| Notes |
- Little is known of Marmaduke Coate's earliest life. His birth date has been stated to be 1733 or 1738 in various biographical descriptions of him. "Ancestors of American Presidents", by G.B. Roberts gives his birth date and place to be 6/13/1738 in Guilford Co., North Carolina. (C-409) A Roster of South Carolinian Pensions in the American Revolution gives his birth date as June 13, 1738. (C-614p) Rose Amelia Coate (b.1866) submitted the birth date of June 13, 1733 to Mrs. A.E.Krell in the early 1900's. (C-390p) The oldest record found was from Laura Douglas Coate, b. June 15, 1856. She states that her grandfather, Marmaduke was born June 13, 1738. (C-417) Another of unknown authority lists it as Sunday, 5 January 1738 in Newberry District, South Carolina. This last date I believe is a mix-up with the date several of Marmaduke and Ann Pole Coate's children and grandchildren died in a Indian raid. (C-202, 1430). A family tree sent to A.E. Krell by Charles Rufus Coate, b. 1877 lists his birth date as May 9, 1738 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Jun 13, 1738 date is more likely correct from the weight of the sources -- and from the fact as pointed out by Patti Sue McCrary that he would likely have been under age 21 when he is listed on a certificate of removal under his father's name in 1757. Hinshaw also lists him at age as upward of 84y when he died on 9/25/1822 in Union MM records. This probably means that he turned 84 in that year, again giving him a 1738 birth date.
The picture I have up of Marmaduke that is widely circulated from a book about West Milton, Ohio, is not likely him for the following reasons. 1) The first experimental photos occurred in Europe about the time of his death in his 80's. 2) He obviously looks younger than the 80's in the picture. I, therefore, took the poor quality of the picture to consider that it was a sketch. However, this theory doesn't hold up for another reason. I just recently received email from a person versed in fashion, and the cloths he is wearing look like someone in the 1850's or 1860's when photography is around. The photo has obviously been mislabeled starting with the history book on West Milton, Ohio. To my knowledge, there is no sketch of our Marmaduke in existence and certainly no photograph since they weren't in existence here in the U.S. even the year he died.
The parentage of Marmaduke Coate has also been in controversy for much of the last century. Note that of the half dozen records I found from early 20th century family members listing their lineage, all but two said that Marmaduke Coate was the son of William and Rebecca Sharp Coate. (C-152,390e) This is the same family tradition passed down to my father from my great Aunt Mamie and Aunt Grace, and my great grandmother, Ida Jane Harb. WE NOW KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT THIS IS INCORRECT. OUR MARMADUKE IS NOT THE SON or DESCENDANT OF WILLIAM AND REBECCA SHARP COATE. The fact that William and Rebecca's sons Marmaduke and William died without children is verified in a deed dispute over land that son Barzilla inherited. This indenture (located by Gary W. Coats and Pat Moran) dated May 3, 1783 states that William and Rebecca's son's Marmaduke, William, and Israel successively died without issue," leaving son Barzilla in control of the land. His sisters and their husbands made claim to their fair share of their father's land in this document. Only son, Barzilla survived and he did not have a son named Marmaduke. Once and for all, we finally know that our Marmaduke could not be the son or grandson of William and Rebecca Sharp Coate as is listed in so much second hand family history.
The great news is that we now know with certainty via Y-DNA that Marmaduke descends through the following lineage as the son and grandsons of the following ancestors: Henry (b.1700), Samuel (b. 1670), John(b. 1640), and Henry (b. abt 1595). Samuel on back were born in Somerset, England. Though we don't yet have 2 independent YDNA testers that descend through the eldest Henry's other siblings to prove his father through YDNA, we do have the will of Marmaduke Coate b. abt or bef. 1552 of Curry Rivel, Somerset, England who named his son Henry in it. This is a solid and proven line because of YDNA and the will.
