Category Archives: Coates-Hoskins

Joseph Coates Born 145 Years Ago Today

Posted on by
Reply

Joseph Coates and Mary Harris Coates

My plan was to write a post that detailed everything I know, or think I know, about my great-grandfather, Joseph Coates, and post it today. It didn’t happen. I spent too much time looking up information about Durham, England and Brancepeth Colliery and coal mining and watching youtube videos, so I’ll be brief.

Joseph Coates was the father of my grandmother, Eveline Coates Hoskins.

He was born at Brancepeth Colliery, in the County of Durham, England, 8 June 1867 to John Coates and Ellen Richardson Coates. His father worked as a colliery joiner (carpenter at a coal mine). Joseph had an older sister, Nellie (Mary Ellen), and later another sister, Jennie (Jane Ann).

Joseph completed 8 years of education and learned the carpenter trade. At the age of about 21, he left England for the United States (in 1888 or 1889) and settled in Mystic, Iowa about two years after his arrival. He traveled alone, as far as we know, and never saw his parents or siblings again. Once settled in Mystic, he worked in the coal mines there, possibly using his carpentry skills as had his father before him.

The Nicholson family introduced Joseph to Mary Ann Harris. As a young girl, Mary had immigrated with her parents from the same area of England. Joseph and Mary were married in Centerville, Iowa on 7 November 1891. They had 10 children, 9 of whom grew to adulthood.

Joseph was injured by a fall of coal on his back while working in the mines in 1927. In a letter to me, my grandmother said about her father:
….Don’t think I ever told you, he worked in a coal mine in Mystic, IA. Had a fall of coal on his back and they said he would never walk again but he did. I remember watching him crawl from room to room and then he started pulling himself to chairs, also higher places until he could stand alone. Then with God’s help he learned to walk. I loved my Dad and I don’t think I’ll ever forget his memories. 

Joseph was unable to return to the mines or other employment after his injury, but did some carpentry work as he was able. Joseph had a large garden and loved growing roses. As far as I know, he retained his British citizenship.

Joseph died at the age of 71, after being ill with a kidney ailment for several months.

 

Grandma’s Butcher Knife – or How I Learned to Behave at the Table

Posted on by
Reply

When I tell people that my Grandmother Eveline set her place at the table with a butcher knife so she could hit you with it if you misbehaved, they get the wrong idea.

It wasn’t like that. Really.

I think it may have had something to do with this guy…
I hear he was a bit of a mischief maker….and then there were his two older brothers…. and maybe his two older sisters weren’t always perfectly behaved either.

And anyway, she wouldn’t have hit you with the blade end. She held the knife by the blade, thus assuming any risk of serious injury herself. The butcher knife was merely an extension of her arm with a heavy wooden “hand” on the end of it, allowing her to deliver a whack on the hand to a deserving miscreant sitting anywhere at the table.

By the time I came to live at Grandma’s house most of the kids were grown, although Uncle Mont (the aforementioned mischief maker) and Aunt Wilma were still in high school. Even so, the butcher knife remained on the table at mealtime. It was enough to make me behave just knowing it was there.

Notes to Self

Posted on by
Reply

Could a blog post function as a lazy person’s research log/research notes?

There wouldn’t be any papers or notebooks to lose.
If I tag well, I could find notes about individuals or places or sources easily.
Somebody reading my notes might have some information I need.

Think I’ll give it a try. I’ve been working on a few things.

* Uncle Don sent me a brief biography Aunt Wilma wrote about Joseph and Mary Harris Coates. One bit of new information I need to research – she said that Mary’s uncle, Matthew Harris, traveled with them from England to the U.S., but he left and went to Australia. Thanks, Uncle Don!  🙂

* Cousin Wilda sent a link to an article about the Hatfield family. We have Hatfields way back on my Webber side. The TV show about the Hatfield and McCoy feud prompted the article here.  Thanks, Wilda!

* Heard from a new cousin – grandson of Joseph Robert Coates. Prompted me to get in touch with the other grandchildren of Eveline’s siblings that I have had contact with in the past. Want to collect death records for all Eveline’s siblings.

* The anniversary of Joseph Coates’ birth is coming soon and I want to do some blog posts about him. Need to email family for any stories they might have.

* Found images online of St. Stephen’s Willington Church in Durham, UK – where Joseph’s parents John Coates and Ellenor Richardson were married.

* Received letter from USCIS stating that my records index search request for Joseph Coates came up with 0 results.  🙁 I was hoping to get info that would lead to date of immigration, ship, etc. Dead end.

* Checked ancestry.com for more records for John Coates. Found 1911 census I had not seen before. Actual image! and it looks like he even signed it – so I have an image of his signature, address, etc. The next image shows that he is living with daughter Nellie (Mary Ellen), her husband and their children. There are separate entries. John has a page to himself and lives in one room. The family is the next image 5 people in 3 rooms (4 crossed out).

* The census find led me to check google maps on a whim and see if I coud get something from their address.  Sure enough, from the street view it looks like the house is still standing. Couldn’t read the house numbers and not sure exactly which was theirs but picked one that looks most like a photo I have. I had assumed that this house was where John Coates lived in Durham, UK, but it isn’t identified. Now I’m pretty sure.

* Looked up a bit more about jobs in mining.  Joiner. Cartwright.  = Carpenter. Cart Maker

* Tried to find John Coates in 1861 England Census. Found a boarder the right age in Gilesgate, St. Giles, Durham, born in Willington, working as a Journeyman Cartwright (at least I think that’s what it says.) Another John Coates the right age living as a boarder in Hartepool, Durham. The one in Gilesgate seems more likely?

* Ellenor Richardson. Where and when was she born?  Who are her parents? From marriage record, her birth would be 1845. Census records confirm that. But location varies with each census. 1881: Fitches, Durham. 1871: Willington, Durham. I also have an IGI record from FamilySearch that has an Ellen Richardson b. 21 Feb. 1845 in Brampton, Cumberland, England, parents William and Jane. Looked up Cumberland and it is adjacent to Durham, so possible. ???

* Google search for Fitches doesn’t come up with much. Finally concluded that it might be Fitches Grange – located near Witton Castle in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. Not that far from Willington, I guess. I’m a little confused by the place names in England. Maybe a census that says Fitches and one that says Willington could mean the same general location?

* Christina says I should probably rescan all the old photos I’m wanting to preserve/archive as tif files.