William (He Does Not Have Henry In His Name) "Old Bill" Coate

Bef 1703 - Aft 1768  (> 67 years)

• Name	William (He Does Not Have Henry In His Name) "Old Bill" Coate  [1, 2, 3]
  Birth	Bef 1703	Of Burlington Co., NJ
  Gender	Male
  Residence	1 May 1727  [3]
  Possessions	Feb 1743	Burlington, New Jersey, USA
  	Sold land to Lucas Gibbs
  Death	Aft 1768	of, Berkeley County, South Carolina
  Person ID	I14975	Ancestrees
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2026

  
  

  Father	Samuel Coate, *,   b. 11 mo 10 day 1670, Lambrook, Somerset, ENG d. Bef 23 Dec 1723, Amwell Twp., Hunterdon, NJ, USA (Age < 53 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Mary Ann Sanders, *,   b. 29 Oct 1680, Billerica, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA d. 1733, Falls, Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States (Age 52 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	6 Jan 1695	Falls M.M., Bucks, PA, USA   [4, 5]
  Family ID	F3076	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Marriage	Burlington, New Jersey   [3]
  Children	1. Thomas Coates,   b. Bef 1734, Of Hunterdon, NJ d. 1799, , Newberry, SC (Age > 65 years)  [Father: natural]   2. James Coate,   b. Aft 1731, , , NJ d. 1806, Berkeley County, South Carolina, USA (Age < 73 years)  [Father: natural]   3. Gentleman John Coate,   b. Bef 1730, , Hunterdon, NJ d. 6 May 1803, Newberry, South Carolina, USA (Age > 73 years)  [Father: natural]
  Family ID	F6995	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2026

  
  

• Notes

  This William has been very elusive but much has been learned about him in the last few years and just this month, Nov. 2019. Read the following with detail. Let's first cover what is not true. According to Park, an early letter from Ada Coats Hair, and the early 20th century "Old Coates Genealogy" done by a "professional researcher" (C-570), this William was supposedly married to Rachel Budd. They supposedly had a son name Gentleman John Coate who laid out the town of Newberry, SC and rented or sold lots there. We now know for certain that Rachel's name was NOT Budd. William who supposedly married Rachel was also NOT the son of William and Rebecca Sharp. We are absolutely certain now that he is not the son of William and Rebecca Sharp Coate because of a Hunterdon Co., NJ deed where William and Rebecca's son, Barzilla, compensates all of his sisters for the land he inherited over time when all of his brothers died without issue (without leaving descendants). (See Barzilla Coate's bio in Ancestrees.com for a transcription of this NJ deed record.) What we can also tell for sure is that William and whomever his first wife was, were not Quakers from the point where they married. They did not marry in the Quaker church or have children listed in the Quaker records. We also know that William was not born on June 14, 1702 as this is being confused with Marmaduke and Ann Pole Coate's son William who was born on that date in Somerset Co., England. Here is what is true. William received 100 acres of land on the hill next to York Rd. from his father's will on Jan 8, 1723/4. He then sold his inheritance of 150 acres to William Cornwell on Feb 20, 1728, recorded 26 May 1729 in Deed Book I, p. 37, Hunterdon Co. Deeds, Flemington, N.J. In 1732, he, his brothers Samuel, John and Henry all were listed in the debt books in the estate settlement of John Severn of Trenton, NJ. He was a witness to a Quaker marriage of Jacob Garwood and Elloner (?) along with his brother Marmaduke and Marmaduke's wife Ann in that same year. Eloner had been the late servant-maid of his brother Marmaduke. (C-2571) In 1734 in the estate of John Ferguson of Trenton, there were debts due to William and Samuel Coat. (C-2152, 2304) He then shows up in Berkeley Co., SC by 1768 when his land is adjoining or in proximity with his various possible sons, Gentleman John, James, and Thomas. He is listed as old Billy Coate's in the Annals of Newberry as having lived there somewhere between 1762 and 1796 according to an elderly resident being interviewed in the Anals. He lives on the same creek as James, Thomas and Gentleman John. We have YDNA evidence that Thomas and Gentleman John are brothers. Gentleman has by oral tradition been listed as the son of William and grandson of Samuel and Mary Saunders Coate. This aligns with YDNA and autosomal evidence also.

  
  

• Sources

  [S3495] Moran, Pat, Email dated 2010 from pemoran1@sbcglobal.net. [S317] McIntyre, Susan, Email dated 2003 (from sbmc2@chartermi.net in which she quotes a listing of various records published in books about Maryland and Virginia). [S111] Ancestry.com, U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2014;), Haverford College; Haverford, Pennsylvania. [S54] Ancestry.com, U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Date:2014 Place:Lehi, UT, USA;), Swarthmore College; Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; Record of Commery 1683; Collection: Quaker Meeting Records; Call Number: MR Ph 303, 1,2189::0. [S1067] Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc Date:2004 Place:Provo, UT, USA;), Source number: 3452.003; Source type: Pedigree chart; Number of Pages: 3, 1,7836::0.