In the old days, we had to discern his parents from patterns. Marmaduke came from Newberry, SC before he moved to Ohio. There is only evidence of one Marmaduke of his generation in Newberry, South Carolina. Only Henry is verified as having a son Marmaduke in the records. Marmaduke is specifically listed in the Kingwood Monthly Meeting Quaker records when his father, Henry obtains a certificate of removal to the New Garden M.M. on July 14, 1757 for himself and sons, John, James and Marmaduke. (C-319-340, C-476) Henry and his sons live within a few miles of each other in the New Garden M.M., the Fredericksburg M.M. and the Bush River M.M. in Newberry, South Carolina. Quaker naming patterns also verify that Marmaduke's parents were Henry and Esther. David Hackett Fischer in "Albion's Seed" includes a section on them in which he states that Quakers named their first born after the children's grandparents, ex: The first born son was named after the mother's father, the first born daughter was named after the father's mother, the second son was named after the father's father, the 2nd born daughter was named after the mother's mother. This fits Marmaduke and Mary's parents for the first three children as the son of Henry and Esther Willson Coate. (C-1969)
In conclusion, the evidence that supports that Marmaduke is the son of Henry and Esther is as follows: 1) Marmaduke had a daughter named Esther and a son was named Henry, named in traditional Quaker order after Marmaduke's parents. 2) Henry had a son named Marmaduke as verified in Quaker records. 3) There is only one Marmaduke of this age in any census records 4) There is no overlap in any time-lined event (from deed, church, court, census or bible records) to indicate that there is more than one Marmaduke of that age group in South Carolina, 5) Henry, Marmaduke, James and John all bought land in what was Berkeley Co., SC and lived within miles of each other and 6) great YDNA evidence at FTDNA.
Here's what is known about Marmaduke's life: Family tradition says that when he was a youth, his friend's family was captured by Indians. Several were rescued, but not their daughter, Mary Jane Coppock. When of age, Marmaduke traveled through various Indian tribes until he found her. He bought her back for a horse, bridle and saddle and married her. In 1763 or 4/29/1769, Marmaduke left New Garden Monthly Meeting without a letter of transfer and was dismissed from membership for such. Marmaduke Coate had a plat drawn for 200 acres of land from John Thorpe in Berkley Co. (now Newberry), SC on Dec. 1, 1767 on the fork of the Broad and Saludy Rivers on Bush Creek called Reedy Branch. This was granted to him on Feb. 6, 1771/Apr. 10, 1771 depending upon which index is checked and the meaning of the dates. It appears to have been sold as a plat to an unknown person on July 6, 1826 well after his death. (C-95, 692, 2083*). Reedy Branch flows into Big Beaverdam Creek about a mile north of the Town of Newberry. (Note: This Big Beaverdam Creek is different than the Beaver Dam Creek that Big John Coate lived on.) His adjoining neighbors were Clement Davis, Elijah Teague, and Thad Pearson. This property is near and possibly on the land where the current Newberry airport is. My best guess by comparing his plat map and maps of the region is that it's southwest of the current day airport on property that includes the forks of Bush River, Big Beaverdam Creek and Reedy Creek (Branch). This is land that is filed with current day Greenville Co. but was the 96th district back in his day. Son Samuel also owned land in this same area. (C-2112, 2113, E)
"Quaker Families of South Carolina and Georgia", states that Marmaduke moved to South Carolina in 1769. Marmaduke made condemnation in 1770 to the Fredericksburg MM, South Carolina. He was accepted back into the Quaker church by the Newberry Monthly Meeting at which time they gave his wife, Mary a transfer also. In this same year on Oct. 16, 1770, a Thomas Pearson purchased land on "Roudy" Branch of Bush Creek in the fork of the Broad and Saludy Rivers, Berkley Co. that was bordered by land owned by Marmaduke Coate and Elijah Teague. Both Pearsons and Teagues married into the Coate family verifying that this is our Marmaduke. (C-1412)
"During the Revolutionary War, ... (the Marmaduke who lived in South Carolina), many times gave food to the soldiers and fed and kept overnight as many as 80 men and horses. For this he was paid by the government which entitled his descendents to become members of National Societies of Sons or Daughters of the American Revolution and if his specific grave can be located, to be marked with the official marker." A c.1995/6 book on Revolutionary War Veterans of South Carolina, and in that volume it says he was in the militia. It gives his birth date as c. June 13, 1738 and his wife as Mary Jane Coppock. It sources Audited Account #1316, y1039 in Columbia records. I have Audited Account 1316 and it lists many bills of payment to Marmaduke for forage for horses and soldiers in 1781, 1782 and 1787. It does not however, list his birth date or his wife's name, so I suspect I did not receive the entire document. (C-793, 1413, 2003)
