The Coates Family originally lived in Pennsylvania, then moved to the Carolinas before settling in Tennessee

John A. Coates Sr. served in Company K, 8th Regiment Calvary Volunteers (Union) during the Civil War. He is buried in the Bowser Cemetery in Hawkins County

Henry Wesley Coates, Sr. (grandson of John A. Coates Sr.) lived with his mother and sister on property now in Bays Mountain Park