From various published histories of Grant County and a booklet by H. K. Hobbs titled John and Sarah Bradbury Coons and Coons and Their Descendants, quite a bit of history of John R. Coons and his family is available in printed form.
In 1827, John R. Coons was assigned a clerkship with the St. Louis trading firm of Gratiot, Chouteau & Company; they sent John to Gratiot's Grove which later became LaFayette, Wisconsin Territory. This was located approximately 15 miles northwest of Galena, Illinois. The business included lead smelting, the sale of equipment and provisions, and fur trading with Native Americans. John was responsible for the daily operations of the trading post.
During the Black Hawk War, John enrolled in the Galena Mounted Riflemen in May 1832. According to Hobbs, the war and confrontations in the surrounding area with Native Americans upset the family. This was apparently the impetus for John and Sarah Coons to move their family to the mouth of Catfish Creek on the west side of the Mississippi River near Dubuque. It would have been here then in 1833 where John erected a lead smelting furnace under a government grant.
In 1835 John's wife Sarah purchased land near Old Belmont when it was first offered for sale. The Coons family later moved to Belmont, probably after April 1835. (The final entries of lead accounts in the microfilmed volume are dated April 31, 1835.) Sometime in 1835 John moved his family to Belmont and opened a store called Coons, Wooley & Company, which was a branch of Hooper, Peck & Scales of Galena. The Coons sold their land after Madison was chosen as the capital for the newly established Wisconsin Territory. In 1836, the Coons moved to LaFayette, Wisconsin Territory, and remained there possibly until their deaths, although it is more likely that they eventually moved to Potosi. Sarah died in 1851, and John in 1852.
