| Notes |
- The birth places I've found published for Henry Coate and Rebecca Willson in second hand sources give Henry's birth place as Newberry Co., SC (C-556-Compilation of Quaker Records) and Rebecca Willson's as New Jersey. However, in two of their son's, John H. and Henry's census records in 1880, both listed that each of their parents were born in North Carolina, and a third, Caleb (a blacksmith) thought they were born in Maryland. It is possible that Marmaduke and Mary Coppock were living in North Carolina when they had Henry Coate in 1770, but I suspect they didn't really have that knowledge from their father. All the Quaker records suggest they lived in S. Carolina by 1770. Henry was born on the 8m 18 1770 according to Hinshaw's Encyclopedia. (C-384-385)
Henry was a Blacksmith and sickle-maker by trade. According to an interview I had with a Blacksmith at the Ohio Historical Society, Henry would have been the best paid member of the community and honored. On top of that, Henry manufactured "edge" tools which required a keen eye and a "feel" for the metal. It supposedly defined an accomplished, not just skilled, blacksmith. (C-648) He and his family moved to Ludlow Falls, Ohio on a letter dated 7/28/1804 where he set up shop as a smithy. (C-100) They had sold their land in Newberry Co., SC to John Chapman on April 4, 1804. Not long after moving to Ludlow Falls, due to fear of the Indians, they moved to Waynesville, Warren Co., OH for a period of 10-12 years after which they returned to their property on Ludlow Falls. He is listed in the 1827 and 1835 tax lists for Union Twp., Miami Co., OH living next to his brother Samuel. In the 1830 census for Union Twp., Miami Co., Ohio, Henry Coats was listed between the age of 60-70 with 3 males 5-10 yrs, 2 males 10-15 yrs 1 females 5-10 yrs. and 2 females 20-30 yrs living with him. We don't know who the young female was. My best guess is that she was a visiting grand daughter at the time. He was a Whig and a Quaker. He prospered by his own hard labor and at one-point owned 2000 acres. (E) Henry and Eunice are listed in the Deed records of Washington Twp., Miami Co., Ohio in 1836 and 1840. (C-1025) He or his son Henry might have been the Henry Coates who was an operator on the Underground Railroad in Montgomery Co., Ohio.
He wrote a will in 1848 in Miami Co., Ohio. It is in Will Book B, pg. 122, case # 1711. It follows with spelling and punctuation retained. "Be it Remembered that I Henry Coate of the County of Miami and State of Ohio, Considering the certainty of Death and being Desirous of Setling my worldly affairs Do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following vez First it is my will that all my Just Debts and Funeral Expenses by Justly paid out of my personal Estate. Secondly It is my will that my wife Eunice have and hold possession of and for her Sole use and benefit the quarter Section of land we now reside upon Except a Lot or lots given to my Son Caleb Coate So long as she remmains my widow. I also will that so much of my personal property after my Debts be paid and my wife Eunice has set off to her as much property beds beding & house hold & kitchen furniture and all other things She may (have) in kneed of also my Carriage and harness and the Interest of two hundred Dollars annually ___ That so much as remains after this Setoff and what is hereafter bequethed Be Sold by my Excrs and Equally Divided between my Sons that may then be living and also at the Death of my wife Eunice; or before if She prefers to give it up that what personal property she has had in her care and for her use be Sold and the procedes with the two hundred Dollars which She is to have the Interest of be Equally Divided amongst my Sons that may then be living = the two hundred Dollars above refered to to be kept at Interest by my Exrs for the purpose and use above Stated Thirdly I give and bequeath to my three Sons Namely, Robert Henry W. and David M Coate Each of them two hundred and thirty Dollars = Fourthly I give to my son Caleb Coate two hundred and thirty Dollars to be held by my Executors for the Express purpose of paying out for a Certain tract of land in Carrol Co., IA on which Caleb has mad a payment until Such payment may be made that my Executors made full payment on Said land and the ballance to be applied to the payment of his Debts if any and the ballanc if any to be payed over to him; if any Fifthly I give and bequeath to my Son John H. Coate and his heirs the quater Section of land which I now Reside upon it Being the South west quater of Section