PARENTS:
Col. William King Caffee
Anna Belle 'Pattie' Wilkins Caffee

BROTHER:
Warden James Caffee (died in infancy)
Arthur Gill Caffee

MARRIED:
He was married to Miss Mary Way Coombs,
of Bowling Green, Kentucky, his mother's old home.

2 Sons:
William King Caffee II
Mahlon Wilkins Caffee, Jr.

Because of the untimely death of his older brother Arthur Gill Caffee, and his mother, Pattie Wilkins Caffee dying shortly thereafter, Mahlon and his father, Col. William K. Caffee became much closer together. They not only were in the insurance business together but he and his wife, Mary Way Caffee looked after the Colonel.

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The incident reported below took place on July 4, 1899 and was reported in an article in the CARTHAGE WEEKLY PRESS of Thursday July 6, 1899:

Mahlon Caffee had a cannon which fizzled at the touch hole when he went to fire it, and as he was bending over he got his face powder burned, but was not otherwise injured. Dr. Whitney spent some hours picking the powder grains out of his face. The doctor says this is the third Fourth in succession he has had to spend the latter half of the day picking out powder grains.

•*•✿•*✿•*•

It was reported in the Carthage Evening Press Newspaper on December 28, 1915 regarding Mahlon Caffee:

GETS AUTO FOR XMAS
Mahlon Caffee received as a Christmas present from his father, Col. W.K. Caffee a Franklin Runabout.

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Sadly, 3 years later, Mahlon would be dead.

His obituary was printed in the CARTHAGE EVENING PRESS,
Tuesday, December 31, 1918

Death of Mahlon Caffee
End came last night after four weeks illness

Pneumonia Developed Following injuries Received While Attending Officers' Training Camp

Mahlon Wilkins Caffee, a prominent young business man of Carthage died at the Caffee home, 705 South Main Street at 7 o'clock last night of pneumonia, after an illness of more than four weeks.
Mr. Caffee came home four weeks ago last Saturday from Camp Taylor, Kentucky, where he was attending an officers' field artillery school., suffering from an injury to his side by his being thrown against a railing in a barracks scuffle three weeks before. Three ribs were torn loose from the backbone, according to physicians, but when time came for examination preliminary to being mustered out, Caffee went through all of the necessary tests without whining in order that he might be allowed to come home.

Pneumonia develops
He went to bed immediately after arriving home at first suffering from the severe cold it was announced. This developed into pneumonia. Because of the complications, physicians were doubtful of his recovery and for some time, little hope had been held out that he might get well.
Recently he became partly paralyzed and it was announced that had he lived, he probably would have been crippled. He showed some sign of improvement the latter part of last week until late Saturday when he took a change for the worse and sank gradually.
Mr. Caffee was almost 33 years old. He was born in Carthage February 19, 1886, and was reared here, receiving his public school education in the Carthage schools. In 1906 he was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute as a civil engineer.

Secretary to Governor Norris
Shortly after his graduation from the military school, Mr. Caffee went to Montana, where he was private secretary for his Uncle, Governor Norris.
Ten years ago he returned to Carthage and purchased J. P. Newell's interest in the Newell-Buckwell insurance partnership, later buying out Mr. Buckwell and becoming sole manager of the business with his father as an inactive partner. He was known as one of the best posted men in Jasper County on fire insurance business.
Mr. Caffee attended the officer's training school at Camp Taylor for two months, and would have received a commission had not the signing of armistice stopped all preparations for enlarging the United States forces.
bio by NJBrewer