Contact the Author at holzgrafhistories@gmail.com
My name is McKay Coffey, I am a Mormon, and I love genealogy. I am the seventh of nine children. I am married to the most amazing woman who has encouraged me every step of the way in my family history research. I live in Provo, Utah and am attending Brigham Young University (BYU) majoring in Microbiology. I work in a lab on campus doing research and have a strange passion for genealogy.
Since 2011, I have been dedicated to the research of the Holzgra(e)f(e) family name. Most of my work is done in America, however, I look forward to the day when I will travel to Germany myself to do more research. The history of the Holzgraf(e) name in America is very short. When searching for the name in the United States one may come across a total of 100-150 people with the surname Holzgraf(e). In a search of the year 2000 US Census, the Holzgrafe name appears fewer than 117 times (HowManyOfMe.com). Genealogy and Family History has been one of the top hobbies in the United States for a long time, yet in all the work that has been done, the Holzgrafe family name has largely gone unnoticed and undocumented. I am among the few who have dedicated any time to researching the Holzgrafe family name.
My research began in 2011 after I returned home from an LDS mission to San Diego, CA. I can not explain why exactly, but I felt a strong desire to look into my family history. I took a class while at BYU on family history and was challenged to do research on a family line. I asked my parents who are also avid family history lovers. My surname is Coffey which has been researched all the way back to 1500 AD in Ireland. My grandfather, Marvin Coffey, was a great contributor to the research behind several important books on many of my Coffey ancestors. His legacy inspired me, but how could I add to what had already been done? My mother told me I could do some research for her side of the family.
My mother's maiden name is Holzgraf. I figured it would be easy enough to get the A so I went to it. Living in Utah has several benefits when it comes to genealogy. The world's largest family history library is right here in Salt Lake City. Provo also has a large public family history center right here at BYU. By the end of the semester I had solved several mysteries which my mother had been unable to unravel. She was so impressed and occupied with other lines at the time that she offered the Holzgraf line for me to research. With access to the nearby libraries and online sources made available through my affiliation with BYU, I have since found over 2,000 new ancestors and cousins to add to my family tree. Even more impressive, I have been able to connect in with other Holzgrafe family trees.
Throughout my research I have found that there have been 5 major groups of Holzgrafes which have come to America from Germany. It is my goal to record and publish a volume of family history work for each of these groups. One of the reasons I have been so passionate about this family history work has been my hypothesis regarding social media and technology. I can only do so much when it comes to family history research, but I know that someone else out there who may be closer related to these Holzgrafes may have more information that I don't have access to. The only way to go about such a large undertaking as to record the history of 5 families in America over a period of over 200 years is to make it a collaborative effort with all the cousins chipping in. My distant Coffey cousins have created an organization which collaborates on the family history research being done on the Coffey family name. They are called the Coffey Cousins Clearinghouse. I thought it was a cleaver idea and thought I'd implement something similar. Thus Holzgrafe Histories was born. The only trouble is I don't have thousands of Holzgrafe cousins as I do Coffey cousins. This is where social media has helped and has proven fruitful.
In 2012 I met several of my Holzgrafe cousins via facebook and e-mail. Most were not interested in family history as was expected; however, I have met a few who do have some interest. Together we have found several connections which were not previously known to either of us. Our collaborative efforts have aided in the discovery of the first connection found between two of the 5 major groups of Holzgrafes. The great discovery also lead to an enlarged family tree which now extends back to the 1500s. Still much of the actual history of these people is unknown and can only be loosely described from the records which have been found.
In 2013 I began collaborations with some distant German cousins. We have since added several hundred new people to my tree. We have studied many records dating back to the early 1700s and even delving into the 1600s. As the records are searched, connections are found and our tree expands. Researching the German side of things has also brought to light other possible immigrants to America as well as a greater insight into the lives of our ancestors on the farm in 18th and 19th century Prussia/Germany.
And so the search goes on! The help of all Holzgrafes, relatives, and friends is welcome as we collaboratively research our family, our heritage, and our legacy.
