William COATS

William COATS[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]

Male Abt 1768 - Abt 1826  (~ 58 years)

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  • Name William COATS 
    Born Abt 1768  [12, 13
    Gender Male 
    Died Abt Aug 1826  , Marion, IN, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I4147  Ancestrees
    Last Modified 8 Jul 2022 

    Father Big John COATS,   b. Bef 1750,   d. 1809, , Newberry, SC, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 59 years) 
    Mother Rachel WRIGHT,   b. 10 Nov 1747, , Prince George, MD, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Sep 1790, , , SC, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 42 years) 
    Married Bef 1768 
    Family ID F5136  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Mary "Polly" JAY,   b. 11 Jan 1777, Newberry, South Carolina Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 3 Mar 1822, Of Miami, OH Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 45 years) 
    Married Bef 1785 
    Children 
     1. Elizabeth COATS,   b. 1785, , Newberry, SC, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     2. John COATS, Sr.,   b. 20 Jan 1788, Bush River, Newberry County, South Carolina, United States of America Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 19 Sep 1878, Union City, Randolph, IN, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 90 years)
     3. Rhoda COATS,   b. 29 Dec 1789, Newberry County, South Carolina, United States of America Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 12 Feb 1877, Bond County, Illinois, United States of America Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 87 years)
     4. Rachel COATS,   b. 1790,   d. Yes, date unknown
     5. Joseph COATS,   b. 13 Feb 1792, , , Nc Or Sc, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 22 Aug 1855, , Wilson, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 63 years)
     6. Esther "Hettie" COATS,   b. 1794,   d. Yes, date unknown
     7. William COATS,   b. 25 Mar 1796, , , SC, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1860, Of Palmyra, Warren Co., Iowa, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 64 years)
     8. Mary COATS,   b. 1798, , Newberry, SC, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1860, Of Twp. 12, Range 7, Macoupin, IL, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 63 years)
     9. Hepsibah (Hepsy) COATS,   b. 9 Jun 1803, , , SC, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 16 Dec 1892, New London, Howard, IND, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 89 years)
    Last Modified 8 Jul 2022 
    Family ID F4590  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Documents
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    4440896_00140.jpg

