William Coates, born 15 December
1760, first appeared in records in the late fall of 1775, as a 15-year-old
boy. He enlisted in the 9th company of
the 2nd Virginia Regiment under the direction of Captain Samuel Hawes. Hawes enlisted men from Caroline County, Virginia
(therefore William Coates was in Caroline County in 1775) for state service but
afterwards his company was accepted to serve in the Continental army in
February 1776. The 9th company
officially began service on 19 February 1776.
They left Virginia in December 1776 and joined General George
Washington’s Main Army at New Jersey in 1777.
Coates’ company was involved in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown
prior to settling in for a long winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. While at Valley Forge, Coates’ tour was set
to end (late 1777 would have been the end of the two year tour). General Washington urged the men leaving,
those suffering and barely surviving the harsh Valley Forge winter, to reenlist
for their country. Those who chose to
follow Washington and persist in light of the unforgiving conditions, like
William Coates, were true patriots.
William Coates reenlisted for a term of three years. Coates became sick after leaving Valley
Forge, at Coryell’s Ferry just prior to the crossing in the Delaware
River, but was back in action with two month time. Over the next two years, Coates
would serve as a private in Captain James Upshaw’s company and then William Taylor’s company of
the 2nd Virginia, continuing as a regiment in the Continental Army. Coates was involved in further battles that included
Monmouth in June 1778 and then Stony Point, New York in July 1779.
Troops at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778
In late 1779, after only two
years of his three-year tour, William Coates reenlisted for a third tour. Again, he would serve the 2nd Virginia
Regiment. However, this time he joined
the company of Captain William Bentley under Colonel Christian Febiger. Later, the company marched south and arrived
in South Carolina in April 1780 to reinforce Major General Nathaniel Green’s
army. He was at the Siege of Charleston
and was one of the few who escaped capture by the British. He retreated to Chesterfield Courthouse and
was assigned to varying units during a tumultuous time of the war. Coates participated in most of the battle in
the Carolinas, including Guilford Courthouse (March 1781), Hobkirk’s Hill
(April 1781), the Siege of Ninety Six (May-June 1781), and Eutaw Springs
(September 1781). In the last eighteen
months of his service, Coates served as an orderly sergeant. After Eutaw Springs, Coates’ company camped at
Thompson’s farm on the Santee River at which time his enlistment ended and he
marched north, back to his father’s home in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
American Revolutionary War soldiers prepared to fight
While William Coates was away
from his home serving his country, his father John Coates the elder was setting
up shop in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, probably on the Pawpaw Swamp. John Coates the younger, who was living with
his father in Spotsylvania County, had become 18 in 1780 (he was born in 24
November 1762). Unlike his brother, he
did not commit himself to years of service with the Continental Army because he
was needed at home to help his father.
Starting in 1780, Virginia was pressed for militia men since the war had
moved south to Virginia and the Carolinas.
John Coates the younger was drafted into militia June 1780 in
Spotsylvania County by Captain Thomas Minor for a six-month tour. He marched to Hillsborough, North Carolina
and then to Rugeley’s Mill, South Carolina where his company joined the main
army of General Horatio Gates and fought in Battle of Camden in August 1780. He was discharged at Hillsborough, North
Carolina after his tour expired (from his pension application). Shortly thereafter, John Coates the younger
served as a substitute militia man for William Rash (who was a witness for his
father’s 1783 deed in Spotsylvania County).
This tour was for two months in Captain John Chew’s Spotsylvania County militia
company during the spring 1781. They
were attached to Colonel James Meriwether’s company and constantly marched
through central Virginia, pursuing and retreating from the British. He was discharged at Chickahominy River. Later in 1781, probably around September, he
was drafted into a third tour for the duration of two months. This time he served as a private in Captain
Lewis Holladay’s Spotsylvania County militia company. He was present at the Siege of York and the surrender
of Lord Cornwallis in October 1781.
