Archives West Finding Aid

Nathaniel Coe, a farmer, fruit grower, and founder of Hood River, Oregon, was born in Mendham, New Jersey, on September 6, 1788, and grew up in rural New York State. He taught school and attended the Aurora Academy, intending at first to become a lawyer, but after a religious conversion he decided to enter the Baptist ministry. After a tour of the southern states he returned to New York State, settling in Nunda, Livingston County, and marrying Mary White. He served in various public offices, including justice of the peace, state legislator, and state auditor. In 1851, he went to Oregon after his appointment as special postal agent by President Millard Fillmore. He lived at first in Portland, and was joined in 1853 or 1854 by his wife and two sons, who had come by ship via Panama. In 1855, the family moved to Hood River, where Nathaniel Coe remained for the rest of his life. Among his children were Lawrence W. Coe (married Louisa Graves in 1859, died 1899); Henry Clay Coe (1844-1928); Eugene Francis Coe (married Roxa Cock, 1868); and Charles Carrol Coe (1834-1872).

Henry Clay Coe was born August 11, 1844, in Livingston County, New York. He came to Oregon with his mother and brother in 1853 and lived with his family in Hood River. After graduating from the Forest Grove Academy he went to work on river steamboats and eventually became a well-known captain, being employed by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and Oregon Railroad Navigation Company. He also ran a cattle ranch in Yakima County, Washington, and established a residence in Portland. In 1869, he married Kittie Catton, a native of New York City, and the couple had five children: Katherine (Mrs. Lindsley Hoyt), Irma, Nell, Mollie, and Charles. Toward the end of his life Henry Coe lived in Redondo Beach, California, where he died in 1928.