Six Township Six Range five East the same being subject to the use of my wife Eunice as above Stated I also give and bequeath to my Son John H. Coate and his heirs the west half of the North West quarter of Section Six Township Six Range five East I also give to my Son John Coate all my horses Except the use of one at any time my wife Eunice may wish to Ride or use it in the carriage also I give him the Carriage after my wife Eunice is Done using it also the wagon and horse gearing and four Cows except one milk Cow So long as my wife Euncie may wish to use one for milk and butter as much as she may wish to use also my (maps) and all farming utensils also all corn wheat and oats hay & also all utensils used about the barn Stables and Cribs = my other Sons Namely Isaac Samuel Robert Henry W. Caleb & David W. Coate have had their portions of real Estate by deeds made heretofore Sixthly I give and bequeath to my grand Children Henry Samuel Isaac & Jonathon Davis each of them two Dollars and their Sister Mary Hoover five dollars Isaac Pearson Henry Miles and Rhoda Jones each of them two Dollars I have already give Isaac coate his portion also to my Daughterinlaw Samuel Coates widow I give fifty Dollars Seventhly I give and bequeath one hudnred Dollars to be placed in the hands of the African Commitee and their successors of Union monthly meeting of friends to be applied to the Education of they children of the Couloured people of the Randolph family in our Neighbour hood - And lastly I hereby Constitute and appoint my Soninlaw David Miles and my Son Henry W. Coate Executors of this my last will and Testament hereby revoking and annuling all former wills by me made or Suffered to be made and ratifying and confirming this to be my last will and testament Given under my hand and Seal this twenty third Day of Ninth one thousand Eight hundred and forty. Henry Coate (seal) Signed Sealed and Declared by Henry Coate to be his last will and testament in presence of us who in his presence and at this Request have Set our hands as witnesses the Day and year above written John Baggs Joseph C. Coppock Aaron Coppock"
The following is a most interesting account of our family as it relates to President Hoover's "cousinhood." It is transcribed with retained spelling from a handwritten account in my Great Aunt Grace Coate Wilson's penmanship. My father remembers this story clearly being written by her sister, his Aunt Mamie. He went with her when she interviewed a very aged man in a small town near Trenton to assist her with that story. He does not remember who the man was. The story could possibly be the article that Mamie was writing for a magazine or Dayton newspaper. In a letter written to my Gr. Aunt Mamie, April 25, 1931, from a Mrs. V. (T.) Dunn, it states "I ... hope that you will have something ready for a magazine or at least for a Dayton paper by June." (C-361) Gr. Aunt Mamie, seems to have been the researcher in our family starting in 1929 and her sister, Grace, avidly communicated Mamie's findings to family members. This is the pattern that my father and Uncle Richard have both described. The original copy of the account is in possession of my cousin, Richard Simms, of Georgia. Here it is transcribed verbatim. Henry's emigration from South Carolina to Miami MM, Ohio supposedly took place in 1804.
OHIO HISTORY OF HERBERT HOOVER'S ANCESTRY "Ohio claims fifty-three years of the triumphant march of President Hoover's ancestry, that March beginning with the arrival in America of contemporaries of George Fox and William Penn, seeking religi
ous freedom in a new world; their descendants through the years pressing over various states, ever seeking opportunity for broader development, and culminating with California's giving our President to an eager people. In him are focused generations of sterling pioneer character. Attracted by fertile land in the Stillwater Valley, there came between 1801 and 1809, from the Carolina's and Georgia (or) the covered wagon and horseback routes, (bands) & determined faced immigrants, settling in what is now Miami County, Ohio. They were nearly all members of the Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers. Plain in dress and quiet in manner these Quaker colonies set about with eagerness, bravery and faith to reclaim the land from its wild state. Henry crossed the Ohio River at Cincinnati, wagon trains, traversing trails northward through the Stillwater Valley in 1801, entered an almost unbroken forest. Lurking in forest shadows was danger of attacks from wild beasts and Indians.
