COON, JOHN (28 July 1822 - 24 Sept. 1908) was an attorney, businessman, city official, newspaper publisher, and a leading politician in the local Whig and early Republican Parties.
Born in Ballston Spa, New York to Mathew and Albacinda (Lyon), Coon's family moved to Cleveland in 1832. He served as an apprentice to Cleveland jeweler, N.E. Crittenden, and graduated from Yale University in 1847. Returning to Cleveland, Coon was elected City Clerk in 1847. He studied law with the firm of Andrews & Foot and was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1848.
Coon worked as a clerk for Secretary of the Interior, Thomas Ewing, from 1848-1850. As superintendent he oversaw the opening of the U.S. Marine Hospital, Cleveland, in 1852. In 1853 Coon became joint owner and publisher of The Cleveland Herald. He served as City Solicitor from 1855-1857.
Coon interrupted his law practice to become Paymaster, Army of the Cumberland, during the Civil War. In 1868 Coon was an incorporator of The Cleveland Railway Motor Co. In 1874 he was president of the Broadway & Newburgh Street Railroad Co.
Coon was a leading figure in local politics, first in the Whig party, and later the Republican party, serving as a delegate to the county convention in 1855, and chairing the Republican county executive committee in 1860.
Coon was an original member of THE ARK and a trustee of the Cleveland Library Association.
Coon married Martha Ann Elisabeth Howe of Worcester, Mass. They had two sons, George and John, Jr. Coon died in Lyons, Michigan and is buried in Highland Park Cemetery.