EDITOR’S NOTE: The story of Cathryn Howard Coffman is told by her great-great-grandson Gerry Gieger. Gerry is a member of The Sons of the Republic of Texas and serves as President of the E.M. Daggett Chapter in Fort Worth.
I am Cathryn (Howard) Coffman, daughter of Baldwin and Elizabeth (Birdsong) Howard. My family called me “Caty.” I was born Dec. 17, 1801, in that portion of East Tennessee that became Jefferson County. During my childhood, I attended school and learned to read and write. Primarily, our textbook was the Holy Bible.
Before I reached womanhood, my family relocated to Madison County Alabama. On Nov. 16, 1820, one month before my 20th birthday, I married Lovell Coffman, the first son of Elder Jacob Marion and Nancy (Walker) Coffman.
Elder Coffman had also migrated his family from Jefferson County Tennessee to Alabama. My father-in- law was a Primitive Baptist preacher, and we subscribed to the Baptist faith. He owned and operated a grist mill.
Lovell and I had 11 children: James (b. 1821); Eliza (b. 1823); Nancy (b. 1825); Seabern Joseph (b. 1828); Martha Jane (b. 1830); William Washington (b. 1832); Andrew Jackson (b. 1835); Amanda (b. 1837); Mary Frances (b. 1839); Jacob Warren (b. 1842), An unnamed baby was born in 1827 but it only lived eight days.
The night of Nov. 3, 1833, I saw the Seven Stars Falling. The shower of meteors was so bright that the roosters started crowing and the chickens came off the roost, thinking it was dawn. The Leonid Meteor Shower, as it came to be called, was an event that caused thousands of people to repent and call out to God for forgiveness of their sins, thinking that the end was here.
Many families were moving westward, and we determined to join them. Since my husband was a skilled wagon maker, we had a great wagon and no worries about repairs when we traveled. We started our pilgrimage west from New Market, Alabama toward Memphis, Tennessee where we crossed the Mississippi River. Our wagon was pulled by a team of fine oxen and our lead horse was a big plus for our travels.
We replenished our provisions of flour and meal, lard, dried pork, and hardtack. as best available. We traveled about 15 to 18 miles per day along the Military Road through Arkansas. Following the Western Trail, after Little Rock, was good traveling but we had to stop about every three days to allow the animals to rest and forage. All the walking made our goat go dry, so milk was virtually nonexistent.
We had to ford the Antoine River in Arkansas at flood stage. Lovell and the two oldest boys, James and Seabern, cut trees and lashed the logs into rafts, which made a pretty good ferry. Lovell made a good sum of money floating all the families with us across the river. We traveled in groups to discourage attacks by renegade Indians and highwaymen.
When we reached the Red River, we were in IT (Oklahoma), although we thought we were in Miller County, Arkansas. We crossed at old Jonesboro, because there was a ford, and found John Robbins’ settlement Robbinsville (Extinct), a few miles south. My husband thought it was a good place to settle so he bought 300 acres from Ice (Isham) Ferris and traded a wagon to John Robbins for 300 more. Both Robbins and Ferris were early Texas pioneer settlers. My husband built a large home for our family. In addition to farming, he made wagons from the fine white oak timber, which made excellent wheels and axles.
I taught my daughters to cook, wash clothes, keep clean homes, grow a garden for fresh vegetables and raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. We canned in the summer to have food in the winter. My third son, William Washington, was run over by a wagon and crippled. My oldest son, James, was deaf and mute, caused by the scream of a panther. My second son, Seabern Joseph, went to California to search for gold during the gold rush. My fourth and fifth sons, Andrew and Jacob, died in service to the Confederate States of America.
My husband was a good wagon maker but also a good wagoneer. Lovell hauled freight from the river boats near Jefferson in Marion County to Bonham (Fannin County) and Sherman (Grayson County). On his final trip in 1866, he was robbed and murdered by highwaymen while waiting for a river boat to arrive. After his death, I continued to live in Red River County near my children until I died in 1884. I was buried beside my husband in the old Bluff Cemetery between Detroit and Bagwell, Texas in Red River County.
In 2006, my descendants along with The Daughters of the Republic of Texas and The Sons of the Republic of Texas placed a Citizen of the Republic of Texas seal on my grave.
