He along with Kersey Coates and Robert T. Van Horn persuaded the railroad to build a cutoff of their line from Cameron, Missouri to Kansas City for the first bridge across the Missouri River which opened in 1869.
The store was started by Kersey Coates and William Gillis in the 1860s in the then Town of Kansas at the corner of Missouri Avenue and Main Street.
However, when it was time to build a bridge across the river, Robert T. Van Horn, Kersey Coates and Charles E. Kearney put together a package to persuade the railroad to create a cutoff 50 miles east of St. Joseph at Cameron, Missouri to go to Kansas City to hook up with lines going on to Texas.
He served under Kersey Coates and only saw action once in the Battle of Lone Jack, which he said filled him with disgust for war.
Peter Coates | Kersey Coates | Kim Coates | Eric Coates | Albert Coates | Susan Coates | Coates | Sir Edward Coates, 1st Baronet | Phyllis Coates | Little Coates | Ken Coates | John H. Coates | Jimmy Coates | Great Coates | Elizabeth Coates | Edith Coates | Sir William Coates, 1st Baronet | Sir Edward Coates | Sebastián Coates | Ron Kersey | Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey | Reynell Coates | Mark Kersey | Lorene T. Coates | Joseph Coates | John M. Coates | Grace Stone Coates | Gordon Coates | Edward Hornor Coates | Delman Coates |