COATES, WILLIAM R. (14 Nov. 1851-20 Feb. 1935), teacher and author, was a leader in the local Republican party (see CUYAHOGA COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY). He wrote such local history titles as The Brecksville Centennial, 1811-1911 (1911) and the 3-volume work, A History of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland (1924) (see HISTORIES OF CLEVELAND). The son of Lucy (Weld) and Col. John Coates III, he was born in NORTH ROYALTON in a log cabin built by his great-grandfather, John Coates, a pioneer settler of Cleveland. He attended public schools in BRECKSVILLE, where his family had moved soon after his birth. Coates then attended Oberlin College, taught school in Brecksville and INDEPENDENCE for 12 years, and managed a farm. Interested in POLITICS, he was deputy clerk (1884) for Cuyahoga County, then County Clerk (1889) (see CUYAHOGA COUNTY GOVERNMENT). As mayor of BROOKLYN (Old Brooklyn) Village (DATE), he helped to annex the village to Cleveland. Coates served in the 67th Ohio General Assembly, was a director of the Cleveland Chamber of Industry (1918) and presided over both the Brecksville and the Brooklyn Village school boards, and the Cuyahoga County Teachers Institute. Coates belonged to the EARLY SETTLERS ASSN. OF THE WESTERN RESERVE (secretary and president) and the Republican Tippecanoe Club of Cleveland. He authored the history of the club. Coates contributed numerous historical articles to newspapers and magazines.
Coates married Celestia Stacy White (d.1934) on 22 Feb. 1872; they had 3 children, Mary, Mildred, and Herbert.
Last Modified: 14 Jul 1997 03:56:32 PM- Related Article(s)