The urge to settle new frontiers was a test of strength and endurance for the many early pioneers who treked westward long before the Civil War in the early 1860's. The Coe family was among the pioneer settlers in Whiteside as early as 1835 and earlier descendants of this family earned Revolutionary War records.

Albert L. (Leslie) Coe of Rock Falls was a member of this family, born Sept. 27, 1861 in Jordan Township near Penrose. Coe's father, Mortimer S. Coe was one of 13 children and an interesting note is that 12 of the 13 Coe children grew to adulthood, married and raised families. in the spring of 1869, the Coe family moved to a farm south of the Rock River in Hume Township. On Jan. 1, 1885 Albert L. Coe married Eva Belle Bancroft of Sterling.

For 10 years they resided on the Mortimer Coe farm in North Hume and in 1896 moved to a new home on West Fifth Street in Rock Falls. In 1906, they built a new home at 308 E. Second Street in Rock Falls overlooking the Rock River. They maintained this home until 1939 when Mrs. Coe moved to the home of her daughter, Mrs. A.E. Deem, due to failing health. She died at her daughters home June 19, 1941. Coe was an auctioneer and a livestock buyer. His calling card boasted, "Will cry sales in Whiteside and adjoining counties."

Coe entered a partnership with Charles Pippert (who opened a meat market in Rock Falls in 1876), and they operated under the name of "Coe & Pippert." They shipped cattle and hogs from the yards at the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad depot in Rock Falls to Chicago. In 1896 Coe transferred his memebership from the Fourth Street Methodist Church. He was also a member of the Rock Falls Lodge 936 A.F. & A.M., the Elks and OES No. 708.

Coe and his wife Eva were the parents of three daughters, Mrs. Minnie Coe Russell, Mrs. Genevieve Coe Deem and Mrs. Ruth Coe Atwell. He died June 28, 1928 at the family home located at 308 E. 2nd St. in Rock Falls. Coe's grandfather Simeon Maltby Coe and his wife, Mary Miles Coe, and their family came to Sterling from Monroe County in New York in 1835. Simon Coe's father and his two grandfather, Ensign Simeon Coe and Thomas Strong, had Revolutionary War records as did Joshua Miles, the father of Mary Miles Coe.

Soon after their arrival in Whiteside County, Simeon Coe erected a saw mill on the banks of the Elkhorn Creek for the purpose of supplying lumber for a new and growing market created by the arrival of other new settlers to this area. In 1840, Simeon Coe built large home on Freeport Road which was the family home for many years. Albert L. Coe was the son of Mortimer S. Coe and Rachel Penrose Coe. Another son was born to the union, that of E.M. Coe. Born Rachel Penrose, Mrs. Coe was one of the five children born to Edwin and Mary Penrose. She was born Aug. 22, 1835 in the State of Ohio and early in the 1840's came by wagon overland to Illinois where the familys ettled in Sterling Township.

She was married to Mortimer S. Coe on March 28, 1844 ? at Dixon (actually - the license in Book B #266 was issued in Whiteside County 28 March "1855"). After their marriage they lived for a short time in Sterling and Penrose and then moved to Hume Township and later moving to Rock Falls where she resided with her son, Albert L. prior to her death June 8, 1902. Penrose Corners north of Sterling on the Freeport Road, was named after her father, Jesse Edwin Penrose who died Oct. 29, 1879. Mrs. Coe was of Quaker parentage and she was a member ofthe Broadway Methodist Church in Sterling. and later transferred to the Rock Falls Methodist Church. Local descendants of the Albert Coe family include his dauther Mrs. Frank (Ruth) Atwell, Sterling; one grandson, Arthur Deem of Rock Falls; and two grandaughters, Mrs. Al Hunter, Como and Mrs. George mayfield, Rock Falls.

From the Daily Gazette July 1, 1976