John Coffee

John Coffee
Born	June 2, 1772 Prince Edward County, Virginia
Died	July 7, 1833 (aged 61) Florence, Alabama
Occupation	Planter, militia general, merchant, land speculator, surveyor
Spouse(s)	Mary Donelson

John R. Coffee (June 2, 1772 – July 7, 1833) was an American planter and state militia general in Tennessee. He commanded troops under General Andrew Jackson during the Creek Wars (1813–14) and during the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812.

During his presidency, Jackson appointed Coffee as his representative, along with Secretary of War John Eaton, to negotiate treaties with Southeast American Indian tribes to accomplish removal, a policy authorized by Congressional passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Coffee negotiated the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek of 1830 with the Choctaw by which they ceded their lands, and started negotiations with the Chickasaw, but they did not conclude a treaty until after his death.

Born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Coffee was the son of Lieutenant Joshua Coffee (January 26, 1745 – September 8, 1797) and Elizabeth Graves (January 28, 1742 – December 13, 1804). He was a grandson of English settlers Peter Coffee, Sr. (1716-November 1771) and Susannah Mathews (1701–1796) both of whom were from Kent, England. Correction: Peter Coffee, Sr. was Irish and was probably born around 1705. In 1730 he was released from the Old Bailey and "transported" to Virginia where he labored as an indentured servant in the tobacco fields for 14 years, gaining his freedom in 1744.

John Coffee married Mary Donelson, the daughter of Captain John Donelson III and Mary Purnell, on October 3, 1809. A paternal aunt of Mrs. Coffee was Andrew Jackson's wife, Rachel Donelson Robards.

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