Mineral County, West Virginia Biography of Harry F. COFFMAN, M. D. ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , July 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 192 HARRY F. COFFMAN, M. D., took up the work of general practice at Keyser with a thoroughness of training and breadth of experience that at once made him one of the most useful men in the profession of medicine in Mineral County. He located at Keyser in 1917. Doctor Coffman was born in the picturesque Valley of Virginia, on a farm near Woodstoek, March 28, 1883. His great-grandfather, Adolph Coffman, a German ancestor, moved from Pennsylvania to the Valley of Virginia about 1785. Reuben A. Coffman, grandfather of Doctor Coffman, was a native of Shenandoah County, was a slave holder be- fore the war and devoted his entire life to his plantation. He married a Miss Hollar, and they were the parents of fourteen children. Several of the sons were in the Con- federate army, and one or two of them gave up life in battle for the cause of the South. David W. Coffman, father of Doctor Coffman, was a native of Shenandoah County, had a common school educa- tion, and for some years followed farming, but later took up railroad service with the Baltimore & Ohio at Cumberland, Maryland, and is still on duty there. He married Annie L. Richards, also a native of Shenandoah County. Her father, Capt. John A. Richards, was a captain in the Confederate army during the war. The children of David W. Coffman and wife are: Dr. Harry Franklin, of Keyser; Lucy R., wife of Clyde L. Smith, of Morgantown, West Virginia; Durus D., of Cumberland, Maryland; Mary A., wife of Henry Bailey, of Bedford, Ohio; Nellie F., wife of Carl C. Stump, of Cumberland; and John David, who is attend- ing high school at Cumberland. Harry F. Coffman lived in Shenandoah County until he was about twenty years of age. He attended the country schools, the New Market High School, and in 1909, after he had been earning his own way for some years, graduated from the Alleghany Academy at Cumberland, Maryland. He learned telegraphy at Plains, Virginia, and while at Cumberland, he was employed as a utility man and in January, 1905, assigned a regular place in the Cumberland yards of the Baltimore & Ohio. He resumed and continued that work through the summer vacations while he was corn- pleting his medical course. In 1909 he entered the Univer- sity of West Virginia Medical School, finished his course in 1911, and took advanced work in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, where he graduated in 1913. Doctor Coffman in March, 1914, became assistant medical examiner for the Baltimore & Ohio system, with headquart- ers at Cleveland, his special jurisdiction being the Northern district of Ohio. On June 3, 1917, the railroad company transferred him to Keyser, West Virginia, where he con tinned similar duties until April 1, 1918, and at that date began the general practice of medicine. Doctor Coffman is one of the thoroughly modern physi- cians and surgeons, never satisfied with present attainments and always seeking opportunities to keep in touch with the broad march of the profession. In 1921 he took post- graduate work in the Western Reserve University of Cleve- land. He is president of the Pour-County Medical Society, including Grant, Hampshire, Hardy and Mineral counties. He is designated medical examiner for the Veterans Bureau, and during the World war he was one of the medical board of five members comprising the Advisory Board in Keyser. In addition to these duties and his private practice he served as health officer of Keyser for two years. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Psi medical fraternity, belongs to the Chnreh of the Brethren and in politics is a re- publican. At Mansfield, Illinois, September 28, 1915, Doctor Coff- man married Ruth E. Swartz, who was born in Pike County, Illinois, March 10, 1892, daughter of John J. and Mary (Elliott) Swartz. The three children of Doctor and Mrs. Coffman are Harry Franklin, Jr., born in 1916, Mary Elizabeth, born in 1919, and Ralph Swartz, born in 1921.