The fifth of ten surviving children, William Robertson Coe was born on June 8, 1869, in Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England. His father, Frederick Augustus Coe, was then cashier in a local iron works, but later became an iron works manager. His mother, Margaret Robertson, was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland. By 1874, the family was living in Cardiff, Wales, and Coe received his early schooling at Albion Academy in that city. At the beginning of the 1880's Frederick Coe and his family were resident in Gloucester, where William was confirmed in the local cathedral. But by that time, Frederick was contemplating an even more significant move. On September 26, 1883 Frederick, Margaret, and their ten children set sail from Cardiff for America in the S.S. Rhodora, a merchant ship owned by Margaret's elder brother George Robertson. After a stormy crossing, the Coes settled in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, just east of Philadelphia. At age 15, young W.R. Coe began his working career as office boy with the firm of William Curtin, a Philadelphia insurance broker and average adjuster. Shortly thereafter, this company was absorbed by the large marine insurance firm of Johnson & Higgins. Coe quickly rose up through the ranks: by age 24, he had moved to Johnson & Higgins' New York office as manager of their adjusting department (which determined amounts to be paid on settlements of losses). His first marriage, which was childless, was to Jane (Jeannie) Hutchinson Falligant, in 1893; she was the daughter of Judge Robert Falligant of Savannah, Georgia. Sadly, Jeannie died of "brain fever" five years later .On June 4, 1900, Coe married Mai Huttleston Rogers, the daughter of Henry Huttleston Rogers, one of the founders of the Standard Oil Company, one of America's richest men, and close friend of Mark Twain. Coe had met Mai during a transatlantic crossing. Between 1900 and 1910 they had four children. By 1910 Coe had become president of Johnson & Higgins, and by 1916 its chairman of the board. He was on the Board of Directors of the Virginian Railway Company, the coal-hauling railroad founded in 1904 by his father-in-law H.H. Rogers. Coe was also a director of the Loup Creek Colliery and the Wyoming Land Company. W.R. Coe was involved in some important marine insurance claims. One of these was the sinking of the Titanic: Coe had arranged with the White Star Lines, its owners, for his firm to underwrite the "unsinkable" liner's hull, and Coe was routed out of his bed by a telephone call at dawn on April 15, 1912, to be told of the disaster. He quickly cancelled the tickets that he and his family had purchased for the return journey to Southampton. They subsequently made several transatlantic crossings on the Titanic's identical sister ship, the Olympic. In 1926, two years after Mai's death, Coe married Caroline Graham Slaughter. While W.R. Coe was known for his stern outward demeanor, he was generous and loving to his family, and a warm and companionable host to his many friends (who called him "Will"). Though suffering from asthma his whole life, Coe was an avid outdoorsman. He enjoyed horseback riding, hunting, fly fishing, travel, and collecting rare books and manuscripts. For a number of years, he maintained a racing stable, and was one the founders of the Piping Rock Racing Association. A few of his outstanding thoroughbreds were "Election Bet", "Pompey", and "Cleopatra". Coe was keenly interested in the American West. In 1910 he purchased Col. William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody's Irma Lake Lodge in Wyoming, one of the country's great ranches. For forty-five years, he collected memorabilia pertaining to the West, gathering original diaries, manuscripts, letters and photographs depicting the struggles of the pioneer settlers. In 1948, the William Robertson Coe Collection was presented to Yale University, where it is now housed in the Beinecke Library. Mr. Coe's interest in Americana led him to establish programs in American Studies at forty colleges and universities, with continuing funding through the Coe Foundation. He also endowed professorships at Yale, Stanford, and the University of Wyoming. The Remington Studio Collection (Frederick Remington), as well as other works of art, were purchased by the Coe Foundation and are on display at the Whitney Gallery of Art in Cody, Wyoming. The town of Cody also received many benefactions from him, including its first paved streets, the clock on the town hall, and its first medical center. At Planting Fields, W.R. Coe was actively involved with developing and improving the collections of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, and hibiscus. Coe had a particular liking for new plant varieties and modern growing techniques. In this spirit, he deeded the estate to the State of New York in 1949. W.R. Coe died in his recently acquired home in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 15, 1955 from an asthma attack.

Related Links Related Articles