Name: Coleman, Texas
Address: Coleman, TX

Coleman, TX RoadyGoat

Coleman, Texas, is a place where the wind whispers tales of hard work and open spaces.

Coleman, TX RoadyGoat

Coleman sits nestled in the rolling plains where the Texas Hill Country begins to fade westward. At 1,700 feet above sea level, the air is crisp and dry, a far cry from the humidity closer to the coast. This land, shaped by eons of erosion, is hardscrabble country, but it's good for grazing. That’s why cattle ranching took root here, drawing families who knew how to coax a living from the sometimes unforgiving soil. The land defines the people, too, instilling a sense of quiet resilience – a quality you'll still find in the community today. The history here is etched into the landscape. You can almost picture those early cattle drives, the stagecoaches rumbling along dusty trails, perhaps even the bandits who, legend says, buried a fortune in gold somewhere nearby. The heavy rains of 1936 remind everyone of the power of nature, a flood that tested the town's spirit but couldn't wash it away. The Coleman County Courthouse, standing tall since 1884, is a reminder of the town’s enduring presence. And, of course, there's the pride in the Coleman Bluecats, a football team carrying the spirit of the whole town, proving that even in this quiet corner of Texas, there's plenty of grit and determination.

Not That Santa Anna RoadyGoat

Here is the twist a lot of folks miss. This town of Santa Anna, out in Coleman County, was not named for Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the Mexican general who stormed the Alamo and lost at San Jacinto back in eighteen thirty-six. Different man entirely. The town got its name from the twin peaks standing just north of here, the Santa Anna Mountains, and those peaks were named for a Comanche chief who also happened to be called Santa Anna. So you have got two very different men sharing one Spanish name, and only one of them has anything to do with this spot on the map. It is an easy mix-up, because in Texas the name Santa Anna is practically a lightning rod for anybody who remembers the revolution. But the general never marched through here, never camped on these hills, and had nothing to do with this little cattle and cotton town. Next time somebody riding with you sees the sign and starts talking about the Alamo, you can set them straight. The name honors a mountain, and the mountain honors a Comanche peace chief. Same words, completely different story.

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Banister, Emma Daugherty

1918

Emma Susan Daugherty Banister, educator and one of the earliest women sheriffs in the United States, was born in Forney, Texas, on October 20, 1871, to Bailey and Martha Ann (Taylor) Daugherty. Her father, who had come to the area from Alabama before the Civil War , was murdered in 1878. After her mother remarried, Emma stayed with her family for two or three years, then went to live with the family of her uncle, Lou Daugherty, in Goldthwaite. There she completed her formal education and studied to become a teacher. She taught in Turkey Creek, Mills County, and at Needmore (now Echo), on Jim Ned Creek in Coleman County. There she boarded in the home of the Sam Golson family. On September 25, 1894, in Goldthwaite, she married John R. Banister , a former Texas Ranger and special agent of the United States Treasury Department. After several months of travel the couple settled in Santa Anna, where Emma assumed the duties of raising John's four small children from a previous marriage and giving birth to five of her own. Having had experience tracking cattle rustlers, Banister began working for the Texas Cattle Raisers' Association and organized its Field Inspection Service, of which he was the first chief. He was elected sheriff of Coleman County in 1914, and the family moved from the farm to the first floor of the Coleman County Jail. Emma served as John's office deputy. She bought supplies, ran her household, and oversaw the preparation of meals for the family and the prisoners. On August 1, 1918, the sheriff died, and the commissioners of Coleman County appointed his wife to complete his term in office. Newspapers across the country did not fail to notice that a woman, even in the era before woman suffrage , had been made a sheriff in Texas. Under the heading "Woman a Sheriff!" the New York World described Emma Banister as part of "a stock of westerners that does not know fear." She ran the office efficiently by day, answering mail, instructing deputies, replying to inquiries, and managing the prisoners. In the evenings she kept the records up to date, planned meals, and took care of domestic duties. She declined the county commissioners' offer to place her name on the ballot for the November elections for a further term in office. At the completion of the term the family moved back to the farm in Santa Anna. Mrs. Banister was a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and a Baptist. In later years she took little credit for her service as sheriff of Coleman County. Oil income enabled her to travel and to deal in real estate in Santa Anna and in Elida, New Mexico. She and her husband had collected Indian artifacts and trophies of his forty-four years in law enforcement; most of the collection is now in the museum at Fort Concho National Historic Landmark , San Angelo. She died in Brownwood Memorial Hospital on June 4, 1956, and was buried in Santa Anna.

