William Coan, Mary Coan nee Walsh, John Coan, circa 1820s

Col,

Thank you for your input.  I have the rootsireland record for John Coan's baptism, which is where I obtained the names of his parents.  Up to that time, all I had was his Co. of Birth as Galway and his date of birth (721/1820).  The Baptismal Cert is from the Parish of Rahoon in Co. Galway.  The only other records I've found for William Coan near this time are in the Applotment books of 1834 (making John about 14yrs old), which show two William Coans (or quite possibly two pieces of land for the same William Coan) in the Parish of Cong, Co. Galway/Mayo.  It is my understanding the Cong Parish stradles both counties, Cong and Galway.

I do have USA census information for John Coan for 1860, 1870 & 1880.  I'm not sure what year he came to the USA, but I know that he married his wife in Richmond, VA before 1856.  His name is misspelled on the 1860 and 1870 Census, Coen in 1860 and Cowen in 1870, but i know it is the correct John Coan because of the address, wife and children listed with him on the census records.  Most likely, John or his wife, Margaret, were illiterate and the Census taker spelled the name phoenetically.  Many first names were also misspelled, like Lorentz for Lawrence, etc... So it is likely that the person providing the infomation to the census taker was illiterate.

I don't have any leads on where to go from here.  I don't know the year of John's emigration, whether or not he was an only child or what the circumstances were leading to his departure from Ireland.  If he came after 1850, which is likely, that would be post famine period and making him over 30 years old, so why leave then?  Perhaps his parents died?  Many more questions than answers.  Any leads or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks again,

Kevin

Hi Kevin

Do you have any other evidence that William and Mary nee Walsh were his parents ? 

Was his eldest son William ? Were there Walsh's near where he emigrated that were down as cousins ? Was that a name that was told in family stories ?

How did you verify that the Rahoon record was the right one ? 

Coen would have been the more usual spelling of the name 408 in 1901 census as opposed to 54 Coans 

If he was fromRahoon there would not be any coonectionto Cong wheich would be aconsiderable distance away The Tithes do not give every name and it is likely a coincidence that there is William Coans there 

Just as the 2008 economic crash still affects us today so the Famine effects lingered on after the worst years and it was not untilat least 1853 that things began to improve If your ancestor lived in Galway city unfortunately they got hit hard year after year so in surviving and fleeing as a refugee John did well 

Martin

Martin,

No, I don't have any evidence that William Coan in Rahoon is MY John Coan's father other than the baptismal record which shows the date of baptism as 7/27/1820, 6 days after John was born.  It could, in fact, just be a coincidence.  I also have no evidence of what John's parents names were other than from that baptismal record.

John's gravestone in the USA lists his place of birth as Co. Galway and family lore says he was both from Galway and Mayo.  The 1834 William Coan records in Applotment Books are more speculation on my part that this is his father based on location, Mayo/Galway, when compared to his gravestone and family lore about Mayo.

John's name is spelled as Coen and Cowen in some USA census records, but I am sure that I have the right John Coan in those records based on address.  I don't know if the last name was Coan all along, or if it just wound up as that in the end and so far I have no way of determining that.  I was just hopeful that the John Coan baptized in Rahoon 6 days after my John Coan was born is indeed my great grandfather.  Perhaps I'll never know.

Kevin

Kevin

Family lore might be the best there and Cong district straddles the border between Galway and Mayo which could point to the tithes records All speculation though rather than hard facts as you don't have hos father's name

Was William John's first born ? Have you got a marriage record for John ?

Sorry to put a dampener on the search but without actual factual links it is better to leave a blank than go down a path which may or may not be true 

Martin,

William was indeed John's first born and no, I don't have a marriage record for John.  I did discover just today that John was here in the USA in 1850, so that would have brought him over during the famine period.

I had been under the impression that he arrived in 1855ish, and met his wife Margaret McGinn on his travels to Missouri.  As it turns out he was living in a boarding house in St. Louis in 1850 with a large number of other Irish, one of whom was Ellen McGuin (per the census record).  I do know he married a Margaret McGinn (spelling is off a bit), in Virginia about 1856.  Margaret was a young widow with a 2 yr old baby later adopted by John.  I wonder if Margaret and Ellen were sisters?  Perhaps Ellen informed her housemate, John, of her sisters plight and he went back east to meet her?  I know, more speculation!

Kevin

Would be good to chase the Virginia records and see is there anything there :) 

Yes good that William appears and hints at the possibility in Cong but that is speculation but based on some family lore which helps

I don't know if I'm related or not.  I do know that my grandfather's name was William. He would have been born in the mid to late 1800's The story I heard from my dad who was from Illinois was that my ancestors were Dubliners under the name Cohan. They apparently migrated to England where the "h" was dropped resulting in the name Coan. Supposedly my grandfather migrated to Canada where he married a French/Canadian woman. Later they ended up in the Kentucky/Illinois/Ohio area.

Interestingly, I recently had contact with a James Coan on Linked-In who was a professor at UVA in Charlottesville, Va. He didn't think we were related. I also learned that there is a Coan River in the eastern Virginia coastal area so, perhaps the Virginia connection is of significance to you.

Hope it helps

Those are my people. John Coan was my ggggggreat grandfather. My grand father Elliot Coan was born in 1932 in Colorado along with his brother Jack Coan. Their fathers name was John Coan. 

Ltlered17 - I haven't been on this site in many years, but I see that you commented on August 18th, 2025.  I'm curious if you have ever done the Ancestry DNA test?  I'm in that database, but I don't show any matches with the surname Coan other than my immediate relatives.  I don't have any connections that I'm aware of in Colorado, all my Coan relatives are in St. Louis, MO, area, but I believe there may have been some distant cousins in the Pennsylvania area.