He was one of the most versatile men ever to hold the office, having previously worked as a teacher, doctor, lawyer, druggist and businessman.

After about a year, his biography records that a severe cold settled into his throat that spoiled his voice for public speaking, which he ultimately regained in California's milder climate.

After receiving his medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Medicine in 1848, he returned to Hudson, New York where he married Ruthetta Folger on September 18, 1849.

After arriving in San Francisco in 1853, he established a new medical practice, complete with an apothecary shop and a chemical-importing company.

Coon also gained notoriety for refusing to stop a duel between California Supreme Court Justice David S. Terry and U.S.

In early 1861, he and his family traveled to the East Coast but returned to San Francisco late that year when he again resumed the practice of medicine.

While he spent his first two years in office with ceremonial duties, including participating in the opening of the Bank of California, and leading a procession through the streets after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, his second two-year term would be quite traumatic.

The measure—which easily passed—called for the city government to issue $650,000 in bonds for an equal amount of stock in the Central Pacific Railroad Company.

In reporting his death, the Daily Alta California newspaper of San Francisco noted that "throughout his career in this city he has been conspicuous as an energetic citizen in local enterprises, with strong executive ability, conservative business principles, and the firmest integrity in all his transactions.