William Robertson Coe
William Robertson Coe (June 8, 1869 – March 14, 1955) was an insurance, railroad and business executive, a major owner and breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses, as well as a collector of Americana and an important philanthropist for the academic discipline of American Studies.
William Robertson Coe
June 8, 1869
March 14, 1955 (aged 85)
Business executive, philanthropist, racehorse owner/breeder
Jane Hutchinson Falligant
Mai Rogers
Caroline Graham Slaughter
William Rogers Coe
Robert Douglas Coe
Henry Huttleston Rogers Coe
Natalie Mai Coe
Frederick Augustus Coe
Margaret Robertson
Henry Huttleston Rogers (second father-in-law)
Abbie Gifford Rogers (second mother-in-law)
Early life[edit]
William Coe was born in Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England. His father, Frederick Augustus Coe, was then cashier in a local iron works, but later became manager.[1] His mother, Margaret Robertson, was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland. Coe received his early schooling at Albion Academy in Cardiff, Wales. At the start of the 1880s, his family resided in Gloucester, where Coe was confirmed at the local cathedral.
Members of the Coe family, including William, arrived in New York on August 18, 1883, from Hull, England, aboard the Rhodora, a merchant ship owned by Margaret's elder brother George Robertson. Their final destination was Philadelphia.[2]
His parents and ten children, William was fifth of the ten, settled in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.[3]
Career[edit]
Insurance[edit]
At the age of 15, William began working as an office boy for a Philadelphia insurance broker. The brokerage was acquired by Johnson and Higgins Insurance Co., and Coe rose to become a manager of the adjusting (claims) department in the New York City office of the maritime insurer. As a young widower following the death of his first wife, during a cruise to England in 1900, he met Mai Rogers, the youngest daughter of industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers, a key man in Standard Oil.
RMS Titanic[edit]
This marriage brought connections with Standard Oil that expanded Johnson and Higgins' business immensely, while it opened personal business opportunities for Coe. By 1910, Coe had become president of Johnson and Higgins and was involved in insuring the "unsinkable" hull of the RMS Titanic, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912. Notwithstanding his involvement with the Titanic disaster, Coe rose to chairman of the board of Johnson and Higgins by 1916.
Virginian Railway[edit]
Coe was on the board of directors of the Virginian Railway from 1910 until his death in 1955, and headed the company for a brief period during World War II. He was also a director of Loup Creek Colliery and the Wyoming Land Company. One of his sons, William Rogers Coe, led the financial management of the Virginian Railway for many years as vice-president and treasurer, with offices in New York City.
Personal life[edit]
Family[edit]
Coe's first marriage was to Jane Hutchinson Falligant in 1893, the daughter of Judge Robert Falligant of Savannah, Georgia. She died approximately five years later without having children.[1]
On June 4, 1900, Coe married Mai Rogers, the youngest daughter of industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers and Abbie Gifford Rogers. The Coes had four children: William Rogers Coe (1901–1971), Robert Douglas Coe (1902–1985), Henry Huttleston Rogers Coe (1907–1966), and Natalie Mai Coe (1910–1987).
In December 1926, after the death of Mai Rogers Coe, Coe married Caroline Graham Slaughter.[4] She was the former wife of E. Dick Slaughter, a daughter of Alexander Hutchinson Graham and Cornelia Ligon Graham, and a granddaughter of Alabama lieutenant-governor Robert Fulwood Ligon.
Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding[edit]
Coe liked horses and was a thoroughbred horse racing enthusiast. He built a riding stable on his "Planting Fields" estate and put together a racing stable based at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Coe's filly Black Maria won the Kentucky Oaks in 1926, the Metropolitan Handicap in 1927, and the first running of the Whitney Handicap in 1928. Black Maria was voted the U.S. Champion Older Female Horse for 1927 and 1928. Among his stables' other notable horses were Cleopatra, the 1920 U.S. Champion 3-year-old Filly, and Ladysman, which won the 1932 Hopeful Stakes and was the American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt.
Six of Coe's horses competed in the Kentucky Derby. His best finish came in 1937, when Pompoon finished second to War Admiral. Coe established Shoshone Stud, and in 1923, he paid $110,000 for The Finn, a then record price for a sire. The Finn died two years later. Coe's colt Pompey won the 1926 Wood Memorial Stakes and was a successful sire; appears four generations back in the pedigree of Secretariat.[5]
American West[edit]
Coe was a fan of the American West; in 1910, he purchased Colonel William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody's 492-acre (1.99 km2) hunting camp, Irma Lake Lodge, in Cody, Wyoming.[1][6] For 45 years, he collected Americana memorabilia, 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.[1]
Death and legacy[edit]
When Coe died unexpectedly of an asthma attack at his new home in Palm Beach, Florida on March 14, 1955, he was buried at Locust Valley Cemetery on Long Island.
Two years after his death, in 1957, the Virginian Railway named its new tugboat W. R. Coe in his memory. After the VGN merger with the Norfolk and Western in 1959, it was renamed R.B. Claytor (for the N&W leader, Robert B. Claytor). As of 2003, the tugboat was serving the harbor of Boston as the Karen B. Tibbetts.