Coles, John P., 1793-1847

Born in Rowan County, North Carolina, John P. Coles (1793-1847) married Mary Eleanor Owen, with whom he would have six children, in Georgia in 1821. The following year, the couple arrived at Stephen F. Austin's Texas Colony along the Brazoria River, where Coles received 8 ½ leagues of land near present-day Burleson, Washington, and Brazoria counties. His cedar log cabin became the center of a community known as Coles' Settlement where he maintained a public house. In 1828, Coles was appointed alcade of Washington Municipality, and he served as a delegate to the Convention of 1833 at San Felipe de Austin. During the Texas Revolution, the family moved east of the Neches River, where Coles joined William Warner Hill's company of volunteers in July 1836. Following the war, he was elected chief justice of Washington County and then represented the county in the Senate of the Fifth Texas Congress (1840-1841).

Source:

...