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Note: born December 5, 1836, in Maryland. His mother died there while he was young. Raised by his father, as the oldest he helped care for his younger brother and sister. A child when the family moved to Ohio, he continued living with his father until he was nearly twenty-six. A farmer, as was his father, he bought a twenty-two acre farm on Boswell Run Road, five miles west of Waverly, near Dailyville, May 5, 1870. Neighbors at the time were William Deacon, a farmer, William Chapman, a schoolteacher, his parents-in-law Jacob and Frances Edwards, George Barr, a farm worker, and Abraham Chenoweth, one of the county's first settlers. Interestingly, the tract was part of a 201-acre farm his father bought from Reason Sewell in 1855. Purchased from Thomas Deacon for $264, it was sold April 22, 1880, to Charles Deacon. Seven of the nine children which would eventually fill the Coe household were born there. After selling the Boswell Run property, the family moved across the Ross County line, near Alma. By February 1882 they were back in Pee Pee Township, where the youngest son was born on the 24th of that month.
The family made several moves over the next ten years. First, they moved to a farm on Phinney�s Hill, then to a farm on Long Branch, on Pleasant Hill Road in Pebble Township, both in Pike County. In 1890 the family moved to another farm in the same area.
William�s wife died in 1891, leaving him with the care of a family of nine children. Some of the children were older and had started families of their own, but the two youngest were only nine and seven. He wasn�t much at mothering, usually expecting the older children to care for the younger ones. He�d go off in the morning to do chores or whatever needed to be done, with the children having little idea when he might return. Somehow they all survived. Able to lie down anywhere at anytime and go to sleep � a habit which became his undoing � on a cold winter day in January 1905 he curled up beside the fireplace in his cabin on Buchanan Pike and immediately dozed off to sleep. When he awoke he was nearly dead from burns � a spark had ignited his clothing. On Thursday, January 12, 1905, he drew his last breath. Shortly afterward his remains were taken to Brown Cemetery where they were interred beside those of his late wife. The Waverly News of Thursday, January 19, 1905, reported his unfortunate death: "William Coe, aged 68 years, died Thursday from burns accidentally received while sleeping on the floor in front of an open fireplace . . . William Coe an aged pioneer of this county was buried in the Brown cemetery Saturday."
Waverly, OH, Jan. 29 (1905) - "William Coe, an aged pioneer of this section, living alone six miles in the country, fell asleep in front of his fireplace. His clothing became ignited, and on awakening he was unable to put out the fire. Coe went outside and rolled in the snow, but without effect. He then ran for assistance to his nearest neighbor, half a mile distant, leaving a trail of blood and flesh upon the snow." Duluth News-Tribune, Jan. 30, 1905
He married November 2, 1862, in Pike County, OH, Sarah F. Edwards, born April 10, 1841, died in 1891, daughter of Jacob Jr. and Frances Edna (Brown) Edwards. The Edwards family lived next-door to the Coes at the time of their marriage. The marriage was performed by Rev. George Pentiens. Interestingly, there is presently a Pentiens Chapel at nearby Idaho, OH.
Note: WILLIAM7 COE (Rouce6, Benjamin5, Avery4, Daniel3, Timothy2, Timothy1) was
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