NO HEADSTONE
There is no stone to mark the final resting place of Sarah Thompson, nor does the pertinent issue of the Caller survive to record her obituary. Her name appears in the records of interment kept by the Bayview Cemetery Association (about 1897-1913). She is listed as "Sarah Thompson" who died 7 October 1911. There is one piece of information that leads us in our search to learn more about her. The records of the Association report that she is "colored". There is only one "Sarah Thompson" listed in the 1910 federal census of Nueces County who is a member of the African-American community. This is Sarah, the widow of Daniel Thompson, who is found living near Gabe and Ellen Green, Miflin Mayes and his family, and other members of the African-American community on Carancahua Street (1910 census, E. D. 102, sheet 3B/76B). Sarah is listed in all the early census records as a native of Texas where she married Peter Coleman on 21 April 1871 (Calhoun County Records 1847-1890). The marriage record indicates her maiden name was "Tucker". Though she officially married Peter in 1871, they are found together with two small children in the 1870 census of Calhoun County (1870, page 396B). Peter is a drayman while 25 year old Sarah keeps the home and two children, Abraham and Joseph. By the time of the 1880 census (p. 31) the family is living in Nueces County. Peter is still working as a drayman while Sarah keeps house. Abraham and Joseph are now 16 and 14 respectively, and Abraham is already helping his father with the business. Nearby is the family of Elijah Walker and also the family of Daniel Johnson who is married to Kate (30 years old) and with four small children. It is unclear what happened in the families, but most likely both Sarah and Daniel were left widowed. Daniel would have had four small children that needed a mother, while the Coleman boys in the 1890s would have been young men off on their own. At any rate, the Marriage Records of Nueces County (volume F, page 353) report the marriage of Daniel Johnson and "Mrs. Sarah Coleman" on 25 April 1895. When the couple appears in the 1900 census record, Daniel reports himself as born in November 1824 in Mississippi. Sarah says she was born in September of 1846 in Texas and that her parents are from Virginia (she lists them as from Virginia in 1880, 1900, and 1910). Sarah says she has had three children, but only two survive (presumably Abraham and Joseph Coleman). In this census as in 1910, the family lives on Carancahua Street. There are no children living with them. It is unclear where Peter Coleman and Daniel Johnson were buried at the time of their death, though one or both may also be in Old Bayview with Sarah. Fortunately for Sarah, the Bayview Association began to list their interment so her name was clearly among those registered as buried in the old city cemetery even though she had no stone to mark her remains.
Research by: Msgr. Michael A. Howell