Among the very earliest emigrants from Randolph County, North Carolina, were John and Sarah Byrkett Hoover with their children, one of whom was Jesse; and David and John Mast. John Hoover settled about one and one-half miles southeast of the present site of the old West Branch Friends Church near West Milton. John Mast whose wife was John Hoover's sister, built the first grain mill on the Stillwater River. Several South Carolinians staked their claims in the vicinity of the picturesque waterfall on Ludow Creek, that flows into the Stillwater River. Henry Coate with his wife Mary Haskett Coate and their children, the oldest of whom was Lydia were among the first to come from Newberry District, South Carolina. Henry Coate's choice of location was determined by the proximity of a fine spring of water to Ludlow Creek where water power could be obtained. This point is up the creek less than two miles from the waterfall. There he pitched a tent and unloaded the things brought on the long tedious journey; tools for conquest on the forest and new soil, carpenter's tools, guns and ammunition for game and protection from the Indians, a spinning wheel and loom, a crane and andirons, flint stones and punk, blacksmith's tools, bedding, cooking utensils, pewter plates, a Dutch oven, and a few chairs. The chairs were used for seats in the wagons on the journey. Those chairs are highly cherished relics to this day. A long desired goal (u...ied) the first night must have been a restful one to Mary and Henry and the first morning one of keen interest to each member of the family.
Henry, out early for game, discovered a number of maple trees that would afford an abundance of sugar the following spring. As he strode stealthily through the forest in quest of wild turkeys, he was forming plans for the clearance of land during the ( ) months and for building a dam in the creek to supply power for the shop he meant to have for manufacturing edged tools. Returning to the camp with a couple of fine young turkeys he found Mary removing corn bread from a Dutch-oven by the campfire and the children eager to related the happenings of the morning. Lydia accompanying her mother to the Spring had glimpsed a deer; Isaac had seen a pheasant with its highly colored plumage, and was delighted with grey squirrels scampering through the trees; he had found a beech tree (heanly) laden with deserted pigeon nests; Samuel and Little Mary were playing with an odd shaped stone which Henry explained was an (axe?) (NOTE: A hat shaped stone is believed to be the one just described. It is in the possession of Linda Coate Dudick. It was given to her father by the same Aunt Mamie who authored this account. When Mamie made sure he got it, she told him it was found on the banks of Ludlow Creek and had been in the family a long time); the baby Rhoda was peacefully sleeping. Henry produced from the pocket of his hunting coat a handful of (darts), triangular sharp-pointed stones which he had picked up during his tramp through the woods. As they ate their simple breakfast, their hearts were filled with gladness, they had arrived safely; land in natural resources was theirs to develop and within the next four years, many of their relatives and friends would come from the South making possible the establishment of schools and churches. All was well, except for the menace of Indian depredations.
After breakfast Henry, taking Lydia with him, cast a line in the creek which they found teaming with fish; Henry was want to talk much to Lydia, about God and about the wonders of nature. This morning he talked of the beautiful new country to which they had come. Henry a dreamer, had visions of good things to be (vested) from nature's store house, not only material things but the blessings of mind and heart that come from peaceful living in a land of plenty where ignorance and superstition were banished and where God could be devoutly worshipped. Henry was more than a dreamer. He had courage, physical strength, initiative and executive ability, forming a combination pretty sure to make dreams come true. It was Henry's enthusiasm about the blacksmith shop more than the fish that drew him to the banks of Ludlow Creek this morning. He wanted to decide on the proper location for the dam and select the site for the shop for manufacturing plant, ocicles, axes, chains, knives, (hors), (hame)-hooks and mattocks all of which the early settlers stood so much in need. Because of his skill in this kind of work as well as in farming, Henry visioned great possibilities. Looking down the years as he angled in the creek, he saw the land yielding bounteous harvests, he saw schools and churches, emblems and the development of mind and heart.
As he looked into the potential future, he did not forget the past, in which his ancestors in England had so steadfastly stood for what they believed to be right. Marmaduke Coate, Born about 1620 in England became a convert to the teachings of George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends. Because they refused to conform to the rules and ceremonies of the Church of England, Marmaduke and his wife, Edith were imprisoned most of the time over a period of fifteen years. His son Marmaduke who married Ann Pohl was also persecuted because of his religion. Seeking religious freedom he with his family emigrated to America in 1715, settling near Burlington, New Jersey. His son, William married Rebecca Sharpe and with her he moved to South Carolina about 1727. Their son Marmaduke early became a character worthy of the elder Marmaduke, who had so courageously and successfully upheld the principles of their new faith. (This lineage has proven to be incorrect. L.D.)
