry in this old record to mention the name of Salem comes under the date of October 7, 1865. Beginning on that date, Brother Benjiman Lockhart conducted a protracted meeting in Salem.
According to an early “History of Daviess County,” published about 1881, the original Christian Church building in what is now Coffey was built in 1867-68 at a cost of $800 and was dedicated June 17, 1868. The membership included 147 names on that date.
In a meeting conducted by Brother J.H. Coffey in February, 1871, there were enough additions to church to bring membership up to 186 and all these new members, except seven, were by confession and baptism.
At a meeting of the brethren of the church on January 2, 1869, three men were chosen to act as trustees to receive the deed to the lot on which the church now stands. These men were Samuel McClary, R.H. Vandervort and Lewis Brown. The land was given to the church by Bailey H. Coffey. However, a search of the records in the recorder’s office in Gallatin fails to reveal any deed recorded until September 8, 1909. The deed was given by Wm. B. and Lucinda Vandevort as heirs of Bailey H. Coffey to Ira Day, W.B. White and Wm. P. Hutchison and their successors in office as trustees. If the land ever ceases to be used for a church site, it is to revert to the Bailey H. Coffey heirs.
The present church building was built and dedicated on September 18, 1910. Present church officers are Harper Butler, Paul Ward, Lawrence Waters and Reed Netherton, elders; Roma Vogel, M.L. Corrol, Gerld Salmon, Guy Foster, Gene Kampman, deacons; Harper Butler and Roma Vogel, trustees; and Gene Kampman, Sunday School superintendent. Present membership is 152.
The present minister is Donovan Johnson. Other ministers who have served the church besides those mentioned in the early history are Brothers Mitchell, Brewster, Keltner, E.L. Knight, Lelan Sikens, Noel T. Adams, H.E. Hill, Gerald Waters, Paul Frahm, and Ross Case.
Source: Coffey Centennial 1856-1956, page 14; Walsworth Publishing Company
The Coffey Christian Church as it stood during Coffey’s Centennial in 1956.
This early building was home to Coffey Christian Church (undated), as shown in the Coffey Centennial 1856-1956.
