COATS-Joseph - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Judge Joseph Coats (deceased) was born in 1802, and was a native of Loudoun (sic) County, Virginia. At the age of two years he emigrated to Garret (sic) county, Kentucky, with his parents, Elisha and Celia (Furr) Coats, where he lived till grown. His father, Elisha Coats, was a native of Virginia, and was married prior to his marriage with Mrs. Celia (Furr) Hinds, and had two children. Miss Furr was first married to John Hinds, by whom she had five children. Elisha Coats, by his second wife, Mrs. Celia (Furr) Hinds, had two children : Joseph, the subject of this sketch, and Agnes (now Mrs. Cook). Judge Coats was educated as a farmer, receiving no literary training beyond the limits of the pioneer schools of Kentucky. He possessed a natural fondness for books, and let no opportunity for gathering knowledge pass unheeded. Thus it was he became a fair scholar, and well posted and thoroughly conversant on all practical subjects. In 1828 he came to Fountain county, and in 1829 was married to Serena D. White, daughter of White, whose sketch will appear in this work. The judge then located in Van Buren township, southeast of Veedersburg one and a half miles. By this union he had one child. Among the early men of Fountain county none were more prominent than Judge Coats. He was called to fill several of the first offices in the gift of the people of Fountain, among which are the following: in 1830 he was appointed deputy marshal of Fountain county, and made the first enumeration of property and persons in that county. He was one of the first three trustees who took measures for organizing free schools in Van Buren township. He was elected probate judge for Fountain county in 1841, which office he filled until he was elected state senator in 1844. In this last office he served until 1848. In 1850 he was elected senatorial delegate to the constitutional convention by the citizens of Fountain county. Following the adoption of the present state constitution he retired from public life and again resumed the business of farming, which, he pursued with success, accumulating a handsome property. Prior to 1854 he voted with the democratic party. In 1856 he united with the republican party, voting with the same till his death. He was a strong advocate of the war for the suppression of the rebellion. He manifested a hearty interest in behalf of universal intellectual culture. The poor and unfortunate touched the sympathetic cords of his great heart. Several friendless orphans found under his roof a comfortable home and a father. His views were always broad and liberal. He gave generously for public improvement and public good. His religion, to be a christian was to do good. Rich and poor, stranger and friend, alike were recipients of his hospitality. He was in the highest sense strictly moral and temperate in all things. No person possessed a higher regard for the opinions and feelings of others. He never lost sight of the fact that he was once a poor boy, with fortune arid reputation to be achieved and won. In conversation he was jovial, which won him many lasting friends. Judge Coats died on his farm in Van Buren township, November 9, 1877. By his death the state lost one of her noblest pioneers, the county another of her just, able, and valued citizens, his family a generous and doting husband and father. His widow, a very exemplary lady, resides upon the old farm. his only child, W. B., resides near by. W. B. Coats was married in 1830 to Elizabeth M. Lucas, daughter of J. G. Lucas, by whom he has seven children. W. B. is an energetic farmer and trader, makes money rapidly, and gives generously. In polities he is a radical republican.

Transcribed by: Tom Hesler