DUANE
Duane's take
The marker tells it this way, and I'm just here to make sure you hear it right. John Prince Coles — remember that name, because Washington County sure does. He came out of North Carolina, packed up his family, and made his way to Texas in 1821 as part of Stephen F.
Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists. That's the founding company, the first wave, and Coles was in it. Now, if you're going to arrive in the wilderness that would become Washington County, you could pick a worse day than New Year's Day — and that is exactly when Coles rode in, January first, 1822.
Whether it felt like a fresh start or just a cold morning, the marker doesn't say. But he stayed. He put down roots so deep that in 1824 the Mexican government granted him land, and he founded what became known as Coles Settlement.
That settlement wouldn't carry his name forever — it was later renamed Independence — but it grew, and it mattered, and he built it. The Mexican government took notice of the man too. In 1828 they appointed him alcalde of the municipality of Washington.
That's the chief local magistrate, the person you went to when things needed decidin'. Then 1836 came, and with it the Republic of Texas Army, and Coles served. When the smoke cleared and Texas stood as its own republic, John Prince Coles kept working.
He held a number of public offices, and among them — senator in the First Republic Congress, from 1840 to 1841. From a New Year's arrival in raw Texas wilderness to the floor of a republic's first congress. That's not a short journey.
That's a life.
What the marker says
A native of North Carolina, John Prince Coles brought his family to Texas in 1821 with Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists. Arriving in present Washington County on New Year's Day in 1822, Coles received a Mexican land grant in 1824. He founded Coles Settlement, which was later renamed Independence. He was appointed alcalde of the municipality of Washington by the Mexican government in 1828. After service in the Republic of Texas Army in 1836, he held a number of public offices, including senator in the First Republic Congress, 1840-41.