Of the four children, only William Rogers Coe followed his father into business. Educated at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, he attended Princeton University and the United States Naval Academy. Eventually he became head of the financial operation of the railroad that his grandfather had built, the Virginian Railway Company, as Vice-President and Treasurer, with offices in New York City. Bill Coe married Clover Simonton in 1923, and they had two sons,

William Robertson Coe II and Michael Douglas Coe, both archaeologists. The couple lived nearby in Glen Cove and later, Mill Neck.

Like his father, William Rogers Coe had strong horticultural interests, and was a noted raiser of azaleas and rhododendrons, often exhibiting at flower shows.

Michael D. Coe has been Chairman of the Board of the Planting Fields Foundation since 1985.


Bill Coe
, c.1955

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Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park and Coe Hall Is Located 1395 Planting Fields Road Oyster Bay, NY 11771 (516) 922-9200

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