DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker records about the site of the home of Colonel Robert M. Coleman — and friend, this one does not end easy. Robert M.
Coleman. Born 1799. And if you know anything about the men who carved Texas out of raw contested ground, well, his name belongs in that company.
He signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. He stood beside General Houston at San Jacinto as aide-de-camp — right there in the thick of it when the battle that changed everything was fought. Then he commanded a regiment of Rangers in 1836 and 1837.
Before all that, the Mexican government had named him the first President — their title — of the Municipality of Mina, back in 1834. And in 1836, Fort Coleman was built under his command, raised for protection against Indians on a frontier that did not forgive carelessness. Coleman County, out on that frontier, was named for him in 1858.
The man left a mark on this land that geography itself still carries. But Coleman died in 1837. And what came after — what came to the people he left behind — that is where this story turns dark and stays there.
His widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Coleman, and their son Albert V. Coleman, were killed by Indians here.
Their son Thomas Coleman — five years old — was captured. February 18, 1839. The homesite itself sat about a half mile to the south of where this marker stands.
A house. A family. A widow making a life in country that Fort Coleman had been built to guard against.
The State of Texas erected this marker in 1936 to remember Robert M. Coleman — soldier, ranger, signer, commander. But the marker does not let you stop there.
It makes you reckon with the full weight of what this ground witnessed. A man's name on a county, a fort, a document that founded a nation — and here, the place where the people who bore that name paid the hardest price the frontier could exact. That's the story this site holds.
All of it.
What the marker says
(1799-1837) Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence Aide-de-camp to Gen. Houston at San Jacinto Commander of a regiment of Rangers 1836-37 Here his widow Mrs. Elizabeth Coleman and son, Albert V. Coleman were killed by Indians and Thomas Coleman, aged five was captured February 18, 1839 Erected by the State of Texas 1936 [supplemental plate added 1968] Robert M. Coleman was the first "President" (title given by Mexican government) of Municipality of Mina, 1834; commandant, Fort Coleman, built 1836 for protection against Indians. A county on frontier was named for him in 1858. His homesite was about 1/2 mile to the south. (1968)