He is in the 1779 census for the 96th District of South Carolina. Marmaduke was listed in the Petit Jury Records for June, 1786 and Feb. 1793 in Newberry Co., South Carolina. He is listed as an early businessman in the area in Summer's "Newberry Co., SC" book. There is only one Marmaduke Coate living in the Ninety-Sixth District, Newberry Co, South Carolina in the 1790 census. It lists 5 males over age 16, 4 males under age 16 and 3 females. This fits Marmaduke's children and he and his wife except for 1 extra male over age 16. Possibly they have another male living with them to help with the work load or it's a miscount. (C-219, 559) In the 1800 South Carolina census there is one Marmaduke Cote living in Newberry that fits our Marmaduke perfectly. His household consisted of 1 male between 10-16, 2 between 16 and 26 and 1 male over age 45. One female age 10-16 was listed and one over 45. (This second female is missed in some readings of the census I have seen.) He is in the Bush River Monthly Meeting Minutes multiple times. He and several others were appointed to go check out a new Monthly Meeting that was requesting full status in the 1770's. In a 1780 meeting, he and Robert Evans (his brother-in-law) were appointed to write up a certificate of transfer for John Wilson who needed to return to Pennsylvania to work on his "outward" affairs. (E)
Marmaduke purchased 100 acres of land which was surveyed and platted on Apr. 14, 1788 located in the 96th District on Bush River adjoining Clement Davis's land. Marmaduke purchased 100 acres of land from Simon and Lucynda Reeder of Randolph Co. in Newberry on Aug. 28, 1798. (C-893) He is the Marmaduke that purchased land from Joseph Caldwell on Sept. 6, 1798 as son Moses and daughter-in-law, Elizabeth witnessed it. (C-1062, 1077) He purchased 160 acres from George Abernathy on July 26, 1802 also in Newberry. Witnesses to the deed of sale were Samuel Miles and William Miles. (The only other Marmaduke in Newberry at the time was is nephew, aged 13.) Marmaduke and Mary sold 160 out of 200 acres of their land on the Broad and Saluda Rivers to (son) James Coate on Sept. 1, 1804. He sold land to William Hall on July 31, 1804 in Newberry.(E)
Marmaduke, wife Mary, sons John and Jesse removed from Bush River MM, SC to Miami MM, Warren Co., Ohio on a certificate dated Aug. 25, 1804. (C-100) The route they likely took (that most of the Newberry Quakers took) would have been "up the Broad River across western North Carolina through the Alleghany Mountains across Tennessee and Kentucky to Cincinnati" (where the land office was) to Waynesville in Warren County, Ohio where the Miami Meeting was formed in 1803. (C-1519i) Marmaduke's family actually settled two counties north of there in Miami Co., OH where he bought 160 acres of land on Nov. 5, 1804 in section 32, Range 5, Twp. 7, Southeast Quarter, Newton Twp. (C-24, 55) He paid $1.04 in tax on this property in the 1810 tax records. (C-61b) Marmaduke was listed at age 68 in Beers at the point of this move. He was the second white settler to build a home in Newton Twp.
When the first settler and first minister, Michael Williams and his large family heard the construction work, they discovered their whereabouts via his boat. They became instant friends. The first trail in the township was likely established between their two cabins. (C-10, C-1519g) Marmaduke appears to have finally gained rights to the land in section 32, township 7, range 5 in Miami Co, OH on Feb 1, 1809 from President Thomas Jefferson, with both Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State, James Madison signing the original deed. He was listed as of Darke Co., OH at the time. (C-2230) Fifty Two acres of land from this section apparently was inherited by all of his children and grandchildren of his deceased daughter, Esther, as they sold land from this location to Moses Kelley in 1826. Marmaduke was in the deed records for Newton Twp., Miami Co., OH in 1811 and the tax records for same in 1816. (C-1025)
Marmaduke died in 1822 in Miami Co., Ohio. His will is dated Oct. 2, 1817. It is included herein transcribed by Annie Natalelli Waloszek: "I Marmaduke Coate of the state of Ohio, Miami County, being at this time in good healthe and sound memory and in my perfect senses, have thought fit to make ordain and constitute this my last will and Testament in manner and form following that is to say Firstly I hereby will and order all my just debts and funeral charges to be justly ponctually, and timely paid before any division or other distribution of my estate be made. Secondly I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Mary Coates all my Estate, both Real and personal, during her natural life-- Thirdly I give unto my five sonnes, namely