William H. Coombs

William H. Coombs (sometimes misreported as Combs; July 17, 1808 – November 28, 1894) was an American jurist,^[1] born in Brunswick, Maine, to Andrew and Susanah Coombs.^[2][3] In December 1811, his family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and the next spring found a farm 20 miles east in Clermont County, where he spent his youth. He returned to Cincinnati in 1826 and was a carpenter until 1831. That year, he settled in Connersville, Indiana,^[3] where he read law with Caleb B. Smith.^[2]

Coombs was admitted to the bar at Connorsville in the spring of 1834, and for a short time practiced law with Smith, then in Wabash from 1835 to 1847, and in Fort Wayne from 1847 to 1840, before he entered California via Cape Horn. He continued law and farmed here until 1855, when he returned to Fort Wayne. He retired from law in 1866. On December 2, 1882, Governor Albert G. Porter appointed him to a seat in the Indiana Supreme Court vacated by James Worden.^[3] He sat for one month until a successor was qualified on January 1, 1883.^[2]

Coombs married Jane Adsall of Ohio on May 25, 1837. They had eleven children, three of whom survived him when he died at home after several months of declining health.^[2]

References

1. Minde C. Browning, Richard Humphrey, and Bruce Kleinschmidt, "Biographical Sketches of Indiana Supreme Court Justices", Indiana Law Review, Vol. 30, No. 1 (1997), section reproduced in Indiana Courts Justice Biographies page.
2. "Judge William H. Coombs Dies at His Home", The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (November 29, 1894), p. 4.
3. Indiana Courts biography of Justice William H. Coombs.

Political offices
Preceded by James Worden	Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court 1882–1883	Succeeded by Allen Zollars