Leonard C. Coats was born June 12, 1911, in the Turkey Creek community, west of Cottonwood,Callahan Couny, Texas, to John Hawkins Coats and wife Carrie Emma Kelly. He first married Violet Wilcoxen, and later he married Joe Dale Fowler.Lynn,as he was called, spent his childhood years on the farm assising with the chores and attending the Turkey Creek School where his father was on the school board. He was very sociable and knew all of the families and residents of he area. As an adult, he became more and more interested in horses and cattle and worked on ranches in West Texas near Pecos, San Angelo, and Balmorhea. Leonard always wore his hat cocked to the back of his head just as his grandfather, John Alexander Coats. He was never without his cowboy boots.Leonard and his wife Joe, returned to Cottonwood and lived on he farm for several years. Joe died on April 8, 1990, in the hospital in Abilene, Texas, and Leonard died in Cross Plains, Texas, on January 19, 2000.by Wanda Tye Scott, "Coats and Kelly Families of Cottonwood, Texas," 2008.