Prior to his discharge in Fredericksburg, he guarded British prisoners
being transported to Winchester, Virginia.
William Coates probably arrived
home from his war service in the fall of 1781 while his brother was in his
third tour. By early 1782 he was
courting 16-year-old Susannah Dismukes (born circa 1765), daughter of Elisha
Dismukes of Berkeley Parish in Spotsylvania County (the parish in which his
father John Coates the elder lived).
They were married on 4 March 1782 in Spotsylvania County by Pastor John
Waller, a Baptist minister (pension application). They probably lived on land belonging to
their parents until William Coates bought 165 acres in Spotsylvania County on 5
July 1785 from Orange County, Virginia citizens John and Susannah Carter. According to researchers, this land was
previously owned by Robert Goodloe. This
information is important as it ties William Coates to his purported grandfather
Thomas Coates, who bought land from Henry Goodloe in 1747 and was a neighbor of
Robert Goodloe. That same year (1785),
John Coates the elder sold two tracts of land - the 130-acre tract he had
bought in 1779 to Bradley Mathews (wife was Rebecca) of Spotsylvania County (was
probably the same 130 acres he purchased from Ann Mathews) and a 128-acre tract
in Spotsylvania County to Benjamin Winn (1735-c1779) of Caroline County,
Virginia. William Coates was later mentioned
in deed records as having land in Spotsylvania County adjoining James Warren,
who was selling part of his land to Thomas Towles in 1786. In 1787, William Coates was noted in a deed as
having land that bordered William Durrett and others in Spotsylvania County.
William Coates was taxed in
Spotsylvania County in 1787 and owned two slaves between the ages of 12-16,
five horses, and six head of cattle. His
father John Coates the elder, still showing his elevated status, owned five
slaves over 16, four slaves between 12 and 16, four horses, and 22 head of
cattle. The following year John Coates
the younger was married to Frances “Fanny” Winn (possibly the daughter of
Benjamin Winn) of Caroline County on 5 March in Caroline County. They were married by Parson John Waller, the
same Baptist minister that performed the wedding of his brother William Coates. This event was only one of many that occurred
in 1788 as part of a significant Coates clan transformation. Earlier in the year, William Coates sold 176
acres in St. George Parish, Spotsylvania County to William Durrett, his
neighbor. This document confuses
researchers because the deed states “William Coates and Sarah his wife.” This was certainly a misspelling of
Susannah. Towards the end of the year,
John Coates the elder sold the land he lived on in Berkeley Parish,
Spotsylvania County.
Spotsylvania and Halifax County,
Virginia borders in 1798
At this time, it is not known
whether the Coates families moved in 1788 or loitered in the Spotsylvania
County area for a while before leaving.
Eventually, they all appeared to move on. Nothing is known of John Coates the elder
after 1788. He may have moved and become
unable to be distinguished from the many other John Coates in Virginia at the
time. Or, he may have passed away in
1788 or shortly thereafter. William
Coates was possibly in Halifax County, Virginia in 1789 (there were two who
were taxed, one was William Coates born 1749 from Essex County). There is little doubt he was in Virginia in
the 1790s (son born in 1797 Virginia). John
Coates the younger was not found in Virginia tax records of 1789 or 1790 (he
stated he moved to Halifax County shortly after the war but was not there in
1789). John Coates the younger was
certainly in Spotsylvania County in 1791 (or maybe it was John Coates the
elder) when he witnessed a deed for Thomas Towles (old neighbor of his brother
William). By 1798, both William Coates
and his brother John Coates the younger were living in Halifax County (there
was only one other Coates there, William Coates who was born in 1749 Essex
County). Also having moved to Halifax
from Spotsylvania County by 1798 was William Coates father-in-law Elisha
Dismukes. William Coates and his brother
John Coates the younger remained in Halifax County for the first decade of the
1800s (they were both found in the 1810 Halifax County, Virginia tax records). William Coates lived in the southern district
(William Coates born 1749 lived in the northern district with his son William
Coates Jr.).
