Walter B. Coe, M. D., one of the leading members of the medical profession of Tonganoxie, was born at Tipton, Iowa, July 24, 1868, a son of John P. and Abbie (Soule) Coe. His father was born in Geneva, N. Y., where he was reared and educated. Like so many young men of the Eastern States he determined to seek his fortune in the West and went to Bellevue, Ohio. In 1858 he removed to Cedar county, Iowa, where he became a very successful farmer. Mr. Coe believed in modern methods of farming and demonstrated that they paid. About 1895 he came to Kansas City but lived there only a short time before he located in Tonganoxie, where he lived to the hearty old age of eighty-one years, dying in 1909. Mrs. Coe now resides in Kansas City with one of her sons. Her parents were natives of Ohio, where she was born. She was reared and educated in her native state and became one of the pioneer teachers. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Coe: Dr. C. M. Coe of Kansas City, proprietor of the Coe Sanatarium; William Sherman with the Crane-Churchill Pump Company of Omaha, Neb., and Walter B., who was reared on his father's farm in Cedar county, Iowa, and educated in the public schools. He attended the high school at Jefferson, Iowa, subsequently graduating in the high school at Des Moines, Iowa. After leaving school Mr. Coe entered the office of the "Omaha Republic" and learned the printer's trade and book binding. He worked there for about five years and decided to enter college. With this end in view he went to Akron, Ohio, and matriculated in Buchtel College. While there he became interested in medicine and determined to devote his life to that calling; entered Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., and graduated with the class of 1896. Within a short time after receiving his degree Dr. Coe located at Tonganoxie, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He is a general practitioner and for years has been the local surgeon for the Union Pacific railroad. The Doctor is popular and has built up a gratifying and lucrative practice.

Dr. Coe's first wife was Carrie L. Troxell, a native of Jefferson, Iowa. She died in 1899, leaving one child, Archie, who died in 1910. In 1901 Dr. Coe married May E., the daughter of John Grist of Tonganoxie. For a number of years Mr. Grist was a contractor on the Union Pacific railroad; but is now living retired at his home at Tonganoxie. Dr. Coe is a member of the county, state and American medical societies; a member of the American Association of Railroad Surgeons; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Knights of Pythias; Modern Woodmen of America, and the Fraternal Aid Association.