Hancock County OhArchives Biographies.....Coffinberry, James M. 
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Ann Anderson ann.g.anderson@gmail.com August 18, 2005, 9:35 pm

Author: Warner & Beers (1886)

   JUDGE JAMES M. COFFINBERRY has been a conspicuous figure in the legal galaxy
of northern Ohio, for twenty-five years past, and for over forty years was an
able and hard-working member of the profession in which he chose to spend his
life. As a lawyer he won great success; as a jurist he was sound, impartial and
logical; and as a man he has always deserved and held the respect of his
associates and the general public* He comes of honored ancestry.

   George Lewis Coffinberry, of Virginian birth, grandfather of our subject, and
who died in Mansfield in 1851, at the advanced age of ninety-one years, became,
at the age of sixteen years, a volunteer in the grand old Revolutionary army,
serving bravely and faithfully under Gen. Green. In 1796 he cast his fortunes
with those of the Territory now known as the State of Ohio, being one of the men
who opened it up to civilization, braved its rigors and faced its manifold
dangers. His son, Andrew, was one of the leading pioneer lawyers of the "West
(being admitted to practice in 1813), leaving a name that is remembered with
love and honor where-ever he was known. Andrew Coffinberry was not only a
lawyer, but a man of great literary talent, a poem of his, "The Forest Rangers,"
attracting wide attention. He was married to Mary McCluer, a daughter of Judge
James McCluer, a Kentuckian, who stood high in the community where he dwelt, and
James M. Coffinberry was born to this union May 16, 1818, at Mansfield, Ohio.

   Receiving only such education as was possible in the district school of a
small village, in the crude pioneer days, the subject of this sketch made such
use of it as his natural energy and deep thirst for knowledge made possible; he
entered his father's law office at an early age, and was admitted to practice in
1840, at Perrysburgh, Wood Co., Ohio, where his father was then residing. In
partnership with his father he opened a law office in Maumee City, in the
beautiful Maumee Valley. He devoted himself to his profession with great energy
and close attention, and his ability soon found recognition in an election to
the position of prosecuting attorney of Lucas County, which office he filled for
two years with signal success. In 1845 he removed to Hancock County, Ohio,
where, for ten years, he successfully practiced his profession, at the same time
editing and publishing the Findlay Herald. In 1855, feeling the need of a larger
field for the full exercise of his maturer powers, he removed to Cleveland,
Ohio, where he soon built up a large and lucrative practice, taking a prominent
place at this bar from the first, and maintaining the high reputation that had
preceded him. In 1861 he was given a new field for the exercise of his talents,
being elected to the common pleas bench of Cuyahoga County. He held that
position for five years, and was recognized as one of the ablest and purest men
who had ever been called to that position of trust. "His charges to the jury,"
says one of high authority, "were models for clearness, directness and logical
compactness, and it is complimentary to his judicial learning and professional
ability that no legal opinion pronounced by him was ever reversed on review by a
higher court." He held in a remarkable degree the power of seizing upon the
strong points of a case, and was original in his manner of presenting his
arguments and decisions; his apparently intuitive perceptions of legal truth
giving to his utterances a freshness and vigor that commanded the admiration of
all. While he had a fine appreciation of the learning of the profession, and was
never unmindful of its nicest distinctions, he made them subservient to the
broad and liberal views of the ease, looking beyond the mere technicalities of
the law, thus evincing a broad, liberal and well-developed judicial mind. After
retiring from the bench he returned to the practice of his profession, but was
soon compelled to retire from its activities by reason of failing health. He
devoted many of his leisure hours to scientific reading and investigation, in
which he took great interest.

   Judge Coffinberry was always a busy man; even while engaged in the most
severe labors of his prfession,  he  found time for general reading and study,
developing and broadening out in all directions, and making his mind a rich
store-house, always ready for any demand for material that might be made upon
it. He was always, and is yet, a useful man to his community. He was, during
1857 and 1858, a member of the city council of Cleveland, Ohio, and during the
latter year president of that body. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he was
chairman of the Democratic Central Committee of Cuyahoga County, but warmly
espoused the cause of the Union, and labored earnestly to promote the recruiting
service, making many speeches in favor of a zealous support of the war. He was
principal secretary of the great Union Convention of Ohio, which nominated David
Tod for governor, and was the candidate for Congress and common pleas judge of
his party in his district for several terms, but, on account of its numerical
minority in those days in Cleveland, even his personal popularity was not
sufficient to elect him.    He has always had an eye to the commercial and
material advancement of Cleveland, and, from the first, was a firm advocate for
the construction of the great viaduct that spans the Cuyahoga River and valley,
and connects the east and west sides of the river. He attended every meeting
called to consider the practicability of the enterprise, always spoke earnestly
and hopefully of its ultimate success, and with voice and pen contributed
largely to secure its accomplishment and to make it a free bridge. He was a
corporator and stockholder of the first street railroad (the East Cleveland) in
that city; a corporator and president of the West Side Street Railroad: a
corporator and director of the Fremont & Indiana Railroad (now the Lake Erie &
Louisville); a director of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, and a
corporator and director of the Rocky River Railroad. He was a corporator and
stockholder in the Savings & Trust Company, and a corporator and director of the
People's Savings & Loan Association,  and president of the Forest City Fire
Insurance Company.

   The Judge met with a most serious accident in April, 1875, which resulted in
the loss of a leg, being run into by a railroad train at Lighthouse Street
crossing, as he and his wife were being driven from the depot in a carriage.
Mrs. Coffinberry was seriously injured but finally recovered. Since that time
the Judge has not practiced his profession, but has devoted himself to his
private business, consisting principally of the management of two farms, and his
rental property in Cleveland.

   Judge Coffinberry was married, January, 1841, to Miss Anna M. Gleason, of
Lucas County, Ohio. Of seven children born to them five died in infancy; the
survivors are Mary E. (wife of Stephen E. Brooks) and Henry D. Mr. Brooks and
Mr. Henry D. Coffinberry are regarded as two of the ablest and most successful
young business men of Cleveland. Judge Coffinberry is spoken of in terms of the
highest commendation in "Knapp' s History of the Maumee Valley," in "Beardsley's
History of Hancock County," in "Cleve's Representative Men of Cleveland," and in
the "Biographical Encyclopedia of Ohio." He is a man of convictions, frank and
open in their expression, but tolerant of dissenting opinions, and especially
regardful of the sensibilities of the young and diffident. He is not wealthy
according to the modern standard of riches, but possesses ample means to render
one of his simple tastes and inexpensive habits as nearly independent as a man
can well be in this world of mutual dependence.




Additional Comments:
Book Title: History Of Hancock County
Findlay Township and Village




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