William Ashton Coursen was born in 1860 at Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York. He married
Harriet Van Wyck, daughter of
Judge Anthony Van Wyck and
Margaret Theron Skeel, on 22. Jan. 1907; no issue. William Ashton Coursen was shown in the census on 27. Apr. 1910 as a lawyer, general practice.
William Ashton Coursen and
Harriet Van Wyck appeared on the census of 27. Apr. 1910 at Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia; no children. William Ashton Coursen was shown in the census on 16. Jan. 1920 as a farmer.
William Ashton Coursen and
Harriet Van Wyck appeared on the census of 16. Jan. 1920 at Winter Park, Orange County, Florida. William Ashton Coursen married
Elizabeth Richards in 1923.
William Ashton Coursen was born in 1860 in Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York. Coursen received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University in 1881 - where he was a classmate of Woodrow Wilson - and the honorary degree of Master of Arts two years later. That year he also received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Columbia University. He practiced law in New York for ten years and was connected with the United States Customs Service for fourteen years. For some time, he enjoyed life outside the big city in Texas. He moved to Winter Park in 1915, living at 554 Interlachen Avenue on Lake Osceola until his death in 1934.
In his will, Coursen outlined that after specific bequests had been paid off, the remainder of his estate would be divided equally between All Saints Church, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the Winter Park Public Library, an action that left each organization with about $10,000. The library also received the 2,000 volumes that comprised his personal library.
Coursen married Harriet Van Wyck Bennett, daughter of Judge Anthony Van Wyck of New York, in 1907. After Harriet's death in 1921, Cousen married again, this time in 1923 to Elizabeth Richards Marean, widow of Justice Josiah T. Marean of the New York Supreme Court. Elizabeth died in 1931.
http://www.wppl.org/wphistory/WinterParkBiographies/Coursen.htm.