Dr. P. D. Coulson

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some men live one life. Dr.

P. D. Coulson seemed to live about four.

Born near Morganton, Tennessee, he was still a young man when he enlisted as a private in the 3rd Tennessee Infantry, Confederate Army, on May 22, 1861. Private. The bottom rung.

But the war had a way of finding out what a man was made of, and Coulson, it turns out, was made of something worth promoting. By 1862, he had risen to surgeon with the rank of major. And then the battles came.

First Manassas. Shiloh. Corinth.

Vicksburg. Atlanta. And others beyond those.

That is not a list you read quickly, because every one of those names meant smoke and ruin and men in desperate need of a surgeon's hands. He was twice wounded out there on those fields. Twice.

And he kept going. When the Civil War was over, Coulson came to Texas. That's the kind of sentence that sounds simple but carries a whole world inside it.

He settled in, and when Sterling County needed its very first county judge, in the 1890s, they turned to the man who had survived First Manassas and Vicksburg and come out the other side still standing. He served. Then, from 1907 to 1910, he served again as county judge of Coke County.

Along the way, he married Etheldra Ann Johnson, and together they had four sons and four daughters. A private who became a major. A surgeon who became a judge.

Twice wounded, never stopped. That's the marker, and that's the man.

What the marker says

Born near Morganton, Tenn. He enlisted, May 22, 1861, as private in 3rd Tenn. Inf., Confederate Army. Promoted to surgeon with rank of major, 1862, he saw much action -- First Manassas, Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Atlanta, other battles. Was twice wounded. Came to Texas after Civil War. Served as first county judge of Sterling County in 1890s. County judge of Coke county, 1907 - 1910. Married Etheldra Ann Johnson. Had four sons, four daughters.