Coffman Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. Out here in Collin County, there's a piece of ground that's been holding memories for well over a century, and it carries the name of the man whose land made it possible. John Coffman, born in 1804, was one of those early settlers who put down roots deep enough to outlast him.

He died in 1880, but not before donating the land that would become this cemetery. That kind of gesture has a way of echoing forward through time. His son, George W.

Coffman, born in 1840, died in 1913, owned and operated a homestead just one mile west of this very site. Father and son, rooted to the same corner of the county, generation layering onto generation. The oldest marked grave here dates to 1876.

Whoever rests beneath that stone was among the first to be formally remembered in this ground, and they've had a lot of company since. For more than a century, this was the primary burial ground for the community of Coffman. Families came, and families stayed, because descendants of many of the people buried right here still live in this part of Collin County today.

The roots didn't just go down, they spread. The marker was placed in 1986, the year Texas marked its sesquicentennial; one hundred and fifty years of statehood, stretching all the way back to 1836. Seemed a fitting moment to pause and point at a piece of ground like this one and say: don't forget where you came from.

That's what Coffman Cemetery is, in the end. Not just a resting place, but a reminder (the marker says so itself) of everything this area once was, and everyone who built it.

What the marker says

This cemetery, which dates to the mid-19th century, is on land donated by early settler John Coffman (1804-1880). His son, George W. Coffman (1840-1913), owned and operated a homestead one mile west of this site. The oldest marked grave dates to 1876. Descendants of many of the families represented in the graveyard still reside in this part of Collin County. The primary burial ground for the community of Coffman for over a century, this cemetery serves as a reminder of the area's past.**Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986***