Marmaduke Coate was probably a very hearty man who was used to hard work including traveling great distances. Even at an advanced age in 1804 when he was close to 70 years old he traveled with his wife of 42 years and most of their children and their families from South Carolina to Newton Township in Miami County Ohio. His oldest sons Moses, Henry and perhaps Samuel had scouted the region and reported that it was a fit place for the Quaker family to continue to grow and prosper away from the legal slavery they and their religion abhorred. He was to live another 20 years in Newton Township and see his sons and daughters settle and contribute significantly to the growth of Miami County. He was buried in Union Cemetery located on part of his original land grant.

Though one source states that Marmaduke was born in South Carolina (1), most sources indicate that he was born in Hunterdon County New Jersey near the location his forebears chose for their first homes after coming to North America from England sometime before 1695. (2) A commonly cited birth date for Marmaduke is June 13, 1738. There is, however, a strong argument that he was born in 1733. (8) In June 1695 Marmaduke's Grandfather Samuel Coate married Mary Saunders at the Falls Meeting in Bucks County PA. (3) Samuel was born in 1670 in Somersetshire England and was from a long line of Coates (de Cote, Cote, Coat) who lived in or near Curry Rivel, Somersetshire in Northwest England where they endured persecution and even imprisonment for their Quaker beliefs. The name Coate may have been originally de Cote. (8)

There is contention about Marmaduke's father, but there is good evidence that Samuel and Mary had a son Henry born about 1700 in Buckingham, PA. Henry married Esther Willson who was born in New Jersey. If parentage is correct, Marmaduke was born to the couple in New Jersey and his mother died around 1735 when he was very young. Henry and his three sons moved first from New Jersey to New Garden MM in Guilford County, North Carolina by certificate dated July 14, 1757 when Marmaduke was in his early twenties. Sons James, John and Marmaduke are listed in the same certificate with Henry. (4)

Life in North Carolina must have been turbulent. There were "…various complaints against Henry and two of his sons James and Marmaduke" while they attended New Garden MM. (4) Henry was disciplined in 1761, and sons Marmaduke and James were disciplined in 1769. (5) The family moved to the Bush River near Newberry, South Carolina without a removal certificate from New Garden. For this action, the Society of Friends disowned them. The Fredericksburg MM in South Carolina later reinstated Marmaduke with wife Mary in 1770. This MM was short-lived and it's records have been lost, but records of the Bush River MM, which accepted Fredericksburg's members, documents the membership of Marmaduke, Mary Jane and their children. The trip from New Jersey to South Carolina must have hardened Marmaduke and greatly influenced the man he was to become. It also may have given him a fondness for travel.

In South Carolina sometime before 1762 Marmaduke became aware of a young Quaker named Mary Jane Coppock who was an Indian hostage perhaps living in Georgia. The most extensive reference for this story suggests they had been childhood friends. (5) Mary Jane must have held an uncommon attraction for Marmaduke or he felt a strong obligation as a Quaker to rescue her. In either case, he ransomed her for a horse, bridle and saddle and he later married her in 1762. She was nineteen and he was in his mid to late twenties. Because of her experience with the Indians, Mary Jane was invaluable to her family and the other early pioneers who had to learn to coexist with their Indian neighbors. (6)

Though the documentation did not hold up in court when challenged in 1914, it is possible that Marmaduke and perhaps one son and some friends were in the land buying business in Pennsylvania. Family documents (copies of the originals) are reported to show that members of this group bought land in Pennsylvania from the Indians. Though the King granted Pennsylvania to William Penn, he insisted that the land be purchased from the original owners. Marmaduke may have traveled extensively and often through Pennsylvania. He may have paid the Indians for as much as 5000 acres scattered from Venango County in the west to Philadelphia including some prime downtown real estate. The story is that the land was leased to various interests in 1816. It must not have been Marmaduke's intention to actually "own" the land though he had been the agent to compensate the Indians for it. Original documents are long lost and copies were actually destroyed by some Quaker descendants so they would not be tempted by such spectacular earthly possessions. A charge of mail fraud was brought against the woman who instigated a suit against the federal government on behalf of descendants of Marmaduke and his friends who wanted compensation for the 5000 acres. The suit was dismissed.

With the advent of the Revolutionary War, the pacific Quakers had to decide if and how they would participate. Marmaduke decided to house and supply soldiers of the colonial army for which he was paid. This was probably a controversial act in his Quaker community where there was a strong dislike of violence. Because he was paid, his offspring are considered descendents of a Revolutionary War soldier though he probably never actually fought in the war. He was reimbursed for supplies as late as 1787. (8)

After the war, the Quakers contributed diversity to the economy of South Carolina where cotton and slavery were increasing in importance. Quakers engaged in businesses not requiring slaves. Because they did not tolerate slavery, most of a large community left the state in the early 1800s. One hundred families left the Bush River MM for Ohio between 1802 and 1808. (7) They probably traveled "…up the Broad River across western North Carolina through the Aleghany (sic) Mountains across Tennesse (sic) and Kentucky to Cincinnati." (8) This movement sounded the death knell for this South Carolina MM. In February 1804 sons Samuel and Moses were granted certificates to Miami MM in Miami Co, Ohio. Son Henry's certificate includes his family and is dated July 28, 1804. Marmaduke with Mary Jane, Jesse and John were certified Aug 25, 1804 and William and Samuel were certified to Miami MM in 1805. (9)

With his family settled in Ohio, Marmaduke and Mary Jane watched their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren prosper and multiply. Given the kind of life they led before coming to Ohio, it's hard to imagine that Marmaduke or Mary Jane rested in rockers on their porch. For one thing relations with the Indians were still not settled. Because of this concern, one son moved with his family to another county for a few years but later returned to Miami County. Marmaduke and Mary Jane must have had something to say about this decision as well as other issues and problems of pioneer life.

