Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
COATES, William
COATES, William. (England, May 10, 1833--Dubuque, IA, Feb. 19, 1890). Supervisor. A member of the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors from January 1, 1874 to December 31, 1876, Coates came to American in 1842, arriving in Buffalo, New York and then moved to Chicago via the Great Lakes. Shipwrecked on Lake Erie, his family arrived in Dubuque with nothing.
Coates traveled to California in 1852 and worked in the mines there until 1857 when he returned to Dubuque to work in the dry goods business. Coates entered the grain trade in 1862 for three years before returning to MINING and smelting. He was the First Ward alderman at the time of his death.