Moses, Henry, Samuel, James & William Coate, and also to my daughter Sarah Hall, each one dollar. Fourthly, I give unto my sons (viz) Moses Henry, Samuel, James, William, John & Jesse, my Cross? in law, each to have an equal claim to the same. Fifthly I give I give and bequeath unto my son John Coate (from and after the decease of my above named wife Mary Coate) all that part of the plantation or tract of land whereon I now live, lying on the North side of line made to divide off Moses Kelly's part to him his heirs and assigns forever-- the Milking? Heiling? house late? excepted. Sixthly It is my wish and desire that as I and my above named wife are now far advanced in age and we know not the number of our days here, and as we expecte to reside on the above mentioned tract or Quarter section of lands and the Infirmity of old age may Require filial tenderness and care for our Comfortable living and support, that if such care be Requested and carfully extended to us, or either of us as the occasion may Require, by John and Jesse Coate above named, that all my movable estate after the decease of my said Wife be Equally Divided between them -- and lastly, I nominate and appoint my well beloved sons Samuel and James Coate, sole executors of this my last will and Testament, Ratifying and Confirming this and no other to be my last Will, hereby Revoking and Disannuling all former and other wills by me made or suffered to be made, in Witness whereof I hyave hereunto set my hand and seal this twentysecond day of the Tenth Month in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and seventeen -- signed sealed and acknowledged by the said Marmaduk Coate (his signature mark & seal) as his last will and Testament, in the presence of us who were present at the signing and sealing thereof. Samuel Teague Isaac Embraee T. William Elleman" He is buried in Old Union Cemetery northeast of Ludlow Falls, which was a part of his farm that he donated for a cemetery." No marker currently stands for him.
In "Annals of Newberry" it states that all of his sons died (some at an advanced age) in good standing with the Quaker church. "They are an honor to Miami County". (C-18, 27, 95, 217: WEST MILTON'S SESQUICENTENNIAL, 1807-1957, pg. 7.) On 4/17/1826, his children and some of his grandchildren sold his land to Moses Kelly. His named descendants who had inherited his land and were selling it were: Moses and Elizabeth Coate, Henry and Rebeca Coate, Samuel and Margaret Coate, James and Susannah Coate, William and Elizabeth Coate, John Coate, Jesse and Polly Coate, Robert and Eunice Pemberton, Nehemiah and Elizabeth Thomas, Isaiah and Elizabeth Pemberton, Abner and Mary Barrett, Sarah Ann Hall and John and Drucella Pemberton. Every person listed not named Coate was a grandchild (with their spouse) of Marmaduke Coate through his deceased daughter, Esther. It contained 52 acres and was located at the southeast corner of section 32 in Newton Twp., Miami Co., Ohio. (C-Doc)
Now lets also look at the second line of thought that Marmaduke is a child of William and Rachel Ann Budd Coate instead. This tradition was collected on paper beginning in 1915 for a court case which will be later described. It was Mrs. A.E. Pemberton Krell, of Whitestone, Long Island, who kept track of all the family lineages sent to her. She was "prevailed upon ... in 1915 to inlist in the research work for proper evidence to establish our rights" to the Coate/Coppock 99 year lease. The bulk of Mrs. Krell's collection is made up of her transcriptions of each family member's submitted three to five generation charts. No description of their sources were required or entered by Mrs. Krell. However, when I was reading other loose items in the file, Mrs. Krell mentioned some other sources she had viewed. Sources I found referred to were: Mary Pearson Greenlee's family tree (descendant of Big John Coate), marriages of Quaker records (C-388), Ohio County death records, Judge O'Neals "Annales of Newberry Co., SC", Congressional Library in D.C., her mother, Wills of William Coate, d. 1728 and William Coate, who died 1749, Bessies Sufferings, and John Whittings Persecutions Exposed. (C-416)
In her files was a handwritten history of the Coate Family. It had multiple lines that were scratched out and replaced with Amanda E. Pemberton Krell's writing. It is transcribed below VERBATIM. "Marmaduke Coate born 1733 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania Died 1822, Son of William and Rachel. (Note this last phrase was written on top of the scratched out line: Was the son of William and Rebecca French Sharp Allen Coate.) Just when William Coate, Marmaduke's father went to South Carolina has not been able (to be) learn. Mary Coppock Coate was the wife of Marmaduke Coate and the Daughter of Moses and Martha Scarr Coppock who came from England. Mary Coppock was a captive of the Indians, Corn Planter Tribe of Pennsylvania for some 18 or 20 years. Marmaduke Coate bought her from them in the year of 1764 (or 1754?) for the price of a horse, saddle and bridle. I could not find this white child as a captive in the Indian Department at the Congressional Library, Washington, D.C. (Signed A.E.Krell)
