St Mary County Louisiana Archives Biographies.....Caffery, John 1884 - 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Mike Miller http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00004.html#0000912 July 23, 2013, 4:47 pm

Source: A History of Louisiana, v.3, p. 7
Author: Henry E. Chambers

John N MURPHY CAFFERY manager of the Columbia Sugar Company, planters and 
refiners at Franklin, represents a very distinguished family of 



Louisiana, his father having represented the state in the United States Senate, 
and he and two of his brothers having made creditable records in 



military affairs.

	Mr. Caffery was born on Bethia plantation near Franklin, Louisiana, 
September 14, 1877. The Caffery family came from Scotland to 



Virginia in Colonial times. His grandfather, Donelson Caffery, was born in 
Tennessee and was a descendant of the Donelson family which also came 



from Scotland. His great-great grandfather was John Donelson, who served as an 
officer in the Revolutionary army and whose daughter Rachel 



married Andrew Jackson. Donelson Caffery as a young man bought Bethia 
plantation, situated a mile west of Franklin, Louisiana, and operated it 



until his death in 1836. He married Lydia Murphy, who was born at Edenton, 
North Carolina, and died on Bethia plantation in

1884.

	The late Senator Donelson Caffery was born on Bethia plantation in 
1834, was reared there, attended St. Mary’s College in Baltimore, 



studied law, and for several years was engaged in sugar planting in the 
Cypremort section of St. Mary Parish. He was a Confederate soldier 



throughout practically the entire period of the war between the states, being 
on the staff of General Walker. After the war he returned to 



Louisiana, was admitted to the bar and during subsequent years earned a high 
place as a lawyer. He served one term as state senator and as United 



States senator two terms, being first appointed in 1892 to fill an unexpired 
term, while in 1894 he was elected for the full term of six years. 



After leaving the Senate he practiced law until his death, on December 26, 
1906. He was a staunch democrat, and was a member of the Presbyterian 



Church and the Masonic fraternity. Senator Caffery married Miss Bethia 
Richardson, who was born on Bayside plantation, near Jeanerette, in 1846, 



and died at New Orleans in May, 1917. They had a family of nine children: 
Donelson, a practicing attorney at New Orleans; Frank R., a sugar 



planter who died near Franklin in 1910; R. Earl a cattle dealer and raiser near 
Franklin; Gertrude, wife of Henry H. Glassie, a member of the 



United States Tariff Commission, living at Chevy Chase, Maryland; John M.; 
Liddell, who became a lieutenant in the United States MaTines and died 



at Pensacola, Florida, in 1901; Miss Bethia R., of Chevy Chase, Maryland; 
Charles S., who is a major of infantry in the United States Army and 



served three years in France; and Edward, who is United States vice-consul at 
Bucharest, Roumania.

	John Murphy Caffery entered the United States Naval Academy at 
Annapolis, graduating with the class of 1901. He was commissioned an ensign, 
and remained in the service six years, resigning in 1907. During the next three 
years he was an oil operator at Jennings, Louisiana, and in 1910 took the 
position of manager of the Columbia Sugar Company, operating the plantation of 
thirty-five hundred acres three miles north of Franklin and also the refinery 
owned by the company. The company has in its employ about one hundred hands. 
These responsibilities make Mr. Caffery an important factor in the sugar 
industry of Louisiana. In addition he is vice-president of the St. Mary Bank 
and Trust Company, and vice-president of the St. Mary Hardware Company at 
Franklin.

	Mr. Caffery is a democrat, a member of the Unitarian Church, is 
affiliated with Franklin Lodge No. 57, F. and A. M., Cyrus Chapter No. 



12, Royal Arch Masons, at Franklin, the Consistory of the Scottish Rite at New 
Orleans, and Jerusalem Temple of the Mystic Shrine at New Orleans. 



He is a life member of Franklin Lodge No. 1387, Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks.

	In May, 1917, soon after America declared war on Germany, Mr. Caffery 
volunteered his services to the government, was commissioned a 



lieutenant in the United States Navy, and throughout the war acted as captain 
of the yard at the naval station at Algiers, Louisiana. receiving 



his honorable discharge November 11, 1918, the day after the signing of the 
armistice. 

	Mr. Caffery married at Franklin, October 26, 1909, Miss Mary Frere, 
daughter of Alexander G. and Lulu (Clegg) Frere. Her father, who died 



at Franklin, was a druggist and was sheriff of St. Mary Parish several terms. 
Mrs. Caffery completed her education at Newcomb College, New 



Orleans, and at the State Normal College. Their four children are John, 
Donelson, Mary and Clegg.

Additional Comments:
John Murphy Caffery

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/stmary/bios/caffery181gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/lafiles/

File size: 5.3 Kb