Thomas Coates was a native of Yorkshire, England, his home being
near the County line; their nearest important town was Worksop, in
Nottinghamshire. The district is probably one of the most
interesting in the old Country, and has certainly been in all times
one of the most beautiful.
In the time of the Saxons;
between the eighth and ninth century, when the country was known as
Mercia, this neighborhood suffered a great deal through the inroads
of the Danes; those intrepid Vikings, or Norsemen who loved to roam
the North Sea and exploit the English and other shores.
The
neighborhood is also famous because of the Sherwood Forest, and the
stories of daring deeds done by "Robin Hood and his Merry Men" who
we are told was a renowned outlaw in the twelfth century, who was
always popular with the rustics because he plundered the rich and
gave his surplus to the poor. From the number of large mansions in
the neighborhood, the district is known as "The Dukeries" the great
parks of which were part of the Sherwood Forest. The Robinhood hills
rise to a height of 600 feet, and are still the happy hunting
grounds of the local Dukes, Earls, and Gentry during the season.
It was in this historic neighborhood that Thomas Coates was born
and raised, and where in July 1848 he was married to Sarah Annie
Johnson. Up to the time of their leaving England, he worked in the
limestone quarries and rented a farm which was often done by
enterprising men.
They came to this Country in 1871,
bringing with them a young family of seven children five boys and
two girls, arriving at Lincoln in the month of May. The B. & M.
Railroad was then just laid as far as Lincoln, so they stayed there
until the track was laid as far as Crete, then they made their way
west, and he bought some Railroad land on Section 18, near the
Turkey creek in Saline County. They lived there until the year 1873
when he bought the homestead rights of the northeast quarter of
section 2, in Liberty Township, Fillmore County, where they resided
until the time of their death; Mr. Coates dying in 1888 and Mrs.
Coates in 1911.
We are indebted to Mr. Joseph Coates, the
fourth son in the family, for the following reminiscences, who
remembers very distinctly the farm horns in England (especially
where the good Apple trees stood) as well as the experiences of
pioneer life on the prairie.
When they came to this country
there was plenty of wild game still in the neighborhood which helped
to make the new life interesting. One day he came very suddenly on a
large herd of antelopes lying in a ravine, when on their seeing him
they made a rush which seemed to shake the earth; such was the
apparent effect caused by those particular kind of animals, when
starting to run. The prairie fires were the terror of their lives,
the fiery monster could be seen coming for three days before it
reached their place, and could be seen three days after it had
passed. This gave sufficient warning, and time to make fire guards,
but often the fire would leap the guards, and not even Turkey creek
proved a hindrance to its onward march of destruction.
He
would often visit the camp fire of the Indians, and sit in their
circles watching their mode of life and listening to their old war
and other songs. The Indians always seemed as happy as larks, life
on a whole seemed a real pleasure, for they made the best of their
conditions. They were often very poorly clad, even in the coldest of
weather, and explained their ability to stand the cold by saying,
"Indian all face," and of course, the white man does not usually
cover his face. They were always glad to have a dead sheep, no
matter what might have been the cause of its death. One day when
about thirteen years of age he was out hunting rabbits, when quite
unexpectedly an Indian came up to him and took the gun out of his
hand, after looking it carefully over, the Indian handed it back
without making any remarks and walked away, but young Coates at the
time thought his end had come. On another occasion he went with a
party to hunt antelopes, taking with them seven or eight dogs, but
no guns. On the first day out they saw a lone antelope, and as soon
as the dogs saw it they gave chase, and in a run of about eighty
rods caught and killed it. The next day they saw a herd of fourteen,
bunched up together, but this time the dogs would not touch them,
and being without guns they could only look on with great
disappointment, as the animals finally made their escape in single
file.
Among the most peculiar incidents of the early years
are those resulting from the tornado which visited the neighborhood
and completely destroyed the house and farm buildings on the
"Wadman" place near the Turkey creek.
Grandma" Coates, and Her Home in Liberty Township. Mrs. Coates died
in 1911. Mr. Thomas Coates, Her Husband, Died in 1888.
When the tornado struck the house, Mrs. Wadman (nee, Mary Coates)
had retired for the night with her two children. They were lying' on
a feather bed which lay on a mattress oh the bedstead, when they
were carried away by the storm and afterwards found in a ravine some
four rods away, but were lying on the mattress, the feather bed and
bedstead having mysteriously gone in some other direction. The
brother, John, and the hired man were also in bed when John was
carried and thrown into a large pond four rods from the house, and
while in the water some roof or other was pressed down upon him, the
nails of the shingles being pressed into his neck and back, and then
just as suddenly taken away from him. When he was found by his
brothers who had come to the rescue, he lay in the cellar all that
was left of the house, and was without clothing; being left with
only the neck band of his night shirt. The hired man was found with
a large cut over the eye; who felt sure he was dying, but he soon
got over the shock.
To show the force and the mysterious
power of a tornado, we mention the fact, that a bull wheel of a
large "header" which would have needed some time to be removed from
its place by a practical machinist, was instantly removed without
any other damage to the "header" and was carried a mile and a half
over the country, being afterwards found on section 19 in Saline
County.
Mr. Wadman at this time was raising white faced
cattle, and had at the time of the storm a white faced thorough bred
bull tied to a hitching post in the middle of the yard, and was
therefore right in the middle of the storm, yet in spite of the
sweeping away of the buildings on every hand, the bull was found the
next morning in the same place quite unconcerned, and contentedly
chewing his cud as though nothing had happened.
Many stories
might be told about the great blizzard, and the grasshopper plague,
but these are similar to the incidents already recorded.
During those early years Mr. Coates could buy in his neighborhood
corn in shock at five cents a bushel, eggs were sold at five cents a
dozen and butter at five cents a pound.
Mrs. Coates,
"Grandma," as she was usually called, will long be remembered for
the great service she rendered to the families in the district,
often acting as both doctor and nurse. She was ever willing to lend
a helping hand in the time of need, and was an ever welcome visitor
in every home. Her stories of the old country and its people were in
great demand, the information being both interesting and
instructive. She visited the old country three times, thus crossing
the Atlantic seven times, no small undertaking for a woman, and
especially for one who never got over that sad experience of
seasickness. Mr. Coates crossed the Atlantic three times having
visited America as early as 1865, when he came as far west as the
Niagara Falls. In making that first sea trip he was sixteen weeks on
the ocean, and therefore had quite a seagoing experience. Many and
great were the changes from the old to the new, but they had the
consciousness that the change was to their mutual advantage, and
they shared in the joys of developing the agricultural resources of
a new country, and helped in the making of a home for future
generations.
Pioneers of Fillmore and Adjoining Counties
Source: Pioneer Stories of the Pioneers of Fillmore and adjoining Counties, by G. R. McKeith, Press of Fillmore County News, Exeter, Nebraska, 1915