Halifax County, Virginia to
Davidson County, Tennessee
Meadville, Halifax County,
Virginia is in the west central part of the county
By 1820, John Coates the younger
was still living in Halifax County (specifically around Meadville) but William and
Susannah Coates were in Davidson County, Tennessee living with their single son
Austin M. Coats (Austin Cootes was listed is the census). Austin Coates owned a fine house with two
slaves (pension). A John Coates was also
in Davidson County (unknown relation but likely William's nephew). Over
the previous 30 years, William Coates had worked as a planter. But, by this period of his life and at the age of
60, he was feeling the effects of time.
He was informed that just two years earlier, his country had passed
legislature to allow Revolutionary War veterans to apply for and receive
pensions for their service. In May and
July of 1820, Coates officially formed an application describing his service
and his current personal circumstances as being old, infirm, unable to continue
working as a planter, and in great need of assistance for survival. William Coates was granted a pension and
would receive $8 per month for the remainder of his life.
Davidson County, Tennessee
borders in 1820
William Coates signature 19 May
1820 on pension application
In 1830, William Coates was the
head of a household in Davidson County, Tennessee. His son Austin had married his cousin Lucinda
Dismukes in Sumner County in 1824 and was living in Henry County, Tennessee in
1830 (believed to be the correct Austin Coates). Though William Coates lived in Tennessee, his
immediate family remained linked to Halifax County. At least three of his children married in
Halifax County – his son Merit Coates in 1809, daughter Nancy Coates in 1822,
and his son Beverly Coates on 24 September 1827.
In 1835 and 1840, William and
Susannah Coates were living with son Beverly E. Coates in Davidson County,
Tennessee as revealed in the 1840 Revolutionary War Pensioners census. Beverly Coates, a cripple since birth and
currently a school teacher, had married in Halifax County and lived there
siring three children. The circumstances
surrounding Beverly Coates’ return to Davidson County just prior to 1835
without his family are unknown. The 1835
census reported that William Coates was receiving $96 per year and had already
received $1,324, his pension having commenced in 1821. In 1840, William was living in Beverly Coates
home, located in the 20th District of Davidson County, Tennessee. John Coates the younger was living in Halifax
County, Virginia in 1840 as head of his own household, according to the census
of pensioners.
A home in Halifax County on the
Staunton River, circa 1810
John Coates the younger signature
from 1835 pension application
In 1835, John Coates the younger of
Halifax County, Virginia applied for a Revolutionary War pension. In his application, he stated that he did not
make an application at an earlier date as no witnesses lived nearby that could
provide proof of his service. To finally establish proof, he visited men in Caroline and Spotsylvania Counties during 1834 to obtain
affidavits in support of his pension application.
John Coates the younger was 73 and in very indigent circumstances – old,
infirm, deficient memory, and owner of only one horse. By 1840, John Coates the younger was still
alive and living in the northern district of Halifax County. John Coates the younger did not appear in any
additional records and he therefore died between 1840 and 1850.
Davidson and Sumner County,
Tennessee borders in 1840
Susannah Coates signature from
her widow’s pension application in 1845
William Coates died on 6 October
1843 (or some say 1844) in Davidson County (some say Sumner County),
Tennessee. Coates was 83 years old and
had lived for over 20 years receiving a pension. His wife Susannah, no youngster herself,
was nearly 80 and left without financial support. An act of Congress passed in 1844 allowed her
to apply to receive a widow’s pension. In her current condition, Susannah was
suffering from old age and bodily infirmities and was unable to attend open
court to complete her pension application.
She was living in Sumner County on the line separating Sumner from
Davidson and applied for the pension in Davidson County for convenience. She was granted the pension which was nearly
the same monetary compensation that William Coates had received. The pension was received for less than a year
as Susannah Coates died 17 February 1846.