COLEMAN, John

COLEMAN, DOUGHERTY, HEALEY, COOLAHAN, COHAN, KEEFFE

Posted By: Nettie Mae
Date: 1/18/2003 at 23:09:46

Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.

JOHN COLEMAN.

Coming to Clinton in January, 1857, John Coleman has since been in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company with the exception of one year, and is now foreman of the blacksmith shop. He is a native of Ohio, born in Shelby county, August 15, 1939, and is a son of Philip and Ellen (Dougherty) Coleman, both natives of the emerald Isle. The father was a mere lad when he emigrated to America, and for some time made his home in Maryland, where he was married, the mother having come to the United States when a young girl. They lived in Ohio until 1939, when they removed to Chicago, and later to Elgin, Illinois, where the father purchased a farm. He was a stone-mason by trade, but also followed agricultural pursuits. His death occurred at Gilbert Station, Illinois, in 1844, and his wife subsequently made her home with our subject in Clinton, Iowa, where she died in 1884. She was born in 1798, and her husband in1806. They had only two children, of whom our subject of the younger. Margaret, a resident of Omaha, Nebraska, is the widow of Captain P. R. Healey, who had command of company I, Fifty-eighth Illinois volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war, and was breveted major when mustered out of service. He was captured at the battle of Shiloh by the rebels and confined in Andersonville prison for about six months.

During his boyhood John Coleman, attended the public schools of Elgin and the country schools of Gilbert Station, but his advantages along that line were rather limited. On leaving school, at the age of fifteen years, he entered the employ of the Fox River Railroad company as an apprentice in the blacksmith shop at Elgin, and remained there until coming to Clinton. As a boy he fired for a few weeks on a wood burner between Elgin and Richmond.

Mr. Coleman completed his apprenticeship at Clinton, and has continually advanced through all the positions up to foreman of the blacksmith shop, in which capacity he has served since 1895, having under his supervision twenty-five men all the year round. He had previously served as assistant foreman from 1870. He possesses considerable inventive genius, and from scraps found about the shop, which were practically useless, he constructed an air hammer, which is now in use. As an inventor of the machine he has not only received recognition throughout the United States, but also in Germany. Mr. Coleman also invented what is known as the Coleman punch bar, which is in general use on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. At the age of eleven years he took his first ride on an engine, which was known as the Peggy, and old wooden frame machine, and from that time on he has watched with interest the many changes made not only in engines, but in all branches of railroading.

In 1863, at Chicago, Mr. Coleman married Miss Jane Coolahan, who died in Clinton in 1876, leaving four children namely: Philip, who is now chief clerk in the purchasing agent's office of the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, at Marquette, Michigan; Annie, wife of Frank Lynch, who is on the police force in the employ of the Chicago Northwestern Railway Company at Chicago; Ellen, wife of J. J. Cohan, a machinist for a street-car line in the same city; and William J., a clerk in the law department at Chicago. Mr. Coleman was again married in 1881, his second union being with Miss Catherine J. Keeffe, a native of Ireland, and to them have been born two children: Thomas J., who is attending St. Mary’s College in Kansas; and Mary, at home. The children have been principally educated in the Sisters’ school at Clinton, and remained at home with their father until able to make their own way in the world. The family are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Coleman is an active worker and was first president of the Catholic Temperance Society, which was organized with a membership of fifty and now has one hundred and seventy on its roll. He has done much to build up the society; has served on its various committees; and held the office of resident for ten years and was treasurer for the same length of time. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, and although he has never sought office, he was elected to the city council in 1867 and served two years in that capacity. He was also elected to the state legislature, and was an active member of that body from 1886 to 188, serving as chairman of the committee on labor. He introduced four bills, two of which became laws at the next session, one being against blacklisting men. He is a prominent member of the National Railroad Master Blacksmiths’ Association, in which he has served on various committees and is now a member of the committee on track tools. He is distinctively a man of affairs, and takes an active and commendable interest in public matters.