of King Co, WA
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| Combs &c. Families of King Co, WA |
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King County was created by the Oregon Legislature on Dec 22, 1852. The county seat is Seattle. Located in Western Washington, King County covers some 2,100 square miles extending from the crest of the Cascade Range to Puget Sound, including Vashon Island. It is Washington's most populous county and contains its largest city -- Seattle. It is the commercial center of the Pacific Northwest. For millennia the area was home to peaceful, culturally rich, Lushootseed-speaking tribes. Settlement came in 1852, with lumber, hops, coal, and fish constituting first industries. The Klondike gold rush of 1897 boomed Seattle.
(Source: The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, HistoryLink.org.)
Samuel F Coombs (1831-1908) and his wife Rebecca BOYD of Maine were early Coombs settlers in the Puget Sound. Samuel was the son of Asa Coombs, a veteran of the War of 1812, and his wife Lucretia MANN. Asa Coombs was descended from Peter Coombs and JoAnna HODGKINS of Maine. Samuel and Rebecca married 1 Oct 1854 and arrived by boat in 1859 and landed at Port Madison, a community across Elliott Bay from Seattle.Their route to the Washington Territory had taken them across the Isthmus of Panama. Rachel had two brothers, George and William Boyd, who were master mariners and her husband Samuel was listed as a mariner in his father's 1850 South Thomaston, Lincoln Co, ME census. A recent newspaper article, in the reflection of the role of Chief Seattle, mentions one Samuel COOMBS, who is described as having “arrived at Port Madison in 1859 and [who] worked as a teacher and notary before moving to Seattle to become the University of Washington's first librarian. Coombs helped J.A. Costello write The Indian History of the Northwest, a book published in 1895.” Coombs “interviewed tribal elders using a tribal youth as a translator”.
Source: article, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2001, titled Chief Seattle: Peacemaker, 'firm friend of the whites', by James R. Warren, Special to the P-I, as part of a series of 10 Who Shaped Seattle; abstracted and submitted by Sue Elfving.
SE Notes: Chief Seattle was a member of the Suquamish Indian Tribe and the city of Seattle is named after him. The community of Port Madison that was mentioned as the place where Samuel Coombs arrived in 1859 is on the island of Bainbridge. Additional information about Samuel is given below.
(Source: Original census images, Ancestry.com, abs by SE)
Seattle
p.2, June 10, 1870
16/12 Coombes S F, 39, M, W, Accountant, RE=$900, PP=$100 ME Rachel, 38, F, W, Housewife ME Coreen A, 15, F, W ME Wm M, 7, M, W W. T. [Washington Territory] Alfred H, 4, M, W W. T. Raphael, 2, M, W W. T. [enumerated as Ray in 1880]
SE Notes: Samuel F Coombs, well documented s/o of Asa Coombs and Lucretia MANN of Knox and Lincoln Cos., ME. Samuel previously found in his parents 1850 South Thomaston, Lincoln Co, ME household. At age 19, Samuel F is listed as a mariner. Samuel F Coombs died June 17, 1908 in Seattle (Obit: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Thursday, June 18, 1908) at the age of 77 [b c1831]. He and his wife came to the Puget Sound from their home in Maine and arrived in 1859 by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He first worked at a lumber mill [on what is now Bainbridge Is. and at what became the largest mill in the world at that time] and then became a teacher. Later he removed to Seattle and the obituary chronicles his numerous official positions and accomplishments. The obituary also states his aged father (unnamed) at the age of 90 came to visit him in 1884 and died here 4 years later. Samuel and Rachel had two sons, Mortimer and Ray, and one daughter Mrs. J H WATSON. (Kalloch Family Obituaries) The mention of his aged father from Maine having died in Seattle in 1888 matches the Seattle death record for one Asa Coombs (see below death notice) of Knox Co, ME, who married Lucretia MANN. See The Coombs of Maine for the lineage of Asa5 [Lieut. Joseph,4 George,3 Peter,2 Anthony1] Coombs, born 28 Aug 1796; married 23 Dec 1823, Lucretia Mann. Resided at South Thomaston, ME; was a farmer, trader, lighthouse–keeper, etc.