In Newberry District, South Carolina, neighbors to Rebecca and William Coate and their son Marmaduke, there lived Moses and Martha Scarr Coppock. In the absence of the father, Indians raided and burned the home, capturing the children all were soon rescued except Mary, who remained a prisoner for several years. During this time, she learned the Indian language and became familiar with all their customs. Her long captivity fired the imagination and heroism of stalwart young Marmaduke Coate, who sought and found the tribe of Indians who held pretty Mary. Marmaduke paid a horse, bridle and saddle for her ransom. They were married with the Indian ceremony before leaving camp. Marmaduke and Mary's son, Henry, had harkened to the call of progression and conscience, and brought his family in covered wagons over hundreds of miles to their promising Ohio country and there inside the creek with nature gay in her autumn dress, and his daughter Lydia, aged eight, playing among the stones; looking both backward and forward, he was a link in the chain of progress. Henry must have sensed this. He there made a mighty resolve to teach his children a realization of their place in the change of the universe. And so it was that Lydia Coate, great-grandmother of President Hoover, received in her early childhood strict discipline in spiritual things and faithfulness of the discharge of duty. Henry Coate visioned both the material development of the rich new country and the spiritual growth of his posterity; the promise "I will give thee the land that thou seest" was literally fulfilled through the years with good measure. While felling trees for the cabin, Henry carefully cautioned Lydia to assist her mother in watching the younger children lest they stray into the wood, becoming an easy prey to Indians. This injunction was strictly obeyed, for Lydia had heard from her grandmother's own lips the story of her captivity among the Indians.
Pioneers all helped each other in the construction of cabins, the work progressing rapidly. Henry and Mary were soon established in their log house with its stone chimney and fire place and greased paper for windows. All through the winter there was tedious labor in clearing the land for crops. In the spring, men assembled to roll their logs into heaps to be burned, taking turns at each clearing in the neighborhood, until all the timber was rolled, corn and a vegetable garden was planted. It was soon found necessary to build a stake-and-rider fence around the garden plot to keep out the deer. The growing corn was badly damaged by squirrels, rabbits, Raccoon and deer. Early settlers would get up at dawn to frighten the pests from the fields. Indians were committing such atrocious deeds that the second winter Henry Coate placed his family in a covered wagon going to Waynesville, (Ohio) several miles to the south, where the settlements were stronger and better prepared to oppose the foe.
In 1804 there arrived in Waynesville, Henry's parents, Marmaduke and Mary Coate, and Abiather Davis with his three sons, one of whom was John. The latter came from Georgia. Lydia Coate was now about nine. There in childhood in Waynesville, ( ) began Lydia's acquaintance with John Davis, which in later years was to (ripen) into love. In the autumn of 1804, Henry's family in company with the new arrivals from the south, journeyed back to their improvement on Ludlow Creek. Marmaduke Coate chose his land about one half mile north of the present site of Ludlow Falls ..
Abiather Davis settled on land which is on the outskirts of West Milton. Here there were three springs of excellent water. Abiather built his house at the center spring, the double stone fire place and chimney of which remained standing until 1927. The spring to the north fell to John where a few years later he erected a cabin for his bride to be. Meanwhile John and Sarah Hoover in their little cabin, were also dreaming of the future for their children. The plenteous land portended that their future might hold many good things but they had no way to judge to what marvelous extent the material increase of their labors would reach, or how far the noble character building of their children would extend through the years. Schools and places of worship always held paramount consideration in Quaker settlements. John and Sarah Hoover were foremost in arranging for meetings to be held in the homes prior to the erection of the West Branch Meeting House.
