"DEBBY" COATES IS DEAD
She Weighed 450 Pounds And Was
Called The "African Queen."
Debby Coates, a colored woman commonly known in museum circles as the "African Queen," and Monday night at her home, 37 Guilford alley, and was buried yesterday at Sharp Street Cemetery.
Debby was 42 years old. She claimed to be the heaviest woman, irrespective of color, in Maryland, and there were few to dispute her claim. She exhibited at a number of museums in the city and State.
Undertaker Michael Doyle had great difficulty in removing the body from the house and finally had to lower it from a second story window by means of ropes, as the doors were too small to carry it through.
Debby was born in Frederick county and for several years lived in Phildelphia. She is survived by her daughter.