Editing John McClay Coe

{{Infobox Biography
| subject_name   =J. M. Coe
| image_name     =
| image_size     =
| image_caption  =
| date_of_birth  =[[November 19]], [[1857]]
| place_of_birth =Gadsden County, Florida
| date_of_death  =[[September 25]], [[1915]]
| place_of_death =Pensacola
| occupation     =
| religion       =
| spouse         =
| parents        =William Cecil and Mary E. McClay
| children       =[[William Cecil Coe]]<br/>[[John Moreno Coe]]
| signature      =
| signaturesize  =
}}
'''John McClay Coe''' was a Pensacola bookseller who later operated the [[Pensacola Opera House]].

Orphaned at age 8, Coe was raised in Quincy by his uncle, Will McClay. He came to Pensacola in {{date needed}} to work as a stevedore.

He partnered with [[Cameron Q. Dow]] in {{date needed}} to establish the [[Dow & Coe]] business of "books, stationery and Florida curiosities" on [[Palafox Street]].<ref name="1885directory">[http://www.flgenhistonline.com/counties/escambia/directories/1885directory/directc-d-1885.htm 1885 directory]</ref>

Around this time Coe lived at the corner of [[Wright Street|Wright]] and [[Tarragona Street]]s.<ref name="1885directory"/> He married [[Ruth Moreno]] on [[October 14]], [[1891]], wedded at [[old Christ Church]] by Ruth's brother Eben. The couple settled on [[Reus Street]] and had two children, [[William Cecil Coe|William Cecil]] and [[John Moreno Coe|John Moreno]].

Coe later became manager of the [[Pensacola Opera House]] and founded the [[Pensacola Amusement Company]] to operate it in [[1902]]. When he decided to end his partnership with [[Charles W. Lamar, Sr.]] in [[1908]], the two reportedly held a coin toss to divvy up the assets. Coe "won" the toss, getting control of the Opera House (which was damaged beyond repair in a series of [[hurricane]]s less than a decade later), while Lamar received the subsidiary sign business, the [[Pensacola Advertisement Company]], which later became the highly successful [[Lamar Outdoor Advertising Company]].

==References==
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*[http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=carlrcoe&id=I1784 RootsWeb.com entry]
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[[Category:Theater operators|Coe, John McClay]] [[Category:Booksellers|Coe, John McClay]] [[Category:People buried in St. John's Cemetery|Coe, John McClay]]