Marmaduke and Mary Coppock Coates children are as follows: Esther b. in S.C. 9/3/1766, d. 1802 in South Carolina. Moses Coate B. 9/5/1768, Henry b. 8/18/1770, Sarah b. 12/11/1774, Samuel b. 8/28/1772, William b. 1/2/1779, James b. 6/23/1777, John b. 7/19/1785, Jesse B. 1/3/1788. Marmaduke Coate was the second white settler in (?) Union Township, was born in Penn. 1733. He came here in his 68th year. He had 7 sons, two daughters. Moses, his second child and Samuel the 4th child came to Miami valley on a Prospecting tour in 1804 being well pleased with the appearance of things they determined to take permanent home here and were latter joined by the remaining members the fall of 1805. M. Coate died in 1822 the advanced age of 84 years. In his will dated Oct. 22, 1817 and probated Apr. 8, 1822 he lists wife Mary, sons Moses, Henry, Samuel, James, John Jesse, William, dau. Sarah Hall. (C-27)
His wife died some years later in Ohio. If her life could be written it would make a large interesting book. She had been captured by the Indians at the age of 6 years. Thomas Coppock was the 4th white man to settle in Union Township, Miami Co., Ohio came from SC, 6 boys 3 girls. He also lived in (Warren) county Ohio a short time. The head of these families were all brother in laws, as far as families his went they formed a large settlement. Samuel Teague the older located on Section 28, Benjamin (Pearson) on South Section 33, William Furnas took the north quarter section 33, Jacob (Embrell) was a native of Tennessee. He was the second husband of Ann Coppock (Hawartt) widow of James (Hawartt) and the father of Pheba Coate the wife of Benjamin Coate. And in 1917, 4 other children of Marmaduke & Mary Coppock Coate were located in the South namely: Stephen Marmaduke, Sus(annah), Emily Estela, (Petter) J. Coate." *( *This added 1917 information was basically from Mrs. Mary Pearson Greenlee, an Aunt by marriage to Mrs. Pemberton Krell. In that info she lists three extra children for them, namely: Steven Marmaduke, b. 10 March 1757, m. 1) Polly McNut, 2) m. Martha Ann Mathews; Susannah, b. 1758?; and Emily Estell, b. 1762?. (C-151, C-208, C-210, 482) Stephan married/stayed in the southern states. His children are listed in C-210 and 482. This is the family tradition of descendants of Stephen Marmaduke Coate. I, personally, have found no record of any Stephan in any southern state so far. There was a Stephen Coats who was a PA Revolutionary Soldier and a Stephen Coates who was between age 70 and 79 living in New York City, 7th Ward in the 1830 New York Census records, C-1423. Susanah, according to Mary Greenlee, married Richard Thompson in her later years & then moved into Montgomery Co., Ohio. She is possibly the Susan Thompson who lost her husband in 1816 and was living in Sycamore Twp., Hamilton Co., OH in 1820. If so she was over age 45, had a 2 daughters between 16 and 26, 1 son under age 10, and 1 between 10 and 16. She does not appear in the 1830 census. (C-1574)] Stephen, Estell and Susanah were not recorded in Ohio meetings." (C-387) There are multiple Coates now living that trace their line back through them to our Marmaduke and Mary Coppock Coate. I have become convinced, however, that they are not the children of Marmaduke and Mary Coppock for the following reasons. One, Stephen's birth date would have been 3 months before Marmaduke is listed with his father, not with a wife, in his certificate of removal to New Garden MM, North Carolina. When he begins the purchasing process to obtain land in Berkeley Co. in 1767, he purchases 200 acres. This means that there were 3 persons in his household; he, his wife and one child. This would account for himself, his wife Mary, and his first daughter Esther born in 1766. In Marmaduke's bible records, will and in Quaker records only the children I've listed are referenced beginning with Esther Coate. In a April 17, 1826 deed in Miami Co., Ohio, all of the children of Marmaduke, their spouses and the grandchildren of Marmaduke's deceased daughter, Esther, sell land they inherited from Marmaduke - whether they lived in Miami Co., Ohio at the time or not. Not one of the EXTRA children listed above are included. Again, like the bible record and Quaker records only the following children were heirs of Marmaduke Coate: Moses, Henry, Sarah, James, William, John, Jesse and children of his daughter Esther, desc. namely: Robert, John, Isaiah, Mary and Elizabeth Pemberton and their spouses. Lastly, Quakers did not give their children middle names in that time period. He might have been named Stephen or Marmaduke, but not both. From my point of view, there is enough evidence to state that the Stephen Marmaduke, Susanne, Emily and Peter often connected to him are not his children.)......
