Harrisonburg Coca-Cola Bottling Works - Benjamin Franklin Coffman manager

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

For over 30 years, the Coca-Cola bottling Works building was located on this property at 356 North Main Street. Benjamin Franklin Coffman was the manager there from 1929 to at least 1959 when the new building was built. Benjamin Franklin Coffman was injured in World War I and after he returned home he became active in the American Legion and was very active in the Harrisonburg community until his death in 1969.

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Benjamin Franklin Coffman

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Benjamin Franklin Coffman first went into action in World War I on November 2nd 1917. He was raided on the first night he was in the trenches and his platoon lost some of the first American men in the war. He spent six months under fire and was seriously wounded at midnight on November 10th 1918. His sciatic nerve on his left leg was permanently damaged as a result of the injury. Upon returning back to the United States he was sent to the Walter Reed Hospital in Takoma Park District of Columbia for a month to recover from his injuries and was discharged from service on February 16th, 1920. Although he was seriously injured while serving in the war, he believed that serving his country was a privilege and a duty and that the draft should have been unnecessary.

Benjamin Franklin Coffman was born in Elkton, Rockingham, Virginia on January 3rd 1895 to David Edward Coffman and Rufella Virginia (Koontz) Coffman.

Before Coffman left to serve in the First World War he worked as a bookkeeper at the Bank of Elkton. When he returned home he worked at the bank as an assistant cashier. He reported that after he returned home from the war he “cannot get back normally” and that he was “restless and dissatisfied”.

He married Jane Mildred Watts on October 6th 1920 and they had two children born in 1923 and 1924, Jane and Franklin.

In 1921 he took an active role on the executive committee of the Rockingham post number 27 of the American Legion. From 1922 to 1929 he worked at the Front Royal Coca-Cola bottling company. He was commander of the American Legion chapter from 1930-31. He was a President of the Chamber of Commerce in 1938. He was also very active in his church. In 1953 he was on the leadership gifts committee for an addition to the methodist church which he attended. In 1961 he started a local chapter of AARP in Harrisonburg. He passed away on October 27th 1969.

Sources

Virginia War History Commission Series I, 1919-1924. Box 10 Folder 4, State Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

“Coco-Cola In Plans To Hold Open House.” Harrisonburg Daily News Record, May 26, 1959.

“Elkton Ex-Soldier Gives Vivid Account First Battle Scenes.” Harrisonburg Daily News Record, January 17, 1922.

“Retired Persons Chapter Here Helps Ease Problems of Aging.” Harrisonburg Daily News Record, May 22, 1963.

“Methodist Drive Ends Friday For Church Addition.” Harrisonburg Daily News Record, June 18, 1953.

“It Belongs In Your Icebox At Home.” Harrisonburg Daily News Record, July 30, 1938.

“It’s always on my shopping list.” Harrisonburg Daily News Record, April 17, 1940.

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