William Coates

William J. Coates of Maryland died in February 2004, precipitating widely distributed news stories calling him the oldest man in the United States though noting his claim to have been born June 2, 1889 had not been verified.

If this claim were correct, he would in fact have been the world's oldest person after the death of Mitoyo Kawate and its oldest man after the death of Yukichi Chuganji.

However, census research revealed a William J. Coates with the same parents aged only 18 in the 1930 census, the mother having been born in 1889. That the nine children of Mr. Coates ranged in age from 54 to 70 further buttresses the apparent exaggeration of his age from his real age of 92.