Coffman Family

The Coffman (Kauffman) family, builders and principle owners of Belle Grove throughout the nineteenth century, were among the earliest settlers in the area. They reflect the early ethnic makeup of the Valley-Swiss/German stock from Pennsylvania (near Lancaster) who intermarried with English and Scots-Irish. Land was deeded to Michael Kauffman (first member of the family to settle on Linville Creek) by Jacob Stover, pioneer grant-holder in western Virginia and grandfather to Michael. Belle Grove's owners, via the Stover connection, are kin to explorer Daniel Boone, President Abraham Lincoln and soldier/statesman Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The Coffmans amassed great wealth and were long part of the elite of Rockingham County, with family members building Mannheim, owning Inglewood and marrying into wealthy families, including that owning Bogota. Several generations of Coffmans were prominent religious, political, military economic and social leaders in Rockingham, Page, and Shenandoah Counties, as well as the state of Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

Likely constructed between 1820-40, Belle Grove offered a grand view of the Massanutten and Allegheny mountain ranges. For over a hundred years Belle Grove was a special place to a succession of farmers, merchants and public officials who were a significant part of the Valley elite. In its detailed writeup of Belle Grove in 1936, the Virginia Works Progress Administration (WPA) Historical Inventory noted the gracious hospitality and social life that were so much a part of the estate, where "'weekends' meant more than just a day or night; more often being for the entire week and sometimes even longer."

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