William Joseph Coats

Notes:

From Sylvia Ivie:
William Joseph Coates' father died when he was rather young (I think he was lost in the Civil war) His mother remarried a man with the last name Grant. Anyway when Joe was about 11 or 12 he ran away from home after a fight with Grant. He kicked about for a year doing odd jobs for room and board. Then he got a job herding cattle on the Chisolm trail. It was his first paying job... Anyway, one night he was on duty watching over the cattle when he bumped into something. He struck a match to see what it was and found himself face to face with a dead gambler that someone had hung. Well, he was a kid and it scared the crap out of him and he screamed. That stampeded the cattle. Several of the cattle were injured and lost and the trail boss was pretty ticked off. He took Joe's horse and saddle as compensation and left Joe in the middle of Indian Territory (Oklahoma) supposedly up near the Kansas border, with nothing but the clothes on his back and a little food. He walked for several days and had gotten rained on, etc. He got sick. The "Indians" found him and took him back to their camps and nursed him back to health. He stayed for a while then they gave him a horse and he headed out. The story ends with him being "gone from home" for about 6-8 years. No one knows what happened during the missing time other than this story.

William married Mattie Wilson on 15 Nov 1888 in Lincoln Parish, , , Louisiana. Mattie (daughter of William Wilson and Sarah Ann Sanders) was born about 1873 in Lincoln Parish, , , Louisiana. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Emma Gregory on 23 Jul 1891 in Caldwell Parish, , , Louisiana. Emma was born about 1876 in Louisiana, , , . [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mattie married Hardy Elnation White about 1920 in Winn Parish, , , Louisiana. Hardy (son of Andrew J. White and Emma E. (White)) was born on 21 Feb 1895 in Winn Parish, , , Louisiana. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]