"Ancestrees"

William COATES ¹

  General Notes:

This family is in no way a proven lineage. It is mostly conjecture from census, tax and land records as well as others research and theories.

From census records, this William was born prior to 1755. The 1800, 1810 (Rowan Co., NC) and 1820 (Lincoln Co., TN) records for William Coats list him at age 45+ for each census.

William is possibly the William on the 1778 tax list in Rowan Co., North Carolina. Larry Hamilton Coates now theorizes that William's wife's name was Margaret Irby/Yerby as three of their likely children carried on the name Yerby in their children's middle names. John Coates who sent me his children's info, feels sure that his children are Solomon, Wylie, Thomas, John and Sion and Elizabeth. According to John, William might have daughters Patsy, Cecilly and Edy also, and an additional son named Orin. A researcher named Stella lists Patsy as one of his children also. The others I am theorizing belong to William's possible brother, Henry, instead. In any case, they all lived within a few miles of each other in Rowan Co., North Carolina.

According to Staton Coats' research however, William is from VA and migrated to Johnston Co., NC before his family moved onward to Rowan Co., North Carolina. In this case, he is the William who appears to be living in the Newbern District, Johnston Co., NC in the 1790 census, with 1 head of household over 16, 1 under 16 and 7 other females in the home. He is living near likely sons Solomon and John Coats whom appear to have smaller families that are younger. They are all listed on page 142 of that census. Sometime between 1802 and 1810, this family is said to have moved to Rowan Co., NC. He, sons John and Thomas and Temperence, widow of his son Solomon who died in 1806 then moved to Lincoln Co., TN together around the year 1816. William sold land to Thomas Blythe Jr. on 5 Sept 1822 in Lincoln Co., TN meaning that their migration to that state likely took place years before the sale. This William or a Henry, husband of Susannah (Elliot??) who died in 1790 in the Rowan Co., NC region are the likely fathers of the Coate children I have listed for William Coate. There is also an unaccounted for Benjamin Coats in the 1800 census for Johnston Co., NC who is over age 45 with a wife of the same age and family. He's likely the eldest son or brother to this William of Va.

According to John Coates, this William is proabably born in the 1730s and could have been from VA, MD, PA, NJ or South Carolina.

William is not likely to be the same William who was last seen in the Rowan Co., NC records in 1762 when he sold land there. DNA tests support the fact that the 1762 William, if traced correctly as the son of Samuel and Mary Saunders Coate is not the William Coate in the 1778 tax list. The two families DNA is different. (C-1803, 1936)

Stella, another Coate researcher, lists the following children for this William: Wiley, Betsy, who marr. Elisha Nunnally, Tildy, who marr. Wm Bateman, Patsy Coats , who marr. James Willis, Thomas, who marr. Gilly Coats(a cousin of some sort), Frances Coats, who marr. Amos Merrell, John, who marr. ????, Solomon, who marr. Temp., and Sion who marr. Lucy Simpson. ^{1 2 5}

William married Unknown.