William Folwell Coan, Sr.

WILLIAM FOLWELL COAN (Claudius C. , Elisha , Jacob , Peter 1 ), son of Claudius Collins and Sara Maria (Folwell)
Coan, was born in Lodi, Seneca County, New York, March 1,
1820. He was educated at Ovid Academy and was married Au-
gust 16, 1842, in Trumansburgh , New York, to Catharine Lou-
isa Peck. The Reverend Dr. Hutchins Taylor performed the
ceremony. Catharine was born in New Milford, Connecticut,
December 17, 1822, the daughter of Bennett and Miranda
(Stone) Peck. When she was nine years old, she made her
home with her uncle Albert G. Stone in Trumansburgh, New
York, where she attended a private school. When she entered
Ithaca Academy, she lived the first year with the family of
Judge Walbridge, and the second year with Fred Camp, her
mother's cousin. Later she was a student at Pompey Hill
Academy in Pompey, New York.

She was married at her uncle's home in Trumansburgh on
the same day that her bridegroom's sister Elizabeth Coan
became the wife of Dr. Alfred Bolter at Ovid, New York. Af-
ter William and Catharine were married, they, along with
Martha Dungan Coan as bridesmaid and William B. Leonard as
best man, drove fifteen miles to Ovid and attended Eliza-
beth's wedding which was performed by the Reverend Dr.
Lounsbury. Then the two bridal couples went to Niagara
Falls together for their wedding trip.

At the time of his marriage William was in business in
Ovid; but as he was not well, they soon went to live on the
old home farm near Townsendville, New York. Life was very
difficult on the farm for Catharine, but here their three
daughters and a son Claudius were born. The children were
taught mainly by their mother and their maternal grand-
mother, Mrs. Peck

In June, 1852, William was seriously injured in a horse
and buggy accident as he came home from church. His leg was
shattered as he saved his two daughters from injury. In
1856 he sold the farm and went out to Clinton, Iowa. While
he was there, the family lived temporarily in Townsendville.
He bought a house in Clinton and came back East for his fam-
ily and Mrs. Peck. They all arrived in Clinton May 19, 1857
via Fulton, Illinois, crossing the Mississippi in a ferry
boat. In 1860 William Folwell, Jr., was born in Clinton.

In 1858 William, Sr., became a private banker in Clin-
ton; and when the National Bank (first bank in Clinton, op-
ened in 1857) was for sale by its owners in 1863, William
bought them out. He merged his bank with the Clinton Na-
tional, and moved it to a new location at the corner of
Fifth Avenue and First Street. It was reorganized in 1865
with some of the strongest capitalists of the city as incor-
porators, and he became its president.

William and Catharine joined the Presbyterian Church in
Clinton by letter soon after their arrival. He served as
trustee until his death; he was superintendent of the Sunday
School for many years. He did a great deal to promote the
interests of Clinton and the community. He was instrumental
in the building of the Midland, Burlington, and Cedar Rapids
& Northern railroads. He also worked to establish the water
works, the library, and the public school.

In 1885 although William was in poor health, he and
Catharine took a trip East. On their way back they called on
their cousins, Dr. and Mrs. Bainbridge Folwell of Buffalo;
and on William's sister Phoebe Jane now married to Dr.
Schuyler and living in Marshall, Michigan. William died of
apoplexy January 18, 1886, aged 65. The Reverend Joseph D.
Burrill officiated at the funeral. According to his obituary
in The Clinton Herald January 23, 1888, his funeral cortege
consisted of fifteen carriages and forty-six sleighs. Cath-
arine outlived her husband by over twenty years; she died in
Clinton March 9, 1907, aged 84. They were both buried in
Clinton in Springdale Cemetery where William was the first
purchaser of a lot in the original plot of that cemetery.
The following is from The Biographical Record of Clinton
County, Iowa , p. 506:

The most pleasant legacy to William's children was
his honored name, and the love and esteem which all
classes of society gave him, more especially the poor
and less fortunate ones, who were sincere mourners at
his death. He gave to them not only the best of advice
in their difficulties, but assisted them financially,
tiding them over hard places and starting them in their
business careers; and many attribute their success to
his timely assistance.

( 6 ) COAN

Frances Louisa, b. Nov. 19, 1843
Stella Caroline, b. Sept. 23, 1847
Helen Claudine, b. Dec. 4, 1851
Claudius Collins, b. Sept. 8, 1855
William Folwell, Jr., b. Apr. 4, 1860

Reference: Facts from article in Ovid Bee submitted by Wayne
E. Morrison, Sr., Ovid, N. Y. 14521

History of Clinton County, Iowa (Chicago: West-
ern Historical Company, 1879), pp. 372, 506, 508, 510,
511, 528, 529, 530, 673, 676, 680.

Iowa, Its History and Its Foremost Citizens (Chi-
cago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1916), pp.
1450, 1451.

Ter-Centennial Celebration of Secondary Education
in America (Clinton, Iowa, 1935).

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5951006

William Folwell Coan, Sr

Birth: Mar. 1, 1820
Lodi
Seneca County
New York, USA
Death: Jan. 18, 1886
Clinton
Clinton County
Iowa, USA

Family links:

Spouse:
Catherine Louisa Peck Coan (1822 - 1907)
Children:
Frances Louisa Coan Hayes (1843 - 1925)*
Claudius Collins Coan (1855 - 1923)*
William Folwell Coan (1860 - 1918)*

Calculated relationship

Burial:
Springdale Cemetery
Clinton
Clinton County
Iowa, USA