William Jerome Coombs

Education

Born in Jordan, New York, Coombs attended the Jordan Academy there.

Career

He moved to New York City in 1850, and in 1855 to Brooklyn. In 1856, he started a business exporting American products, which he did for the next 37 years. He ran for Congress in 1888, but lost.

Coombs ran again in 1890 and was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second Congress.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894. President Grover Cleveland appointed Coombs a director of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1894, with special commission to collect the debts due the United States Government from the various Pacific railroads.

Coombs later served as president of the Manufacturers" Terminal Company, and after that headed the Title Guarantee & Trust Company of Brooklyn. In 1904, Coombs became president of the South Brooklyn Savings Institution, in which capacity he served until his death on January 12, 1922, age 88.

He was interred in Green-Wood Cemetery.

Achievements

• He ran for reelection in 1892 and won a seat in the Fifty-third Congress.