Mrs. Krell's information is continued herein....."Many of these records (could) I believe to be incorrect in dates of birth - marriages do not seem to date correct. But copies is found to be in records in homes of relatives (and) Friends Records and as take to be mistakes of different record keepers appointed. As many like my self uneducated which our great mistake if one has the advantage of an Education in Early Life. Can say for my self I was among the western Indians until a girl of between 10-11 years and miles from any school. My father moved from the western country again into Iowa, Keokuk Iowa, (Lee) Co. and that was mostly settled at that time with half Breeds and collard People. I was some of an independent nature and wanted to learn something of the world in which we lived so got my schooling by out side. Experience has been my own teacher and (trainer), married young, (with) my husband had 3 children, was compelled to take up work in order to live and educate my children was my one great life then in life and thanks be to God I still have my 3 children. Mrs. A.E. Pemberton Townsend Krell." (C- 391)
Evidence supporting Mrs. Krell's lineage that Marmaduke was the son of William and Rachel instead is as follows: 1) Mrs. Krell and the "Old Coates Genealogy" that is highly inaccurate, lists a Marmaduke as the son of William and Rachel Ann Budd. 2) William Coate purchased land one week prior to Marmaduke's first purchase in 1767 in adjoining counties. They both had John Thorpe as a witness to their purchase. This evidence obviously is a weak case. I am personally convinced, that because there is only one Marmaduke that can be verified as living in SC in the 1770s -1790's, he has to be the Marmaduke who is the son of Henry as verified in Quaker records of that time period.
The last interesting chapter of Marmaduke Coate's life occurred years after his death. "In 1914 between three and four hundred descendants of Marmaduke Coate (and Moses Coppock) met at the Friends Church in Ludlow Falls, to lay plans for a legal battle for a supposed vast estate in Pennsylvania to which they had been informed they were entitled. The land was valued between forty and two hundred million at the time. Family members, in sincerity, believed the claim to be true. (C-676) The claim was not proven in court, and one of the promoters was brought to trial by the U.S. Government. According to one researcher's grandparents, the land partly in Philadelphia was under a 99 year lease placed in a Quaker Church. The Quaker Church had burned with no trace of the original. (C-656) The land was supposedly originally negotiated for purchase in 1816 by Marmaduke Coate and Moses Coppock with their sons, Moses Coate and Benjamin Coppock with the Cherokees. When the deal was negotiated, they were joined by Daniel Boone and Henderson on the Watauga (River) to conclude the bargain. Over peace pipe, they paid in merchandise and purchase money for land in what is now Chester Co., PA (where Coatsville now stands), Philadelphia Co. (around Copperstown, Oil City and Cranberry, PA) and Venango Co, Pennsylvania (C-1519f) They supposedly received a deed for the property on buckskin from the Indians. Marmaduke and Moses had intended to start a Quaker settlement on this land. When this didn't work out, they then leased it out to several families, two of them being nephews of Daniel Boone. (Park, 1960, pp. 217-218, C-1519) This particular pattern was a part of early PA history. According to a Quaker web site, "Although William Penn was granted all the land in Pennsylvania by the King, he and his heirs chose not to grant or settle any part of it without first buying the claims of Indians who lived there. In this manner, all of Pennsylvania except the northwestern third was purchased by 1768." Knowing this, the Coate land claim, would only have been true if the Coates and Coppocks purchased it from the Indians previous to 1768. They then could have leased it out in 1816. Still possible, but this is obviously a new stretch to the story. (C-1042) There is also another version of this story that says the Coates and Coppocks received this land for their service in the Revolutionary War. The only service we definitely know of, is Marmaduke Coate's supplying provisions in the war.
