Rosannah “Rose” (Mack) Prey Coates was born March 27, 1879, in Toma, Iowa, the daughter of Sarah Amelia Hatfield and Spellman Fremont Mack.The family was living in Richland, Tama County, Iowa when the 1880 census was taken. She was raised in Kansas. When she was fifteen, she became the bride of Albert Prey in a marriage that was arranged by her father.
Her husband left her to go on a cattle drive and returned to find that baby Hazel (Violet Hazel Prey Thompson) had been born on March 30, 1894. He threatened violence to the baby, so Rose told him to leave and forget about them. She went to work to support herself and the baby and to pay for a divorce.
Joseph Russell Coates, a neighbor of the Macks in Kansas, had fallen in love with Rose when he first saw her sitting on a wagon and drying her platinum hair. They were married in Pawnee County, Kansas, in 1900, the day after her divorce was final. Due to Rose's asthma, the Coates moved to Williams, Coconino County, Arizona Territory, where Joseph worked for the railroad. One night he was injured at work and was never able to hold a job again. Rose took in washing and ran a boarding house in Flagstaff, until they moved to Prescott, where they heard there was more work.
When the family came to Prescott in 1909, they lived at Stoney Point on S. McCormick Street, where Joseph became supervisor of Stoney Point Development in exchange for rent. Rose went to work at the Prescott Laundry. Later they moved to 227 N. Marina Street, converting the old church building into a home.
By 1920 there were eight Coates children: Hiram Taylor (November 29, 1900 - July 5, 1970), Amelia Agnes Aston (February 7, 1902 - September 21, 1963); Bill Williams (December 21, 1905 - January 2, 1974); John David (August 16, 1907 - March 11, 1977); Charles Albert (February 15, 1909 - May 27, 1976); Sarah Rosannah Parrish (October 25, 1918); and Thomas Lane (April 10, 1920 - August 20, 1976). Joseph was home when the children came home from school, and he did much of the cooking and other chores about the home.
Rose, who loved the out-of-doors, greatly enjoyed fishing and picking elderberries which she used to make jelly and, on occasion, wine. She also picked wild walnuts, shelled them, and sold them for $1 a quart. Rose pieced quilt tops, like the crazy quilts of silk and satin pieces and then she would "feather stitch" around each piece and embroider flowers on the plain pieces.
On November 11, 1955, Rose died in Prescott. Reverend Roy H. Boldt officiated at her funeral, and she was buried in Mountain View Cemetery.
Donor: Mohea Williams Coates
Photo Located: RGC MS-39, Box C, F-Coates, Rosannah
Updated: 5/18/2015, D. Sue Kissel
