Category Archives: Alvin A. Coffey

I just picked up my shipment of Alvin Coffey: The True Story of an African American Forty-Niner. It’s real! It’s here! Would you like to get a copy? Boy, do I have them. I will soon have it on Amazon … Continue reading →

Dr. William Bassett paid $600 for Alvin Coffey in 1846 and then sold him for $1000 in 1851. How much money would that be today? I was asked that question last Saturday when I gave a talk about my books … Continue reading →

Today my friend Josie and I went in search of Alvin Coffey‘s presence in Tehama County. I am working on a picture book biography of Coffey, an African American pioneer, and I wanted to see where he lived and where … Continue reading →

Back in February I wrote about Alvin A. Coffey, African-American forty-niner. Thanks to Eaul Blansett, co-author of The Tortuous Road to Freedom, I now have more sources for his story. My favorite sources are always first person accounts. Alvin left … Continue reading →

I wanted to know more about Alvin A. Coffey than I could find online, so I sought out this book about his life: The Torturous Road to Freedom: The Life of Alvin Aaron Coffey, by Jeannette Molson and Eual D. … Continue reading →