Rachel BOYD Coombs died Feb. 21, 1911 in Seattle (Obit, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Tuesday, February 21, 1911). She is buried at Lakeview Cemetery. She was the widow of Samuel F Coombs. They came to Seattle in 1858 in a sailing vessel, via the Isthmus of Panama. They arrived at Port Madison where they resided for a few years and then settled in Seattle. She was born in St. George, N.B. (sic), seventy-nine years ago. Rachel's brother was Capt. George W BOYD (per her obit). Her son William M [Mortimer] Coombs' bio (From The MARINE DIGEST September 15, 1934 Pg. 4) states he had four uncles who were master mariners: Capt. William Boyd, Capt. George Boyd, Capt. Theodore Arey and Capt. Frank Parker. The obituary for their daughter Louise WATSON states that two younger sisters and a brother died in a diptheria epidemic after the family settled in Seattle. (Kalloch Family Obituaries)
p.5/101, June 12, 1870
55 Combs, B S, M, W, 24, Painter MO
(Source: Original census images, Ancestry.com, abs by SE)
Seattle
ED 7?, [First Street noted on side margin for page]
p. 6B, June 2 1880
45/45 Coombs, Samuel F, W, M, 49, Md, Justice of Peace ME ME ME
Rachel, F, W, 48, Wife, Keeping House ME ME ME
Louise H, F, W, 25, Daughter, Single, At Home ME ME ME
Wm M, M, W, 17, Son, Single, Works in B____t Wash Terr, ME ME
Ray, M, W, 12, Son, Single, At Home Wash Terr, ME ME
KALLOCK, Water, M, W, 30, Boarder, Single, Ship Carpenter ME ME ME
25 Oct 1888 Seattle, King Co, WA. Died: Asa COOMBS, War of 1812 Veteran, Survivors Cert.-21856, m Lucrectia MANN 28 Dec 1823 S. Thomaston, Knox Co, ME; served Asher PALMER'S & George COOMBS' Co's MA Mil, lived Knox Co., ME & Seattle, King Co, WA.
Birch Precenict
John COOMBE, born December 1837 in England,
Esther M., wife, born January 1832 in Wales
Thomas C., son, born August 1867 in England
Sarah SMITH, sister-in-law, born Jan 1830 in England
Leonard EVANS, grandson, born November 1889 in Washington
(Transcribed by Combs Researcher Thom Mont)
Enumeration District 59
Sheet 8, Line 33
Burnett Street, Renton, Washington
171/188 John COMB, head of household, owned his home, free (no mortgage), age 65, came to US in 1887, an alien, born in Scotland, parents born in Scotland, English the native tongue, a coal miner working for wages.
Elizabeth, his wife, age 60, year came to US not known, an alien born in England, parents born in England, English the native tongue, no occupation.
(Transcribed by Combs Researcher Thom Mont who adds: Immediate neighbors included families of David REESE (Welsh) age 70 and James BENTON, born in Kansas. Around the corner lived Annie WARD or WOOD, age 59, born in England, and her two children John F. (27) and Aleura M. (28) both born in Washington).
Combs Researcher Shelley Ann Combs Notes: JOHN COMB, born in Scotland, married ELIZABETH from England. They emigrated to Canada in 1891 (with their 3 children THOMAS, LIZZIE and CHRISTOHER) and were in Cumberland, British Columbia (BC), Canada by 1895. All the children stayed in Canada (My grandfather was Thomas). However, JOHN COMB had left by 1920. Family story says he went to Renton, King Co, WA and became a mailman. They may have earlier been in Northumberland, EN, and emigrated to Cumberland in order to work in the coal mines.
Seattle
James G. (Gideon) Combs --(brother to our direct ancestor Florence)
Combs James G. 52 born in Missouri
Nellie, wife 47 Minnesota
Eileen L, daughter 17 Washington
Chas Wm Seefield, son 25 Minnesota (step-son of James
A. Boon b. 1819 NY age 61, farmer--not related