Coe, Frank A.

Frank Coe (1851-1931) was born near Wheeling, Virginia, but grew up in Schuyler County, Missouri.

On the advice of his brother Lew, Coe moved to Lincoln County, New Mexico, in 1875 where he worked as a farmer and ranch hand. Frank and his cousin George, also his fiddling partner at local dances, jointly invested in the county's first thresher. Just as their finances began to improve, the Lincoln County War, a five-month fight over the local dry goods trade, broke out. Both fought with the Lincoln County Regulators, including Billy the Kid, and George was killed in an April 1878 shootout. Following the war, Coe moved to San Juan County in 1878, then left New Mexico, marrying the woman with whom he would have six children. Coe eventually returned to Lincoln County, buying the ranch where he would live the rest of his life.

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