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Banister, John Riley

1867

John Riley Banister, law officer, was born in Banister, Missouri, on May 24, 1854, to William Lawrence and Mary (Buchanan) Banister. His father deserted the family after Civil War service and settled in Texas. John, who had only three months of schooling, moved to Texas in 1867. He became a cowboy on Rufus Winn's ranch near Menardville, then worked for Sam Golson in Coleman and Mason counties in 1873. Banister fought off several Indian raids and joined his first cattle drive to Kansas in 1874. After another drive in 1876 he joined the Texas Rangers in Austin for Frontier Battalion service. His company was involved in escorting murderer John Wesley Hardin from Austin to Comanche for trial, skirmishes with Indians and outlaws, and the capture of outlaw Sam Bass . After leaving ranger service in 1881 Banister moved to San Saba and made cattle drives to Kansas from 1881 to 1883. In 1883 he married Mary Ellen Walker and settled on a ranch near Brownwood, then moved to Coleman to run a livery stable. The couple had six children. Mrs. Banister died in 1892, and Banister married Emma Daugherty on September 25, 1894, in Goldthwaite; they had five children. For several years after 1889 he accepted special assignments as a detective for the Santa Fe and other railroads. In 1892 he became a treasury agent assigned to help police the Mexican border against cattle smugglers. After six years he resigned for full-time service as an inspector for the Texas Cattle Raisers Association (now the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association ). He originated the field-inspection service for the association and was its first chief. Banister investigated cattle rustling for the association in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma until 1914, when he became sheriff of Coleman County. Banister's career is documented by a collection of his papers in the Southwest Collection of Texas Tech University. Documents detailing his investigations of cattle theft are particularly valuable in detailing the longtime efforts of the cattlemen's association in protecting livestock. Banister died of a stroke on August 1, 1918, in Coleman, and was buried in Santa Anna. His wife then took over his job and in so doing became the first female sheriff in the United States ( see BANISTER, EMMA DAUGHERTY ).

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O'Hair, Mary McClellan

1921

Mary McClellan O'Hair, the first woman regent of the University of Texas, was born in Burton, Texas, in 1869, the daughter of W. R. and Louisa (Ratliff) McClellan. She grew up in Washington County and attended public schools in Brenham before entering Baylor Female College in Independence (now the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton), where she received a bachelor's degree in 1886. The following year she married wealthy rancher H. J. O'Hair in Ledbetter, Texas. The couple had a daughter who died as an infant and a son who died during the influenza epidemic of World War I . The O'Hairs lived briefly in Lockhart before moving to Coleman. Influenced by her father, who was a two-term member of the Texas legislature, O'Hair was an early supporter of woman suffrage and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas . She served as president of the Texas Woman's Press Association in 1910 and remained an active member of that organization the rest of her life. In Coleman she organized the first Self Culture Club, which helped women find opportunities for self-improvement, and promoted study clubs and the local public library. She also served as president of the City Federation of Women's Clubs in Coleman and was active in the local Christian church. During World War I she lived in New York City for several months to assist in the war effort, and she was honored by the Canadian Red Cross for her help with war work in Canada. In May 1921 Governor Pat M. Neff appointed Mary O'Hair to a six-year term as a regent of the University of Texas. She subsequently was selected by Governor Dan J. Moody to complete an unexpired two-year term, thus becoming the first regent ever to be reappointed. While on the board, as a member of the building and grounds committee, she advocated replacing temporary structures on the university campus with permanent buildings. Her service as a regent coincided with a $1.3 million appropriation from the state legislature for campus expansion. O'Hair, who was appointed forty years after the first board of regents was named, was the only woman to serve on the board of regents until 1935, when Governor Miriam A. Ferguson appointed Marguerite Shearer Fairchild of Lufkin. Other regents who served with O'Hair included H. J. Lutcher Stark , philanthropist and businessman, and Judge Robert Batts , former United States circuit judge. O'Hair completed her service on the board of regents in 1929. In her retirement she continued her activities for charitable organizations and traveled extensively. She died in Coleman on December 4, 1936, after a long illness, and was buried there. She was survived by her husband, two siblings, a grandson, and a nephew. At her death flags at the Capitol were lowered to half mast in her memory.

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Coleman, Robert M.

1832

(1799-1837) Born in Kentucky. Came to Texas in 1832. Commanded company of volunteers at Siege of Bexar (San Antonio), Dec. 5-10, 1835. Delegate to Constitutional Convention where he signed Texas Declaration of Independence, 1836. Aide-de-camp to Gen. Sam Houston at Battle of San Jacinto, 1836. Later fought Indians as a Texas Ranger. (1966)

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Miller Public Library Building

1909

Financed by the Self-Culture Club and other local women's organizations, this structure was erected in 1909 to provide a meeting place for the groups and to house the city's library collection. In 1924 when money was no longer available to pay a librarian, Mattie B. (Mrs. J. A. B.) Miller (1874-1969), pioneer ranch woman and civic leader, offered her services. For 41 years, as an unpaid librarian, she dedicated her time and resources to the project. In 1968 when the city took over operation, the library was named in her honor. (1977)

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Western Trail

1867

This tablet commemorates the Western Trail that passed through Coleman in 1867-1895. D.A.R. Seal. Head of longhorn. "Up the Trail". Erected by the Captain Wm. Buckner Chapter of The Daughters of the American Revolution.

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Coleman, Texas

Music in Coleman

Songs About Coleman

Artists From Coleman

Rivers & Roads in Song near Coleman

History of Coleman

Coleman, TX RoadyGoat

Coleman, TX RoadyGoat

Not That Santa Anna RoadyGoat

Banister, Emma Daugherty

Banister, John Riley

O'Hair, Mary McClellan

Coleman, Robert M.

Miller Public Library Building

Western Trail

Things to Do in Coleman

Everything Near Coleman