Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Hill and Dessie Coffey

  • wcu_picturing-5536.jpg
  • This 1941 image of John Hill Coffey (1877-1965) and Dessie Alabama Cunningham Coffey (1890-1979), taken on Good Friday in front of the Bryson City Presbyterian Church, is part of the Stearns-Grueninger collection. The Coffeys operated a dry goods and clothing store in Bryson City beginning in 1931. Irving Kip Stearns (1895-1942) was president of Carolina Wood Turning Company from 1928 until his death in 1942. Stearns’ grandfather, Jeremiah Shank, started the company in 1903 as Bryson City Pump Works and it grew to be a thriving industry for the community. In 1911, Stearns was in the first graduating class of Bryson City High School. He had one son, Joseph Pease Stearns (1917-1948). In 1935, I. K. married Betty Grueninger (1896-1971).