Milburn Coe
(1752-1812)
MSA SC 3520-17444
Biography:
Milburn Coe, the older brother of fellow soldier Richard Coe, was born in Prince George’s County in 1752 to John and Mary Coe. [1]
Coe enlisted into the Continental Army’s First Maryland Regiment alongside his brother Richard on February 3, 1776 when he was twenty-four years old. They later served alongside their other brother, Hezekiah. At was the time of the Battle of Brooklyn (otherwise known as the Battle of Long Island) on August 27, 1776, Coe was a private within Captain Patrick Sim’s Second Company. Although the battle was a defeat for the Americans, the valiant defense by Coe and the other soldiers of the “Maryland 400” held off the British long enough to allow much of the trapped American army to escape. Coe and his brother were two of the lucky soldiers who survived that day, their company losing fewer than ten men. [2]
After the Battle of White Plains, the Battle of Trenton, and the Battle of Princeton, both of the Coe brothers reenlisted on December 10, 1776. Milburn Coe reenlisted as a corporal and Richard reenlisted as a private, but was promoted to Sergeant and later to Quartermaster Sergeant. After the reestablishment of a restructured First Maryland Regiment, these Marylanders went on to participate in every main battle fought by the Continental Army until 1780, including the battles of Staten Island, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. In these battles, the new recruits to Maryland’s forces were provided with a hardened core of experienced soldiers like Coe who were able to provide them with stability, strength, and the experience of prior confrontations. This helped with the campaign of 1777, where the First Maryland Regiment acted as a crucial aspect of Washington’s offensive force. [3]
On November 31, 1777, Hezekiah Coe died, leaving Milburn with only Richard by his side for the next two years of his service. After being discharged on December 27, 1779, Milburn returned home to Prince George’s County and Richard briefly moved to Virginia. On January 8, 1783 Milburn married Mary Tongue, the daughter of John and Jane Tongue. Together, they had five kids: John, Polly, Milburn, William, and Nancy. [4]
Coe and his family moved to Adams (later Brown) County, Ohio in 1800. He owned 176 acres of land there along the north side of the Ohio River. In 1812, Coe purchased another 155 acres of land from John Beasley. However, both of them died before the deed was recorded, allowing Beasley’s widow the opportunity to refuse to acknowledge the sale. The heirs of Coe would not obtain possession of the land until 1815, and Coe’s final estate would not be settled until November 1826. Coe was buried in a small cemetery near his farm, which was located on Eagle Creek. [5]
In 1820, Coe’s widow Mary was the head of a household that consisted of three sons and two daughters. She moved to Rush County, Indiana with her youngest daughter, Nancy, in 1826. She would stay there until her death on May 11, 1833. She was buried at Little Blue River Cemetery in Rush County, Indiana. [6]
-Taylor Blades, 2017
Notes:
[1] Milburn Coe Memorial, Find A Grave Memorial #63434536. From Findagrave.com.
[3] Mark Andrew Tacyn “’To the End:’ The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution” (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 300; Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 91; Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War. NARA M881. From Fold3.com.
[4] The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Maryland Marriage Licenses (Boston, MA: The New England Historical Genealogical Society, 2011), 142; Coe Memorial; Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 91.
[5] Coe Memorial; Ohio, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890, from Ancestry.com.
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