  • Notes 
    • It is highly likely that this William is the son of Big John. Big John's son William had a wife named Mary who witnessed her husband's sale of land in Newberry, SC in 1807. He is often stated to have the same children as attributed to this William and Mary who lived in Miami Co., Ohio. There is no overlap in timelines if he is the same William who was the probable son of Big John. There is also now much DNA evidence that this line goes through Big John. Three tests through William closely match a test through Big John's son James named in his will and to Wright Coate whom you'll see mentioned below. They were all said to be his sons in Summeral's early Coate research and in Randolph Co., IL books. William bought 100 acres of land in 1785 from John Wright, Jr. that adjoined Big John's land north of Newberry, South Carolina. He is likely to be the William Coats who was listed on the same page as Big John in the 1800 census records for Newberry Co., South Carolina. He and his wife were between the ages of 26 and 45. He had 2 sons under age 11, one between 10 and 16 and 4 daughters under age 11 and 1 from ten to 16 at that time. In 1799, he bought land on Beaverdam, on the waters of the Saluda from Elisha Oneal. He sold part if not all of this land in 1807 to James Brooks. Wright Coate (his brother?) was a witness to this sale. On Nov. 2, 1802, Wright Coats sold him 150 acres that adjoined his first purchase. He appears to have moved to Miami Co., Ohio by about 1807. In 1810, his "adopted" brother John (named as a brother in "The History of Miami County Ohio", p. 462) gives him guardianship of his children including a son named Henry born in 1799. I am calling John adopted, because everyone in his matching DNA group are not related to all of the other Big John Coate sons. According to "Beers History of Miami County" on Newberry Township, William and John were the 2nd and 3rd settlers of the northwest quarter of Section 30, Newberry Twp. along with son-in-law (i.e. Daniel Wright) of William Coats. Beers called it the Upper Piqua region where wars with the Indians meant that Col. John Johnston requested Captain George Buchanan to send a detail of men to protect certain public property and harvest the wheat at the beginning of the war (about 1812). William and John Coats (This could be his brother or son John who came with him to Ohio in "The History of Miami County) settled next to Michael Ingle in Stillwater. Will's son in law, Daniel Wright lived nearby at the corner of what is now Main and Wright St. in Covington, Ohio. According to that same history, they sold this land in 1822 when William and family moved to Indiana. "Pioneer Ancestors of Members of Society of Indiana Pioneers", states that William Coats who settled in Marion Co., Indiana in 1822, was born in South Carolina about 1768 before moving to Ohio and then Indiana. Specifically, "William received a patent in Miami County for the NE 1/4 of Sec. 30, Twp. 8, Range 5E (159.06 acres) on 28 Jan 1811. He and Polly sold part of that land to their son-in-law Daniel Wright 25 Oct. 1813. They sold more to James Dickey on 15 May 1820 and the rest on 20 July 1822 to James Thompson." Their son John had a section of it which he also sold in 1822. "On 16 Nov 1822, William bought 80 acres of land (E 1/2 NW 1/4 Sec. 29) in Marion County, Washington Twp. IN. (See Marion County, Indiana Records by J.E. Darlington). His son Joseph Coats also bought two parcels of land in Washington Township and his son William Coats Jr. bought 80 acres on the same day his father did in the same area." (Quotes are from John H. Coats, Email, 2004) "The History of Randolph Co., IN" says he was born in Paisley, (Scotland) and was the son of Phillip. The book was written in 1882 and would have been the kind of book being published at the time that interviewed family members (living grandchildren of William) to highlight a communities citizens. Errors were often made in these publications as family heresay was involved. In this case, someone probably was hoping that they were descendants of the wealthy Coate Thread company in Paisley, Scotland. Some of these descendants could have been the Coate's that hired a genealogist in the early 1900's to connect them to the Coats thread company family. She/he did not find any proof but in reality also gave a highly questionable genealogy for them known now as "The Old Coates Genealogy" that is riddled with errors. What I do believe is accurate from the history are the names of William and his children, all of whom would have been known by living kin at the time. The children named in this source were John, William, Joseph, Hepsy Wright, Rhoda Wrench, Hetty Harrison and ? Beanblossom. It failed to mention an Elizabeth, Sampson or Henry that I've also seen mentioned in this family. Out of these 3, I personally believe that Elizabeth is also William's child. These children's names can be verified by the following patterns. All of the spouses it mentioned are verified in marriage records for Indiana and Ohio. William moved to Miami Co., Ohio about 1807. (C-1065, 1898) He lived next to his son Joseph in the 1820 census for Miami Co., Ohio. He was listed at over age 45 in this record with one son between the age of 10 and 16 (Henry), plus two females age 16-26 (Hetty and Hepsy) in his household. His son Joseph was age 26 to 45 with two sons under age 10 and a wife age 16-26. (E) His son-in-law, Daniel Wright also lived in Newberry Twp. with a very large family within a few dozen homes of his in this census. Before William died, he and his sons, William and Joseph, purchased land in Marion Co., Indiana records in 1822. His daughter, "Hettie" apparently moved with them and married in that county in 1823. The Randolph Co., Indiana History also stated that family reunions for the family still took place in 1888 in Randolph Co. that included descendants of William's sons, William and Joseph, who had moved elsewhere (Marion and Howard Co., IN), as well as his son John who had moved to Randolph Co., Indiana. William's children are also listed the same way in Willard Heiss's and Mary Helen Pemberton's work. William Coats died by Sept. 1826 in Marion Co., IN without leaving a will. Pages 146-7 of the Inventory and Sale Book A for Marion County, IN give the appraisement and inventory by his administrators/sons, Joseph and William Coats. Buyers at the sale include Joseph Coats, William Coats and William Sr's son-in-law Daniel Wright. Some second hand sources say he died on Jan. 16, 1828 instead. The next question is how is William related to Marmaduke Coate of Newberry, SC? There is the possibility that William is the grandson of William or his brother Henry of Hunterdon Co., NJ and Newberry Co., South Carolina. We believe we know most of the descendants of Henry but have only figured out a couple of William's likely sons and grandchildren so far. By age and place he'd fit into the family through one of these two Coate's also. The supporting evidence for this later possibility is that the current day descendants of William through his son Joseph had the clear family tradition that they were related to Marmaduke Coate of SC who is the son of Henry. Their DNA testing also is within 1 point out of 36 points of a match - the closest match to Marmaduke (b. 1738) so far. What doesn't match thought is William's brother John.. current day descendants of John are not genetically related to William throwing us a curve ball. One likely theory is that William was the son of Big John, but John (William's supposed brother) was simply adopted by Big John.

  • Sources 
    1. [S1162] Shirley Palmer to Coates-L@roostweb.com E-mail dated April 5, 1997 at shirley@azstarnet.com In Linda Coate files (C-1041).

    2. [S1173] John H. Coats to Linda Coate Dudick E-mail letter dated April 8, 1997 at JCoats5982@aol.com In Linda Coate files (C-1054).

    3. [S1347] Sara Coates to Charlotte Coats-Siercks as forwarded by Charlotte to Linda Coate E-mail letter dated Oct 13, 1998 at coates@oceana.net (C-1698).

    4. [S493] Charles Osborne to Linda Coate E-mail letters starting Sep 23, 1998 at lci235@aol.com (C-1661).

    5. [S1563] Coats, John H., Coats DNA Project as it relates specifically to John Coats and Amy Abernathy (http://www.rootsquest.com/%7Ecoatsfar/coatsarchive/dna.htm).

    6. [S1351] W., Delores to Linda Coate E-mail letter dated Jun 18, 1998 that sources the "History of Randolph County, Indiana" at Deloresw@aol.com (C-1772).

    7. [S1355] Tucker, E., The History of Randolph Co., Indiana (Chicago: A.L. Kingman, c1882).

    8. [S2885] Pemberton, Mary Helen, Letters dated 1982 as forwarded in an email by Mary Myer in 2000 at meyerma@webtv.net.

    9. [S2475] Lynch, Violet, Letter dated 2003 from 7079 N. Kenwood Dr., N. Charleston, SC 29406 (Included copies of all documents she currently has on this family, much of it researched by Ava Ogden and Karen Sprunger.).

    10. [S1362] Coats, John H., Email dated 2003+ from JCoats5982@aol.com.

    11. [S2459] The History of Miami County, Ohio (W.H. Beers & Co., 1880).

    12. [S1917] Ancestry World Tree Submissions at www.ancestry.com.

    13. [S1359] Pioneer Ancestors of members of Society of Indiana Pioneers (quoted in email from John H. Coats).