Texas History and Genealogy - presented by Genealogy Trails

Coleman County was formed in 1858 from parts of Brown and Travis counties. Organization began in 1862 and was completed in 1864. The county was named for Robert M. Coleman, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and an aide to General Houston at San Jacinto.

After organization was completed settlers began moving into the county. Some of the more notable were Rich Coffey, William Day, Mabel Doss Day Lea, and John Chisum. Chisum established a store at Trickham and maintained a ranch headquarters on Home Creek in the southern part of the county. Coffey established himself on a ranch between the site of present Leaday and Voss about 1866. He also served as a county commissioner, participated in the first county grand jury, and was part of a commission to select a new county seat.

William Day ran a ranch in the southwestern corner of the county. His holdings sprawled from Grape Creek in the north, eastward to Elm Creek and then southward to the Colorado River. He died in June 1881 from injuries received in a cattle stampede. His wife, Mabel, whom he had married in 1879, continued to run the ranch for a time after his death. Because of debts she sold the ranch to homesteaders in 1904.

Camp Colorado served as the county seat from 1864 to 1876. But with an increasing population, a new county seat in a more central location was needed. In 1876 a commission was selected to find a suitable site. Early that year a tract on Jim Ned Creek was chosen as the site of the future city of Coleman. In July 1876 town lots were sold to settlers. The "second city" of Coleman County, Santa Anna, came into existence three years later. It had formerly been called Gap because of the cleft in the Santa Anna Mountains but changed names when the residents petitioned for a post office.