My Genealogy Hound

Hon. John J. Coile, merchant, was born in Jefferson County, December 30, 1846, the son of John L. and Mary E. (Bettis) Coile. John L., the father, was born in Jefferson County, April 28, 1823, the son of James, a native of North Carolina, who came to Tennessee when a child. The paternal grandfather came to America, and entered the American army in the Revolution, while his brother, who came with him, entered the British army. John L. was a contractor and builder, and erected Tusculum College just before his death. He was a man of considerable prominence, and served as revenue collector of Jefferson County before his death. In 1862 the Confederate soldiers made an attempt to take the moneys of the above trust, and even lodged him in the Knoxville jail. There he was exchanged, but again arrested and imprisoned at Morristown, but still retained the money. He was last elected in 1868, and again solicited in 1886, but declined. August 1, 1886, is the date of his death. Mary E., the mother, was born in Jefferson County, March 27, 1825, the daughter of John W. and Elizabeth H. (Lyle) Bettis, the former a native of Jefferson (now Hamblen) County. The mother is now a resident of Tusculum, Greene County. Our subject grew up on the farm, and was educated at the New Market and Mount Horeb schools. After a year on the farm, he engaged in merchandising at Mount Horeb, in a small frame house he erected. His present handsome brick was erected in 1882, and from the establishing of Mount Horeb Postoffice, in 1870, to 1886, he was the postmaster, and then resigned. He is at present State senator, representing four counties, and in the session of 1886-87 he served on the committees of education, charitable institutions, state debt, corporations, public buildings and grounds, and internal improvements, and was chairman of the committee on claims; also chairman of the Republican senatorial committee. He is now secretary of the board of trustees of the Mount Horeb High School. He is an Odd Fellow, who has served in every chair but that of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, and is an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. September 11, 1867, he married Martha A. Rankin, who was born in Jefferson County, November 18, 1847, and is the daughter of J. E. Rankin. Their children are Charles E. born June 14, 1868; Ira M., born July 18, 1870; and an infant (deceased), born June 28, 1874.