Jacob H. Coil
The gentleman to a brief review of whose life the attention of the reader is directed is among the well known and representative citizens of Union township, Fayette county, Ohio. He has, by his enterprise and progressive methods, contributed in a material way to the advancement of his locality, and during the course of an honorable career has been fairly successful in his business enterprises, having been a man of energy, sound judgment and honesty of purpose and is thus well deserving of mention in this volume.
Jacob H. Coil was born on November 11, 1853, in this county on what was known as the old Coil farm, being the son of Samuel and Sarah (Fults) Coil, the former of whom was born also on the old Coil farm and was in his day one of the most prominent farmers of the county. When the subject was six weeks old, his parents moved to Union township to the farm, part of which the subject now owns and where he has ever since made his home. Mr. Coil owns about three hundred acres located on the Sabina pike and also owns one hundred acres of the old home place. Living with him is his brother, Jasper L. Coil, and together the two operate the business of the farm, in which enterprise they are quite successful. Samuel Coil, father of the immediate subject, was a son of John and Mary Coil, the former of whom was born in Virginia and came to Union township about the year 1812. He was a man of great energy and enterprise and took out government land to the extent of twehe hundred acres, at the time lames Madison was President of the United States. The land he thus obtained was in a primitive state and through his efforts almost all of it was placed in a state of cultivation. He was the father of the following children: Isaac, Elias. Amos, John, William, Abraham, Simon, Jane (who is still living at St. Mary, Ohio) and Samuel, father of the immediate subject. To each one of his cliildren he gave one hundred acres of land in this county, thus starting them out in life, and it is an interesting fact that not one of the twelve failed, all having made good.
Samuel Coil started on his hundred-acre tract and later moved to the homestead in Union township, where he reared his family. He chose as his life companion Sarah Fults, the daughter of Peter and Frances (Rankin) Fults. The former was a native of Pendleton county. Virginia, and came to this state when a young man. He first located in Ross countv, near Chillicothe, later coming to Fayette county, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was the father of eight children, namely: Jacob, Simon, John, Jerry and Thomas, all deceased, Phoebe, Sarah (subject's mother) and Jane. The subject was the eldest of a family of six children, the others being Jesse, Mary, Ida and Alice, all deceased. Jasper L., hereinbefore mentioned, and Jacob H. are the only surviving members of the familv. Those deceased are all buried in the Coil cemetery on the old Coil farm.
When a boy, Jacob H. Coil attended school in district No. 4. known familiarly at that time as "Pop Gun College," later attending Midland school, where he received the balance of his education. From his early youth he had assisted the father in the work about the homestead and when, in his twenty-first year, his father died he had received such careful training in agricultural work that he was able to take up the work where his fatlier left off and assisted the mother in raising the balance of the family. The mother survived the father a number of years, having passed away only a few years ago. Mr. Coil has lived an active and well-rounded life. Politically, he gives his support to the Republican party and has always taken an actixe interest in politics. For six years he was a member of the school board and has always been ready and willing to do anything in his power to advance the welfare of the community along educational, social or moral lines. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Protestant church, in the work of which organization he takes a commendable interest. While living a quiet and retired life, devoting himself primarily to his own interests, Mr. Coil has a keen appreciation of what constitutes good citizenship, being always ready to back up bis theories with actual service if necessarv. He Is one of the highly respected citizens of his comnumity, having estahhshed a reputatation for honesty of purpose in his dealings with his fellow men and by being the adxocate of clean and wholesome principles in the home, society and politics.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)