To determine these questions requires a thorough knowledge of the statutory law, and a familiar acquaintance with the cases in which the brightest lights of legal science have given their interpretations of law. That Mr. Coffin possesses these qualities in the fullest degree is a fact that is fully recognized, and it is the unanimous opinion of those most capable to judge that of all who have held the office in Westchester Co., no one deserves to occupy a higher rank, and few have had a more extensive acquaintance with the members of the legal profession in the State of New York. To mention even a tithe of them would far exceed these limits, but it is sufficient to state that he had abundant opportunity of witnessing the efforts and studying the methods of such "legal giants " as Daniel Cady, Joshua A. Spencer, Greene C Bronson, Hiram Denio, Ambrose L. Jordan, and others famous for learning and eloquence.

Mr. Coffin married Belinda E., daughter of Gen. Leonard Maison, in 1842. By this marriage he had three children, two of whom died in early childhood, and one, Elizabeth, wife of the late Edward B. Piatt, is living in Dutchess County. ]Mrs. Coffin died in 1856, and, in 1858, he was again married to Harriette, daughter of the late Dr. Samuel Bancroft Barlow, and a sister of S. L. M. Barlow, of New York City. On her father's side, Mrs. Coffin is related to Joel Barlow,

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

the distinguished author of " The Columbiad," and on her mother's to Major Charles Wadsworth, who, when Sir Edmund Andros demanded the charter of Connecticut, snatched it in the darkness caused by the sudden extinction of the lights, and hastened to conceal it in the famous "Charter Oak."