Marmaduke died well into his eighties. Mary Jane Coppock Coate died at age 66 in 1809 only 5 years after the move from South Carolina. Through their values, work and convictions, the couple added immensely to pioneer efforts in Miami County and elsewhere in southwest Ohio.

(1) The History of Miami County Ohio, Chicago, W.H. Beers and Co, 
    1880, pp. 758-9.
(2) Quaker Families of South Carolina and Georgia, William F. 
    Medlin, Ben Franklin Press, c 1982, pp. 84 - 85.
(3) Family Search, Ancestral File, The Church of Jesus Christ 
    of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.
(4) History of West Branch Quarterly Meeting of Society of Friends, 
    West Milton Ohio, 1807 - 1957, pp. 40 - 42.
(5) Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, vol I, William Wade
    Hinshaw, Edwards Bros, Inc. 1936, p 532.
(6) www.ancestory.com, Marmaduke Coate (Mary Jane Coppock), Linda 
   Coate Dudick's web site
(7) Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, vol. I, Hinshaw, 
    pp. 1015-1016.
(8) www.ancestory.com, Marmaduke Coate, Linda Coate Dudick's web site
(9) Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, vol. I, p. 1027.

Some Descendants of Marmaduke Coate:
                        
1  Marmaduke Coate      1733 - 1822
   +Mary Jane Coppock   1743 - 1809
   2    Stephen Coate   1757 -
   2    Susanna Coate   1758 -
   2    Estella Coate   1762 -
   2    Esther Coate    1764 -
   2    Esther Coate    1766 -
   2    Moses Coate     1768 - 1847
        +Elizabeth Coppock      1776 - 1849
        3       Jane Coate      1795 -
        3       Mary Coate      1797 -
        3       Thomas Coate    1799 -
                +Sarah Patty    
        3       Esther Coate    1801 -
        3       Joseph Coate    1802 - 1857
                +Lydia Davis    1798 - 1852
                4       Delilah Coate   1824 -
                        +? Black        
                4       Benjamin Coate  1827 - 1905
                        +Maria Magdelena Yaney  1826 - 1922
                        5       Abitha David Coate      1851 - 1930
                        +Harriet Barker 1850 - 1929
                            6 Maggie Patterson Coate 1880 - 1966
                                +Riley Thornton Waggoner 1879 - 1971
                            6   Ida B. Coate    1881 - 1929
                                +Charles Oswalt 
                            6   Otto James Coate        1883 - 1886
                            6   Infant Son Coate        1887 -
                            6   Homer Nelson Coate 1890 - 1967
                                +Bessie May Snider      1893 - 1961
                        5       John Coate      1852 - 1852
                        5       Noah Coate      1853 - 1935
                                +Catharine Cordier      1860 - 1953
                        5       George Coate    1856 - 1886
                                +Mary Josephine Baker c 1857 - 1903
                                6       Pearl M. Coate  c 1882 -
                        5       Mary Elizabeth Coate    1859 -
                        5       Joseph Benjamin Coate   1863 - 1886
                        5       William Coate   1871 - 1947
                                +Rose A. Coate  1870 - 1945
                4       Abithar Davis Coate     1829 - 1880
                4       Sarah Jane Coate        1832 - 1850
                        +? Williams     
        3       William Coate   1805 -
        3       Margaret Coate  1807 -
        3       Samuel Coate    1808 - 1875
                +Elizabeth M.?  - 1879
        3       Benjamin Coate  1810 -
        3       Elizabeth Coate 1812 -
        3       Moses Coate     1815 - 1901
                +Elizabeth      1822 - 1907
        3       Jesse Coate     1818 -
        2       Henry Coate     1770 - 1848
        +Mary Haskett   Abt. 1771 - 1809
        3       Lydia Coate     1793 - 1826
                +John Davis     1787 -
                4       Henry Davis     1811 - 1891
                        +Eva H. Newman  1816 - 1883
                        5       Orlando M. Davis        
                        5       Theodore A. Davis       
                        5       Edwin Lawson Davis      
                        5       Omar Newman Davis       
                4       Samuel Davis    1813 -
                        +Sarah  Abt. 1821 -
                        5       Laur Davis      
                        5       Henry C. Davis  
                4       Isaac Davis     1815 - 1897
                4       Jonathan Davis  1817 - Abt. 1909
                        +Eleanor C. Jones       - Abt. 1909
                        5       Albert Davis    
                        5       Elizabeth Davis 
                        5       William Davis   
                        5       Amanda Davis    
                        5       Mary Davis      
                        5       Elwood M. Davis 
                4       Mary Davis      1820 -
                        +Eli Hoover     Abt. 1820 -
        3       Isaac Coate     1795 -
        3       Mary Coate      1797 -
        3       Samuel Coate    1799 - 1850
        3       Rhoda Coate     1801 - 1823
        3       Rachel Coate    1804 -
        3       Esther Coate    1807 -
                *2nd Wife of Henry Coate:       
                +Rebecca Wilson Abt. 1792 - 1827
        3       Robert Coate    1816 -
        3       Henry W. Coate  1818 -
        3       Caleb Coate     1821 -
        3       David M. Coate  1823 - 1852
        3       John H. Coate   1825 -
   2    Samuel Coate    1772 - 1867
        +Margaret Coppock       
   2    Sarah Coate     1774 -
   2    James Coate     1777 -
        +Luranah Teague 
   2    William Coate   1779 -
   2    John Coate      1785 -
        +Esther Teague  
        3       Joseph Teague Coate     1810 -
   2    Jesse Coate     1788 -