Background
Coe was born November 28, 1856, in Saint Charles, Illinois to Matthew Daniel Coe, Doctor of Medicine, and his wife Susan Farwell.
educator official Surgeon Seattle physician
Coe was born November 28, 1856, in Saint Charles, Illinois to Matthew Daniel Coe, Doctor of Medicine, and his wife Susan Farwell.
He first attended the University of Michigan, where he graduated with an Bachelor of Arts in 1879, and became a teacher.
With his father a physician, and not being quite satisfied on a teacher"s salary, he went to medical school in 1884. (He is listed as a student in the Ann Arbor, Michigan address directory in 1886) He graduated in 1888 with an Doctor of Medicine A family researcher states that he was also surgeon for the Northern Pacific Railway and Seattle Traction Company and secretary of the Washington State Medical Society. He was Seattle"s Public Health Officer in 1898.
"He wrote in his journal, "I am absolutely satisfied women make better principals than men and wish to open up a new era in Seattle schools.""
He served on the Seattle School Board from 1901 to 1904, his term ending with his death on July 16, 1904, in Seattle.
Due to his prominence in the community and his enduring work for education, the Coe Elementary School was named after him in 1907.
