"A HISTORY OF THE DAVIESS-McLEAN BAPTIST ASSOCIATION IN KENTUCKY, 1844-1943" by Wendell H. Rone. Probably published in 1944 by Messenger Job Printing Co., Inc., Owensboro, Kentucky, pp. 377-372. Used by permission. [Daviess] WILLIAM SAMUEL COAKLEY: W. S. Coakley, at present (1943), is the dean of all the Baptist preachers of this Association. He was born near Greensburg, Kentucky, on October 14, 1878, and is the son of John and Emma S. Coakley. He grew up on a farm and was given excellent educational advantages. His education consists of both the A.B. and A.M. from Georgetown College; the ThM. from the Louisville Seminary and two years of graduate work at the same institution. His abilities are recognized by his brethren and he is considered as one of the best authorities on Baptist Doctrine and Bible Teachings in this Association. Brother Coakley was converted under the preaching of his cousin, E. W. Coakley, and was baptized into the fellowship of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in 1894. By this same Church he was licensed to preach in 1906. His ordination took place the same year and some months after his being licensed to preach. Revs. E. W. Coakley, Sam Crawley, J. S. Gatton, and others formed the ordaining council. Since his ordination Brother Coakley has served the following Churches as pastor: Dry Run (Scott County), 1905; Junction City, 1906; Crab Orchard, 1907; Ghent, 1908-1913; Owensboro Walnut Street, 1913-1915; Dallasburg, 1915-1920; Mt. Washington, 1921-1930; Owensboro Walnut Street, 1931-1943. His two pastorates at the Walnut Street Church are the longest in the history of that Church. In the years 1936 and 1937 he served the Daviess-McLean Association as Moderator. He has also served in the same capacity in Nelson Association. His services as a member of the State Board of Missions, the Board of Managers of the Western Recorder, and the Kentucky Ministers' Aid Society are also noted. The new Church at Mt. Washington was completed and paid for during his ministry there. All of the debt of the Walnut Street Church has been cleared during his second pastorate. At one time he was elected to the Presidency of Cumberland College but declined to accept the offer. Brother Coakley was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Diuguid, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Hiram Diuguid, of Bluefield, West Virginia, on August 4, 1909. Three children blessed this union; John D., now professor of Psychology at the University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y.; W. S. Jr.; and Mrs. Mary Louise Tindall, the wife of Chaplain Ray Tindall of the U. S. Navy. Mrs. Coakley is an accomplished musician and able Church leader and has been a great help to her husband in the work with the women and young people. She has been President of the Associational [sic] W. M. U. on two different occasions. The preaching of Brother Coakley is preeminently doctrinal and instructive but he has also been successful in evangelistic efforts. The conservative guiding spirit of W. S. Coakley has been a blessing to the Baptists who compose the Daviess-McLean Association. Coakley Crawley Gatton Diuguid Tindall = Greensberg-Green-KY Louisville-Jefferson-KY Scott-KY Junction_City-Boyle-KY Owensboro-Daviess-KY McLean WV NY http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/daviess/coakley.ws.txt