Abiather Davis and his sons had arrived in time to assist in the erection of the first meeting house which was built in 1804-05, cabin fashion 20 by 30 feet, near a spring of clear cold water. Covered wagons bearing Friends were arriving in such numbers that the little meeting house was soon replaced by a larger, hewed-log structure. Every one within a radius of many miles attended the First Day and Fifth Day meetings held there. About this time, Henry Coate secured apple trees from Caleb Mendenhall who had brought apple seeds from North Carolina. The orchard resulting from this planting proved in subsequent years to be one of the finest in the country. Emigrants from Pennsylvania and points farther east began bringing him stock to Ohio. The settlers in the Stillwater Valley came soon stocked with calves, sheep and hogs. Especially necessary were the sheep, for warmer clothing was needed in this climate than they had in their southern home. Moreover, the beautifully checked and striped cotton garments brought from the south would not last indefinitely. The need of warmer winter clothing was supplied at first by skins. Flax growing and sheep raising became a part of every settler's work, and the women of each household spun and wove as industriously as the men worked felling trees, cultivating the land, hunting game, rolling log's or building houses. Lydia Coate early learned to spin and weave. Proud was she when on meeting day she wore a dress made by herself out of cloth which she had spun and woven.
In May, 1809 a great grief came to Henry. His wife Mary, who had shared with him all the hardships of pioneer life, died. She was taken through the woods to a burying ground in a clearing donated to the community by Marmaduke Coate from his quarter-section of land. Lydia then assumed charge of the household. From Isaac down to Esther aged two, she gave loving and watchful care.
Though wagon trains from year to year arrived from the south bringing girls, John Davis found no one who might so well grace his cabin by the North Spring as Lydia Coate. In the Spring of 1810, he went courting to the house on Ludlow Creek. In September of that year, John and Lydia made public declaration in meeting their intention of marriage and on Nov. 10, 1810 they were married in the log meeting house at West Branch, in the presence of witnesses appointed by the church to attend the wedding. In the Minutes of the West Branch Monthly Meeting which convened Nov. 17, 1810 is the following settlement; "Friends appointed to attend the marriage of John Davis and Lydia Coate, report they attended and it was orderly accomplished." Lydia wore a neat home-spun dress with a gray quilted bonnet framing her pretty, alert face. John wore a short breasted coat with straight collar and no unnecessary buttons, a long vest and pantaloons without suspenders. This was the customary costume of Quaker men at that time. It was the same as worn by George Fox in England and similar to that worn by English noblemen. Many guest assembled for the wedding dinner in Henry's house. Venison, wild turkey and dried corn in addition to the fall vegetables, formed the feast.
Before nightfall, John with Lydia on his horse, forded the creek and took the trail for the cabin by the North Spring. All about the bright orange and red hues of bitter-sweet (vied) with the colors of the sunset. Great (teams) of birds on their way southward, settled in the trees for the night. Lydia and John entered the cabin and started a fire on the hearth of a new home. Here they lived and prospered; the log house was replaced by a larger frame one. That Lydia was active in the church is evidenced by the entry in the church minutes under the date of Apr. 21, 1821: "The committee appointed to make choice of a friend to serve as overseer, proposed Lydia Davis, with which the meeting () and appointed her to that service." Lydia's covered wagon journey from South Carolina to Ohio in her childhood, the exceptional training by her parents, and the care of her brothers and sisters following her mothers death, served to give Lydia more than an ordinary preparation for life. Lydia and John Davis were careful about the discipline of their children. Their son Henry became a doctor; Samuel, a judge; Jonathan and Isaac were farmers; and Mary was the grandmother of Herbert Hoover. The north spring still gives forth it's refreshing water. The house is (just) a few () of the bitter-sweet remain.
Meanwhile, John and Sarah Hoover prospered, acquiring a large acreage, all of their children developed worthy characters. One son was a surveyor, following an occupation much in demand in those times; another son was a school teacher; their son Jesse married Rebecca Yount from the Mill Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends in Montgomery Co, O. Their son Eli early gave indication of possessing the keen intelligence and steadfastness of purpose of his Father and of his Grandfather Hoover and the kind friendly disposition of his grandmother Sarah Hoover. All through the years, Sarah Hoover was held in high esteem by the entire community- she was active in her church, ever ready to befriend an orphan, to help some one in need, or care for the sick, though she reared a large family of her own, one example of her thrift was the saving of wild duck and loon feathers for making a feather bed for each one of her sons and daughters.
