DR. JAMES E. COAKLEY, who is engaged in the practice of the medical profession in Milton Junction, and is one of the most popular citizens of that pleasant little village, was born in Madison County, N.Y., on the 9th day of October, 1839, and is a son of John and Katie COAKLEY. His early life was spent under the parental roof, and in his native State he received a liberal education. He pursued the rudimentary branches in the common schools, after which he took a two years' course in the New York Central College, at McGrawville, Cortland County. He also graduated at the Janesville Commercial College at the age of eighteen years. At the age of seventeen years, leaving his home in the East, he emigrated in company with two other young men to Wisconsin, locating in Rock County. For some time he followed the profession of teaching, being employed in that line in Lima Center and various district schools, and for two years served as superintendent in Walworth County. Wishing to make the practice of medicine his life work, he entered the office of Drs. CLARK and RICE, leading physicians of Whitewater, under whom he pursued his studies for a few months. The same year, 1860, he entered Rush Medical College of Chicago, but about this time the country was threatened with a civil war. When Ft. Sumter was fired upon and the echoes of its guns went thundering over the land, awakening the slumbering patriotism in the breasts of Northern citizens, and President Lincoln issued his call for volunteers to put down the rebellion, he could not longer confine his attention to his studies, and in the spring of 1861, enlisted among the Boys in Blue of the 19th Wisconsin Infantry. He was appointed to the position of steward in the hospital and remained with his regiment until 1863, when he was discharged from the service and again entered college. He completed his studies the following spring and was graduated in the class of 1864. After leaving the school room, he once more entered the service and was commissioned First Assistant Surgeon of the 22d Wisconsin Infantry and served until the close of the war, when he was mustered out.
After the cessation of hostilities, Dr. COAKLEY returned to Rock County and entered upon the practice of his profession in Milton Junction, where he has been engaged continuously since. For twenty-three years he has been numbered among the physicians of Rock County, and has gained a prominent position in the ranks of his professional brethren. His practice in quite extensive, extending over a wide circuit, and no matter what the weather, be it fair or foul, he responds to the calls made upon him.
In 1865, the Doctor was united in marriage with Miss Amelia WOOSTER, and unto them were born two children, one of whom, a little daughter, is now deceased. Lyman Wyllis, who was born Aug. 23, 1874, is now attending school. In his social relations, Dr. COAKLEY is a member of the G.A.R. Post of Milton Junction, to which he has belonged for six years, and for ten years has held membership in the Odd Fellows' Society, and is also a member of the Masonic Order. He feels an interest in political affairs and is a staunch supporter of the Republican party. The cause of education finds in the Doctor a warm friend, whose aid is always ready and whose influence is ever given to the advancement of its interest. A lover of fine horses, he has given considerable attention to their breeding, and is now the owner of several horses of value. He is one of the most energetic and progressive citizens of Milton Junction, alive to every enterprise which is calculated to be of public benefit, and none are held in higher regard than the Doctor, who is numbered among the early settlers of Rock County, having for a third of a century made his home within its borders.
From The Portrait and Biographical Album of Rock County, Wis., publ, 1889 - page 702, 703
Submitted by Carol