Coker Cemetery

Date: [unknown]
Location: San Antonio, Republic of Texas
Surnames/tags: Coker Jones Smith

Image:Https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Coker Cemetery

Contents 1 General Information 2 History 3 Notable Monuments 4 Notable Interments 5 Sources and More Information 6 Burials

General Information

Cemetery name: Coker Cemetery

Address: This cemetery is located behind Coker Methodist Church at 231 E North Loop Road, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, 78216 USA. It is on the West side of E North Loop Road. The cemetery is accessed via the rear of the church grounds. The Cemetery is operated and governed by a separate entity, the Coker Cemetery Association. The Coker Cemetery Association's mailing address is P.O. Box 460945, San Antonio, Texas 78246-0945

GPS Coordinates: 29°33'22.3"N 98°29'33.1"W

Texas Cemetery ID Number: BX-C087

Size 3.508 acres

Summary. Coker Cemetery was established in 1857 and remains open today. It initially developed out of a 1st Headright land grant from the Republic of Texas to John "Jack" Coker John "Jack" Coker. He moved his family, which was comprised largely of his brother Joseph and his family, to the site. They and others there started the Coker Community, co-founded by his brother Joseph Coker, and the community became a thriving one.

History

The land for the Coker Cemetery was dontaed by Joseph Coker, Jack's brother and founder of Coker Community, Joseph and others came after Jack invited his family after the war. John "Jack" Coker was originally from Laurens, South Carolina. In 1838 he applied for a Land Grant as he applied for land in the Austin Colony in 1834. In 1836 he fought in the Battle of San Jacinto. He devised and help to execute a plan that resulted in the Capture of General Santa Anna. The following inscription is written on a monument built in 1918 located in what is now Pasadena, Texas, near the site of the Battle of San Jacinto:

1918 SITE VINCE'S BRIDGE DESTROYED BY MILITARY PERMISSION, APRIL 21, 1836 BY DEAF SMITH, JOHN COKER, DENMORE REVES, JOHN GARNER, JOHN RAINWATER, MOSES LAPHAM, Y.P. ALSBURY. THIS HEROIC DEED IS BELIEVED TO HAVE INSURED THE CAPTURE OF SANTA ANNA

This land grant became the home of the Coker Community. A short-lived but thriving small collective. All that is left of the Coker Community is the land on which the cemetery lies. Land for this cemetery was donated by John's brother, Joseph Joseph Coker after a community member died from a rattlesnake bite and it became apparent that they would need a cemetery.

Coker Cemetery is located in northern San Antonio on North Loop Road behind Coker United Methodist Church. The cemetery is operated by Coker Cemetery Association, a 501(c) (13) non-profit corporation chartered by Law of the State of Texas, September 15, 1967. A Board of Trustees governs and operates the cemetery under this charter. In 2009, the Texas Historical Commission designated Coker Cemetery as a Historic Texas Cemetery (HTC) and awarded a Texas Historical Marker in 2010 which makes a total of three (3) Texas Historical Markers on this small plot of land.

Notable Monuments

The Cemetery is the site of three (3) Texas Historical Markers - John Jack Coker and Jefferson Davis Smith, and Coker Cemetery itself. Coker Cemetery also has three (3) Texas Ranger Markers - Zachary Taylor Autry, Ransom Capps and Samuel C. Jones.

• • TEXAS HISTORICAL MARKERS:

Texas Historical Marker No. 7029008705; Title: Coker Cemetery

Texas Historical Marker No. 5029000935; Title: Johh "Jack" Coker; Inscription:

• "(May 10, 1789-Jan. 4, 1861) Came from South Carolina to Texas in 1834. Served in Battle of San Jacinto in Texas War for Independence, 1836. Was one of a party with "Deaf" Smith that destroyed Vince's Bridge near Pasadena. This deed may have kept Santa Anna's army from retreat or reinforcement, thus insuring Texan victory. In recognition, the Legislature of Texas awarded to Coker 1,920 acres, where he and his brother Joseph founded Coker community." Recorded - 1968

Texas Historical Marker No. 5029004960; Title: Jefferson Davis Smith; Inscription:

• "(1862-1940) Jefferson (Jeff) Davis Smith, son of Henry M. and Fanny (Short) Smith, was born in Kendall County, Texas. Jeff, age 9, and his brother Clint, age 11, were kidnapped by Lipan and Comanche Indians while herding sheep near their home in 1871. Jeff was reportedly bought by Apache Chief Geronimo and made to join his tribe. Mexican bandits captured him to return him to his family for a $1,000 reward about 1878. He married Julia Harriett Reed in 1894 and moved to San Antonio." Recorded - 1993

Notable Interments

John "Jack" Coker War Hero at the Battle of San Jacinto.

Jefferson Davis Smith Who was kidnapped and raised by Indians for 5 years only to be resued my Mexican bandits for a reward

Sources and More Information

• Most of the information compiled for this page originated from Coker Cemetery's own website which contains a wealth of additional information related to the cemetery, its history and its population. Much of this information was researched by Coker Cemetery Historian, and genealogist, Robert Bryan Battaglia An account of the history of the cemetery and the fruits of Bob's research in the form of written accounts of some of the cemetery's inabitants and photos are also available and are good reads. Coker Cemetery

• Coker Cemetery at Find a Grave

• Coker Cemetery Association Facebook Page

• Coker Cemetery Video

• http://txbexar.eppygen.org/Cemeteries/Coker.htm

Burials

A complete list, at the time of its writing, of burials can be found here:

• http://txbexar.eppygen.org/Cemeteries/Coker.htm

Coker Cemetery is an active family cemetery. A current list of burials in spreadsheet format, map and plot information can be found at the cemetery's own website at this page:

https://cokercemetery.com/burials.html