My Genealogy Hound

JOSIAS COATE, farmer; P. O. West Milton; is the son of Jesse Coate and grandson of Marmaduke Coate, who was a native of South Carolina; he raised a family in his native State, of seven sons and two daughters, to wit: Moses, Henry, Samuel, James, William, John, Jesse, Lydia and Sarah. Early in the beginning of the present century, they cast their fortunes in the wilds of Ohio; of this family, Moses and Samuel led the way, in 1804, locating first in Montgomery Co.; here they halted one year, and raised a crop; in the following fall of 1805, these two brothers were joined by the rest of the family, when they all pressed their way farther northward up the Stillwater, some locating in what is now Union, and some in Newton; of the latter was the head of the family and a portion of the children; they located on land in Sec. 32, and constituted one of the first families in the township. An incident in the early life of Mary Coate, wife of Marmaduke, is deserving of more than a passing notice. When only a small girl of three or four summers, she was captured by a tribe of Indians, and held by them till she was about 12 years old; her maiden name was Mary Coppock. Jesse Coate was the youngest child of the family. He celebrated his marriage in 1809 or 1810, with Mary Johnson, a native of Tennessee, and a relative of the late President Johnson; after living on various farms for a few years, he located on the place where our subject now resides, and there passed the remainder of his life; he met with a fatal accident, being crushed by a saw-log rolling over him, which caused his death July 8, 1837; the death of his wife occurred Dec. 4, 1865, at the advanced age of 76 years; they were the parents of nine children, to wit: Eleanor, Benjamin J., Josiah, Elizabeth, Thomas, David, Mary, Sarah, Julian J.; of these, four are now living. Our subject, the third son of the family, was born in 1816, Dec. 9; he remained with his father, assisting in farm duties, till he reached his majority. He was married, in 1838, to Miss Sarah Tucker, a native of Warren Co., Ohio; she emigrated to this county, with her parents, in 1836; six children have been born to this union, one of whom died; all were married, the deceased daughter leaving one child and husband to mourn her loss.