This land lease was eventually thought to be a hoax. One reason was because Moses and Martha Coppock, signers of the lease, were known to be deceased by 1816. However, there is a Moses William Coppock married to a Martha Lester, that were a generation younger than Moses and Martha Coppock - parent's of Marmaduke Coate's wife, that were still living as far as is known. So this "proof" that the lease was fictitious from this point of view is not solid. In the early 1900's, some persons gave as much as $500.00 for which they received nothing" to prove the validity of this lease in court. (C-210) It seems that many Coate and Coppock families had partial copies of this lease in their possession even back in the 1800's. According to Corinne H. Diller via Mary Helen Pemberton, some heirs visited their land holdings in 1849 and were amazed at the developments on their property. From 1850-1870 many of these Quaker relatives destroyed their copies because they were afraid of the corruption that greed would bring into their lives. Others apparently hid their copies in safe places.
In 1908, Mrs. Amanda Krell revisited her birth place, Ludlow Falls, Ohio for the first time in 50 years. She visited and talked with her mother's sisters and apparently learned about the lease from them. By 1914 she had organized the heirs to claim their land. Each family was required that they prove their descent from the signers of the lease, Marmaduke Coate and or Moses Coppock, and CONTRIBUTE MONEY to get a share of the profits for the land which they supposedly owned. They formed the Coate-Coppock Organization of Legal Heirs (Coate Coppock Estate Corporation) and hired a Lawyer by January of 1920. The first attorney's I have evidence of them hiring were Abbott & Monell in Washington D.C. In a letter to interested parties on Mar 15, 1922, Abbott & Monell recommended that the heirs for a trust company that would finance the Coate-Coppock National Bank in Miami Co., Ohio. I'm personally not certain if this Bank was ever actually formed. In a 1924 letter from the attorney's, Glenn B. Coate of Philadelphia was apparently working closely with them to collect funds from the heirs. By Mar. of 1922, an off-branch called the Indianapolis Organization was also formed, William A. Coppock, President. The organization published a newsletter entitled "Independent Coate-Coppock News". (C-2397, 2398) Before the court case was decided, the Coate-Coppock organization switched to two different lawyers. Newly hired Attorney Colonel Abbot produced a map in 1920 that placed the land in Philadelphia at it's heart, near Broad and Market Streets. The description of the original land was so nebulous, that it was very difficult to pinpoint most of it on current maps of the day. (C-701)
In 1927, an unnamed newspaper clipping states that the Coate-Coppock Corporation (headed by Amanda Pemberton Krell? or E.C. Abbot and H.S. Allonell, lawyers for the Original Coate-Coppock Corporation until 1922) and the Coate-Coppock Estate Corporation (headed by Glen D. Coate) were brought up on fraud charges by the U.S. Post Office. (The way the transcription states it, I can't tell who headed the main corporation charged with fraud). Since they were collecting money through the mail to help with their legal expenses, the Post Office charged them with obtaining money via the mail by false pretenses. This charge seems to have been the main defeat of their claims. That and the fact that the original deed and lease had never been found, took the dreams of many.
The following document is from Steven Taylor. It was a transcription of an old handwritten copy in possession of his grandmother. "State of Pennsylvania, Chester County, Philadelphia County and Venango County. To all whom it may concern: We, Marmaduke Coate and Mary Coppock, his wife, Moses Coate and wife Elizabeth, also Moses Coppock and Martha Coppock his wife, and son James Coppock do hereby agree to enter into a 99 year lease contract for and between Marmaduke and Moses Coate and Moses W. Coppock and James Coate and Martha Coppock, wife of Moses Coppock to Wm. Penn, Fannazy and Rachel his wife, Caleb Mendanhall and wife Alice and Wm. Tomlinson and Rebecca Teague, Elizah Furnace, Joseph Mendanhall, the last two men are nephews of Daniel Boone, they are the original owners of the 99 year lease.
