East Texas Family Records, Volume 13, Number 3, Fall 1989 Page: 19
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EAST TEXAS FAMILY RECORDS VO. A, N, 3, FALL 198
(Henderson County --- Joseph Coker Family --- continued)
whelming odds, dreading death not half so much as surrender, he reached the home
he left so prosperous and beautiful? He found his faithful wife at the loom, and
Alice, Charlie, Joe and Roburtus, his only antebellum children - all of whom were
taken care of by his wife's father; his house was in ruins, his farm worthless,
his people without law or legal status, his farm devasted, his slaves free, his
stock killed, his barn empty, his money worthless, his comrades slain, crushed by
defeat his very traditions gone.
In the fall of 1869, Joseph Coker bundled up his effects and moved his little
family to Texas and on the 25th day of January following, he landed in Henderson,
County.
The Coker family left Georgia by train to New Orleans, and at New Orleans
they went via ship to Galveston. They were on the ship four days and nights before
reaching their destination. When the family landed at Galveston, they took
a train to Calvert, Texas. The family stopped for a week in Calvert.
Mr. Coker bought oxen and wagons and traveled in covered wagons through the
west (Texas was considered west at that time). The family turned back east of
*Waco, Texas and camped on Goshen Creek. Mr. Coker left his family there while
looking for land to buy. He finally found the land he wanted and bought land about
eight miles north of Athens. Mr. Coker could have bought land near Dallas or
Waco for $1.50 per acre, but the black land was so muddy, it did not appeal to him
and too, they had always lived in areas with large trees.
Mr. Coker wore a belt around him from Georgia to Texas is which he carried
$2800.00, while his wife carried around her waist a belt that contained their expense
money. The wagons were so heavy with supplies when leaving Calvert, the
family had to walk most of the way. Our minds can not visualize the hardship,
pain and weariness that this family must have suffered. Since it was January, it
makes us wonder if they battled cold weather.
Mr. Coker bought land from a Mr. Bass, which was south of his house that he
later built. He bought 200 acres of land and later added more land.
Mr. Coker built a gin and ginned cotton for people near and far. This gin
was nearby to the orginial house. This gin was finally torn down and some of the
lumber was used in building other buildings, such as a barn. Mr. Coker became a
farmer on a large scale. In his later years, he owned large herds of cows, many
acres of land and was comfortably located.
The home that Mr. Coker built was on a hill. Near this house , just east,
19
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East Texas Genealogical Society. East Texas Family Records, Volume 13, Number 3, Fall 1989, periodical, Autumn 1989; Tyler, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth38020/m1/21/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting East Texas Genealogical Society.