Joseph Jackson Coombs was born in Maine on October 27, 1810. After serving as a circuit judge in Ohio, he moved to Washington, DC were he established his own private legal practice. In this practice, he helped several Revolutionary War pensioners and widows pursue pension claim.In 1861 he was appointed as the examiner-in-chief of the U.S. Patent Office. He died in Washington, DC on April 29, 1886.