An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H.K. Hines, D.D., The
Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, IL., 1893

SAMUEL F. COOMBS, for upward of thirty years a resident of Seattle, was born in
Thomaston, Maine, April 16, 1831, upon the homestead established by his
grandfather, an old soldier of the Revolutionary war. The progenitor of the
Coombs family in America descended from the Huguenots of France and emigrated to
New England about 1760. Asa Coombs, the father of our subject, was born upon the
homestead at Thomaston, and subsequently married Lucretia Mann, a native of
Castine, Maine, and daughter of Dr. Mann, a distinguished surgeon of the
Revolutionary war. Asa Coombs followed farming, ship-building and the burning of
lime, and was one of the prominent citizens of the State. He was Adjutant
General under the old militia law, and served several terms in the State
Legislature. He was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and prided himself on having voted
for every Democratic president from Madison to Cleveland, including Horace
Greeley. At the age of ninety, he crossed the continent to visit his son in
Seattle, where he died in 1888, in his ninety-fourth year. Samuel F. Coombs
attended the common schools of Thomaston during the winter months and passed his
summers upon the farm, remaining with his parents until his twenty-first year,
when he started westward, passing the summer of 1852 with friends in Illinois.
The winter following he taught school in Indiana, and in the spring of 1853
returned to Thomaston and was married, in 1854, to Miss Rachel Boyd, a native of
an adjoining town and descending from Revolutionary stock. After marriage Mr.
Coombs settled on the old homestead and carried on the farm for several years.
In 1858 he was elected to the Legislature of which James G. Blaine was an
honored member. In 1859 Mr. Coombs started for California by the Panama route,
arriving in San Francisco in October, and then meeting his uncles, Captain
William and George Boyd, who were navigators of the coast between San Francisco
and Puget Sound. Our subject soon came to Port Madison, and began work in the
mill, but shortly afterward was engaged to teach the village school, numbering
among his pupils the sons of Edward Hanford, namely, Thaddeus, Cornelius H.,
Frank, Jud, and Clarence, who are now among the prominent men of the State. In
the spring of 1860 Mr. Coombs came to Seattle and found employment in the store
of Henry L. Yesler, remaining about twelve years, a part of this time acting as
Deputy Postmaster and agent for the Wells-Fargo Express Company. About 1872 he
engaged in the commission business, which he followed several years. He has been
quite active in politics and was the first Auditor of King county, holding the
office for several terms. He was also the first committing Magistrate of the
city of Seattle, and served as Justice of the Peace for a number of years. While
serving as Justice of the Peace in 1882, the murderers, Payne, Howard and
Sullivan, were before him, and after a fair trial and commitment were taken by
an outraged people and hanged near the corner of James street and Pioneer place.
Under the Cleveland administration in 1884, Mr. Coombs was appointed Warden of
the United States penitentiary on NcNeil's island and served four years. Since
1888 he has not been actively engaged in business. Mr. and Mrs. Coombs have
three children: Louisa, now Mrs. James H. Watson; William M., an Engineer; and
Raphael, an artist. Socially, Mr. Coombs affiliates with the Masonic order. He
has always taken a deep interest in the Indian dialects of the Sound, and has
recently revised a Chinook dictionary for general circulation. He was formerly
engaged as reporter on the old Intelligencer, and still writes for the press on
pioneer subjects, particularly relating to incidents and experiences with the
Indian tribes.

Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in January 2004 by Jeffrey L. Elmer

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Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.