Philip Houston Coe (1839 - 1871)

Born Jul 1839 in Gonzales, Texas

Died 9 Oct 1871 at age 32 in Abilene, Dickinson, Kansas

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Biography

Phil Coe was born and raised in Gonzalez, Texas. With the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army while in Houston, Texas. He signed as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1861 with Company E of Terry's Texas Rangers, a part of the Texas Eighth Cavalry. He was released from duty due to illness but in 1862 Phil came back and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant with Company F of the Second Regiment of the Texas Mounted Rifles. He would leave the service for good in April of 1863.

After dropping out of the Civil War he joined up with Emperor Maximilian's army in Mexico for a period of time. Coe met a gunman and gambler while in Mexico and became fast friends with Ben Thompson who also fought for Maximilian.

With his friend Thompson tutoring him, Coe became a noted gunman and a gambler. Later, Phil became a wanderer.

Phil drifted up into Kansas where, in 1871, he again met up with Thompson. They partnered up and took over a saloon known as the Bull's Head in Abilene. In one of the wild west's wildest cowtowns, the Bull's Head was one of the wildest saloons.

Thompson would move on and leave the saloon to Phil. Coe eventually sold the saloon but continued to live and gamble in Abilene.

Soon, bad blood developed between Coe and the local Marshall, James Butler Hickok, also known as "Wild Bill". They had run-ins while Thompson was still around but Coe's friend seemed to temper the problem. After Thompson left, the two both became interested in the same woman, a lady of the night named Jessie Hazell. This just added to the tension.

There was a city ordinance banning firearms in the Abilene city limits. One day in early October, 1871, a bad dog attacked Coe and some of his friends as they were walking along. Coe pulled out a pistol and shot at the animal. He missed but drew the attention of the Marshall. Hickok came to investigate the shot and met Coe. The Marshall tried to disarm Coe who backed away and took a shot at Hickok, missing him. Hickok returned fire, shooting Coe twice in the stomach, then the Marshall spun and shot towards another man running towards him from behind. Hickok put two bullets into the head of his own deputy, Mike Williams, who had been coming to his aid, killing him instantly. Hickok grieved over what happened to his deputy the rest of his life.

Philip Coe would linger in agony for four days before finally dying on October 9th, 1871.

Sources

• Wikipedia Biography on Philip Houston Coe [1]

• Texas State Historical Society Philip Houston Coe Biography [2]

• "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-BFWR : 19 July 2017), Philip H Coe, 1851.

• "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-B5Z4 : 19 July 2017), Phil H Coe, 1861.

• "United States Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F9K5-Y2K : 4 December 2014), P. H. Coe, Second Lieutenant, Company E, 8th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Terry's) (1st Rangers, Confederate; citing NARA microfilm publication M227 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 7; FHL microfilm 880,020.

• "United States Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSR3-X6P : 4 December 2014), Phillip Coe, First Lieutenant, Company F, 2nd Regiment, Texas Cavalry (2nd Mounted Rifles), Confederate; citing NARA microfilm publication M227 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 7; FHL microfilm 880,020.

• Find A Grave Memorial [3]