We leased this land for the price of one ($1.00) dollars per acre, 1889 acres in Chester Co., PA, 2056 acres in Venango Co., PA and 796 acres in Philadelphia. This contract was entered into by us and them in the year of our Lord, 1816, July 22nd, and all improvements from time to time to remain therein by said holders and at our death to descend to our heirs wherever found, the heirs of Marmaduke and Mary Coppock Coate, and of Moses and Elizabeth Coppock Coate, Moses Coppock and Martha his wife and James his son and Benj. Coppock. Be it also understood that the holders of the 99 year lease have the privilege of a release for another 99 years at the expiration of the lease if so desired by them and in agreement to our heirs at law. We do hereby bind ourselves and relatives. Administrators to warrant, prove and defend us in all these rights at the end of lease and deliver same into the hands of all or any of our heirs living at that time. We, this 23 day of July, 1816, appear before one James Wade Haworth, one of the Justice to keep the peace in and for the County of said Chester, personally came Marmaduke Coate and his wife Mary, Moses Coate and wife Elizabeth, Wm. Moses Coppock and his wife Martha, James son of Moses, Benj. son of Moses. The within grantors of the lease after examined agreeable to the act in such case made and received acknowledged act, the above intentions to be their voluntary act and purpose which therein consist the presence of those present we the 23rd day of July, 1816, we set our hand and n__ thus to. (C-211, 2305) Marmaduke Coate Mary Coppock Coate Moses Coate Elizabeth Coppock Coate Moses Wm. Coppock Martha Coppock James, son of Moses Coppock Witnesses: Abiathar Davis, William Miles, John Furnace (C-543e and another record in my files)
There will possibly always be a mystery surrounding this document. In a 1914 letter which had no signature, a cousin Mary supposedly had sent the lease a few years earlier to the Newberry Library in Chicago where it apparently was not preserved and could not be located in 1914. There is also a tradition that the original was in a Quaker Meeting House in SC or Georgia. In any case, it was never found. These Coates and Coppocks had not lived in Pennsylvania for many, many years when they signed the lease in 1816. Then, a couple people who supposedly signed it were dead at the time. Even though all these facts make it seem fictitious, the fact that many heirs had copies of the lease in the 1800's and that some of them went to check on their land in 1849, does lead to the supposition that it could be based in truth. (C-701) The 2056 acres of land in Venago Co. PA are supposedly held in Franklin County Courthouse records. Many other land records for Coates are in the Chester Co., PA courthouse.
The land supposedly began at the cave of William Coate's property in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sources which show some of the Coates land are: "Homes Map" of the Province of PA, by Sharf & Wescott, 1884, in Marple, Old Philadelphia titles available through the Ridgeway Library, Philadelphia, PA, and the Philadelphia Directory of 1835 by Robert De Silver, 110 Walnut St. One very interesting note comes from a couple dozen family letters between Coate members from 1917 to 1921 transcribed by John Ammel. Several patterns are evident in this one group of Coate descendants. These people ranging from age 21 to 65 did not know exactly how they were related to Marmaduke Coate. They first tried to get that information from their elders records, but the elders were suspicious of the court case and had hidden or destroyed their records. They then seemed to have gotten that information from Mrs. Krell so that their lineage was consistent with other Coate relatives. These people were hardworking, conservative families that honestly felt they had a rightful claim to the Coate/Coppock estate settlement. Mrs. Krell worked very hard and traveled the country to various Coate/Coppock meetings to make this case successful. She and other officers were probably the source of some of the information that family members contributed. Also note that when one of these family members received information of import, they copied it in a letter and sent it on to a cousin or Aunt. Lastly note that none of John Ammel's ancestors had a copy of the deed. (C-207, 795, 2305) Pat Moran also sent me copies of a 1924 newspaper that literally published our Coate lineage incorrectly as from William and Rebecca Sharp Coate's son Marmaduke as the lease or and the immigrant who moved to South Carolina. (We know this is absolutely false from a lease between his brother Barzilla and all his sisters that their son Marmaduke died without having children as stated previously.)
Glenn B. Coate had then taken over the Coate Coppock Estate venture as Amanda Krell had had a breakdown. Glenn was the write of much of the lengthy newspaper article that included the incorrect family tree and often requested any descendant of the persons signing the lease to join the cause. An even larger scam was started in the late 1800's for the family of Baker making the claim that a Jacob Baker owned the land on which Philadelphia sat and had leased it out for 99 years. Any persons who could prove their lineage were due to a piece of the pie. Clearing houses were set up throughout the U.S., Canada and England, all as a part of this scam which wasn't proved as fraudulent until the 1930's. By then, the Bakers had contributed millions of dollars to get a piece of the pie. It looks like the Coates and Coppocks were taken in by an almost identical scam to me. (C-2114, 2602)
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1738 - 1822 (84 years)