Henry Coate each year reaped a greater harvest than the preceding one, as he was gradually acquiring more land. In 1816 he built a larger hewed log house, and to this in 1820 he built a frame addition which today is standing in good condition. In his merchant blacksmith shop on Ludlow Creek, he at times employed several men. For many years he supplied tools over a large area. His sickles were in great demand. On the Stillwater River at Possum Hollow, Henry built a store room for the exchange of his tools for products of the farms, which in turn he had hauled in wagons to Dayton or Cincinnati; and shipped in boats at Cincinnati and points farther south, sometimes as far as New Orleans.
Joel Hollingsworth, a man of great physical strength and bravery, made trips down the rim by boat with Henry Coates cargo, returning on horseback. Henry and his father Marmaduke Coate both were active in the establishment of the Union Meeting of Friends, by the burying-ground near Ludow Falls, the first Monthly Meeting being opened Feb. 1, 1813. The first building was of logs. Incessant labor through the years in (commiting) natural resources of the wilderness into civilized utilities resulted in prosperity, leaving in its wake schools and improved places of worship. The log church in 1818 gave way to a brick structure which for many years was a social center for the whole country side. Though long unused, this building stands today, a lonely sentinel guarding the church yard where lie many of the pioneers, including members of the Hoover families. The Union Meeting House also was replaced by one of brick which stood until about 1884, when it was torn down, the brick being partially used in the construction of the new church at Ludlow Falls. The grave-yard on the original site has been maintained in good order to the present time and there lie Marmaduke and Henry Coate and members of their families. The outstanding characteristic of early Quakers was their strict adherence to what they believed to be right. A Quaker's word was as good as his note. Often at a meeting there would be no preaching. If the "Spirit moved", some one would speak. Otherwise a meeting hour would pass in silent mediation and prayer. Modern psychologists no doubt would point out the Quaker "Silences" as the source of the sterling character all early Quakers possessed.
Henry Coate had many (problems) in his life. His second wife Rebecca Wilson Coate died young, leaving him with another family of small children. Lydia died in 1826 leaving her youngest child Mary Davis an orphan at the age of six. With his orphaned children and grandchildren, it is not strange that Henry sought another wife. At Ludlow Falls there stands today the log house in which Henry Coate courted Eunice Coppock, a very estimable woman whom he married. Eunice mothered Henry's children and orphaned grandchildren winning the love and respect of each. Mary Davis Hoover must have been especially fond of her since she named her eldest daughter Eunice.
So it happened that Mary Davis was much under the care of Henry that man of wonderful personality who had the faculty of teaching children the things worth while in life.
Mary Davis grew to womanhood, possessing the grace and beauty of her mother Lydia, the patience and fortitude of her grandmother Mary Haskett Coate, and the courage of her great-grandmother Mary Coppock Coate. It was quite natural that she won the heart of (promising) young Eli Hoover, one of the most prospering farmers of the community. Another wedding was solemnized at West Branch Church. Eli and Mary Davis Hoover lived in a fine new house on a flourishing farm on the Butler Road which leads out of West Milton to the south-west. At this period extensive house building was going on over the country. Eli's father Jesse, built near-by a commodious brick house.
Eli and Mary were very happy with their growing family which numbered five; Eunice, Allen, Jesse Clark, Rebeca and Henry. But a great shadow fell upon them, submerging all the joy in their pretty house and production fields. Mary's health was failing. With the hope of finding a better climate, the farm was sold. Before a removal could be made, the death angel came, claiming both Mary and her daughter Eunice. Side by side they lie in the West Branch Church Yard. On the pages of the old West Branch Church Records, are the following minutes; "18th day, 5th month, 1854, those appointed to prepare a certificate of removal for Eli Hoover and family produced one to Red Cedar Monthly Meeting of Friends, Iowa" which ( ) Ohio gave to Iowa, the boy Jesse Clark Hoover who became the father of (President) Herbert Hoover."
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1770 - 1848 (78 years)
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