Coffman Community West of Anna Has Rich Farming History By Jan Sherley Miller Photo by Joyce Godwin
Part of the Coffman Cemetery is seen here with a mixture of recent and very old grave markers. It is the only structure of any kind remaining from the historic Coffman Community west of Anna. It is located on the service road of U.S. Highway 75 south of White Street/ F.M. 455.
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ohn Coffman (7-3-1804: 2-15-1880) was one of the earliest settlers of this area, coming in 1843. John met Elizabeth Witt in Jefferson County, Tennessee, and they were married on February 15, 1828. With their respective families, they migrated the following year to Illinois, likely Greene County on the Illinois River and two counties above St. Louis. Here, eight of their 12 children were born. Obtaining some land in the Peter’s Colony in 1843, John brought his family to Texas to settle in 1844. John, an accomplished farmer, and Elizabeth established their home three miles west of the present town of Anna. Four more children were born there. Known to be a devout Christian, Elizabeth with her husband became charter members with six other people of a Baptist Church in 1850. In the 1840s, John allocated some land on the southern boundary of his farm for a cemetery. There he and Elizabeth are buried, as well as his son George and his wife, Mittie Jane. John left his land to his sons, not without causing some resentment among his daughters. Perhaps he reasoned that their husbands should provide for them, or that he desired above all, that the land they had struggled to acquire should be maintained by male descendants as “Coffman” land. Ironically and tragically, the male line expired on the death of Scott Coffman, 1965, grandson of John Hogan 4
(Coffman), but the farm has retained its name through descendants of Quincy, his granddaughter and daughter of his son George. John would have been very pleased if he could realize that the Coffman farm still exists to this day. It is owned by his great, great, great grandchildren. The land was designated by the Texas Agriculture Department in 1974 to the Texas Family Land Heritage Program. This honor is “for century or more continuous ownership and operation as a family agricultural enterprise. To the dedication and perseverance of the founders and heirs of these lands, we owe the basis of wealth of Texas.” This is the oldest such farm in Collin County. Coffman Cemetery is still “alive.” The oldest standing marker in the cemetery is that of Alfred Dupry (5-22-1852: 3-8-1876). There were earlier graves with wooden markers that have been destroyed. As one enters the gate on the east, there is a large bois d’arc post that is believed to be one of the earliest graves. The steel fence surrounding the cemetery is the original one put up many years ago. The cattle grazing in the area were beginning to present problems at burials. The Coffman Cemetery Association erected a new fence in 2009. Some of the old fence was sold in pieces to families of people buried in the cemetery to help pay for the new fence. Pitt’s 1971 Original Survey of Burials, speaks Anna Living Magazine
of the cemetery as the Coffman-Rollins Cemetery. This is understandable since the majority of those buried are descendants of James Rollins (1-1-1837: 3-28-1910), who settled west of the Coffman Cemetery. All the early burials were conducted by Sherley Bros. of Anna. The cemetery remains faithful to its beginning. There is no charge to be buried here, you must be a direct descendant of one of the original families or have married one. A historical marker was dedicated on Oct. 18, 1987. Alma Littrell, who had been secretary of the cemetery board for years and who wrote the history of the community and of the cemetery (in order to procure a marker), ironically was buried the same day as the marker dedication. George Coffman, son of John, had a home to the southwest of the cemetery. His granddaughter Lorraine recalled what a well-kept, beautiful place it was with the house trimmed in gingerbread (style), the extensive barns so well-tended, and the garden and orchard that were so productive. George was one of the most successful farmers and livestock breeders of the county. He was a breeder of jacks and jennies (donkeys) and prided himself on raising choice big, heavy mules so necessary to farming and for use as draft animals. Mule buyers came many miles to his farm to supply their needs. Before the railroad, many crops, such as cotton, were shipped to Jefferson, Texas by wagons,
