JUDGE RICHARD L. COFFEY was born in Monroe County, Ind., May 7, 1835. He is the eldest son and the fourth child of the seven children born to Lewis and Hariette E. (Powell) Coffey, natives of North Carolina. He was reared on a farm three miles west of Ellettsville, and received the rudiments of his education in the district schools. In the fall of 1850, he entered Franklin College, at Franklin, Ind., studied two years; then clerked for Helton & Dodds, general merchants of Bloomington, Ind. From the fall of 1853 to the fall of 1854, he taught school in Owen County, and in November, 1854, married Margaret, daughter of Lorance Lytton, a pioneer of Spencer, Ind. To this union was born one child - Annie E. He then farmed in Monroe County until the death of his wife, which occurred in January, 1857. Soon after this event he traded his farm for land in Iowa; at once went there; remained a short time, and then went to Gentry County, Mo., where he taught school one term, returning to Monroe County, Ind., and teaching during the winter of 1857-58. In the spring of 1858, he entered the law office of Gov. Paris C. Dunning; was admitted to the bar in the fall of the same year; entered the Law Department of the State University, and graduated March 1, 1859. He immediately went back to Gentry County, Mo.; taught school until the spring of 1861, and then entered upon the practice of law in what was know as Smithville, Mo., where he was soon appointed Commissioner of Worth County, to settle the affairs between it and Gentry County, the two having just been divided. In the fall of 1861, he returned to Owen County and taught school until the spring of 1864, when he married Martha F., daughter of E.F. Faulkner. During the winter of 1864-65, he taught school in Nashville, and also entered in legal practice. In the spring of 1865, his wife died. December 7, 1865, he married Julia M., daughter of Dr. William M. and Lucy J. Mason, early settlers of Nashville. By this marriage, he became the father of four children - William, J. Hill, Lucy and Richard. He was shortly appointed by Gov. Baker Common Pleas Judge of the district composed of Shelby, Johnson, Morgan, Monroe and Brown Counties, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Wollen; at the general election, in 1870, was elected, and in 1872 re-elected to fill said office, which he filled until it was abolished by the Legislature. In 1878, he was elected Senator for the district composed of Brown and Bartholomew Counties; served four years, and then resumed the practice of the law. In 1876, he was commissioned, by Gov. Hendricks, Marshal, in and for the Third Congressional District, Indiana, and charged with the duties required by an at entitled "An act to provide for electing Electors for President and Vice President of the United States," approved May 20, 1852. He also served as a member of the State Democratic Central Committee, from June, 1870, to June, 1872. He is at present Town School Trustee, and has filled the position eight years. While Senator, in 1879, he was on the following committees: Elections, Organization of Courts, Banks, Phraseology (Chairman), Arrangement, Enrollment of Bills, Unfinished Business, and also on the Joint Standing Committee on Enrolled Bills; in 1881, on Organization of Courts, Banks, Federal Regulations, Rights and Privileges of the Inhabitants of the States, and on Legislative Apportionment. Judge Coffey is a Freemason, an Odd Fellow, and a member of the Presbyterian Church.