Multnomah-Coos County OR Archives Biographies.....Coke, John S. August 21, 1867 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com and   July 11, 2006, 11:19 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Volume II, 
Page 135

	JOHN S. COKE, whose record as jurist and lawyer places him in the 
front rank of the members of the Multnomah county bar, commands a large 
general practice in the courts of this county and state, and is also giving 
able service as attorney for the Portland Electric Power Company.  Judge Coke 
was born in Morristown, Tennessee, on the 21st of August, 1867, and is a son 
of John S. and Mary Elizabeth (Moore) Coke.  In 1870 the family came to 
Oregon, locating in Marshfield, where the father engaged in farming.  He was 
also a lawyer but did not practice after coming to this state.  In later years 
he retired from active pursuits and he and his wife spent their last years in 
Marshfield.
	John S. Coke received a good public school education and then took up 
the study of law, which he pursued privately and in the law school of the 
University of Oregon.  He was admitted to the bar in 1903 and engaged in the 
practice of his profession at Marshfield, where he early gained recognition as 
an able attorney and soon commanded a large clientele.  In 1909 he was 
appointed judge of the circuit court of the second judicial circuit, and 
served continuously until January 6, 1923, and on his retirement from the 
bench was appointed United States attorney for Oregon.  He resigned that 
position in 1925 in order to engage in the private practice of law as a member 
of the firm of Griffith, Peck & Coke, which is now numbered among the strong 
and successful law firms of the city.  He is attorney for the Portland 
Electric Power Company and also represents a number of other large 
corporations.
	In 1903, Judge Coke was united in marriage to Miss Annie Laurie 
Anderson, of Marshfield, Oregon, and they are the parents of a son and 
daughter - - Morton, who graduated from the classical course in the University 
of Oregon and is now attending the law school of that institution, and 
Virginia, who is attending the University of Oregon.  Judge Coke has always 
been a strong supporter of the republican party and is influential in 
political affairs.  He represented the eighth senatorial district in the state 
senate from 1905 to 1907 and did effective work for his constituents and the 
state at large.  He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in 
which he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite; the 
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the 
Knights of Pythias, while, socially, he belongs to the Arlington Club, the 
Portland Golf Club and the Irvington Club.  While a resident of Marshfield, 
Judge Coke organized the First Trust and Savings Bank and the First National 
Bank, of both of which he was elected president, serving as such until his 
appointment as circuit judge.  He mad an ideal jurist, not only possessing the 
natural ability and the acumen of the judicial temperament, but was able to 
divest himself of all prejudice or favoritism and consider only the legal 
aspects of the cases tried before him, and no labor was too great if necessary 
to the complete understanding and correct determination of a question.  As a 
practitioner he is noted for his clearness of statement and candor in 
discussions of the principles of law and he has won the reputation of a safe 
and sound attorney.  In the sphere of private citizenship he has stood 
consistently for those things which are calculated to advance the interests of 
the community along material, civic or moral lines, while as a friend and 
neighbor he has shown himself constant and loyal.


Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Volume II, 
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1928

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