Benjamin M. Coates (September 8, 1819 – August 26, 1880) was an American miner, businessman, and politician. He served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Biography

Born in

New Harmony, Indiana New Harmony is a historic town on the Wabash River in Harmony Township, Posey County, Indiana. It lies north of Mount Vernon, the county seat, and is part of the Evansville metropolitan area. The town's population was 789 at the 2010 census. Es ...

, Coates moved as a young man to Platteville,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, where he became involved in lead mining. He moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1849 as part of the gold rush and returned to Wisconsin in 1853. He operated a linseed mill and was in the merchandise business. In 1863, he moved to

Boscobel, Wisconsin Boscobel is a city in Grant County, Wisconsin, Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,286 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Approximately 0.6 mi. (1 km) to the north of the city, across a riparian sw ...

, where he went into banking. Coates entered politics and was elected to the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

, serving in 1869 and 1875. He was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. He died in Boscobel, Wisconsin.''Collections-State Historical Society of Wisconsin'', Wisconsin Historical Society, 1882, Wisconsin Necrology-1880, p. 449.

Notes

External links

* 1819 births 1880 deaths People from New Harmony, Indiana People from Boscobel, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Wisconsin Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century Wisconsin politicians {{Wisconsin-WIAssembly-stub