| Notes |
- In Mendenhall's manuscript on the Coates, he says John had 2 wives. It is conjecture that John was married to two women named Elizabeth. This is because a 1668 Quaker record refers to Elizabeth Coats and her brother James Humpries. An 1686 record for John Coates of Newthown, PA states that he was cleared of any marriage engagements when he requested a letter of removal to England. His possible second wife is Elizabeth Coate, widow of Hambridge, Som. ENG. who died in 1720/21, 12 mo (Feb.).
In other words, if he had two wives, they were both named Elizabeth. If he had only one wife, she was Elizabeth Humphries referred to in the records in 1668, for each of John's children's births and in 1720/1 when she died. His other possible wife is listed as Elizabeth Wilkins in Charlotte Coat's work.
In any case, Elizabeth and her husband John were apparently quite close to John's brother, Marmaduke. They both attended the same Kingsbury Episcopi Meeting when John was still living in England. They both were in jail together. When Marmaduke died in 1687, (note, this is only a year after a John Coates of Newtown, PA was cleared of Marriage engagements), Marmaduke's wife asked Elizabeth (the 2nd wife?) to move in with her. This was a full twleve years before John died, but it is also when John was living in the American colonies part time and when she stayed behind in England. Marmaduke's old home is where both women lived till the end of their days and died. (Park's book)
Elizabeth Wilkin's birth record has been determined by FreeReg.org.uk. She is the Elizabeth who was a peer to John and was born within 10 miles of Curry Rivel/Hambridge, Somerset, England. Persons almost always married someone in the vincinity of where they lived. It is theory that this was the Elizabeth that John married a 2nd time.
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1643 - 1721 (~ 78 years)
