Coker came to Texas in 1834 and fought in the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. The cemetery is operated by Coker Cemetery Association. Coker came from South Carolina to Texas in 1834 and fought in the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. The following inscription is written on a monument built in 1918 located in what is now Pasadena, Texas, near the site of the Battle of San Jacinto:
1918
SITE VINCE’S BR
IDGE DESTROYED BY MILITARY PERMISSION,
APRIL 21, 1836 BY DEAF SMITH, JOHN COKER, DENMORE REVES,
JOHN GARNER, JOHN RAINWATER, MOSES LAPHAM, Y.P. THIS HEROIC DEED IS BELIEVED TO HAVE INSURED THE CAPTURE
OF SANTA ANNA
Land for this cemetery was donated by John’s brother, Joseph Coker. Coker Cemetery is located in northern San Antonio on North Loop Road behind Coker United Methodist Church. The cemetery is operated by Coker Cemetery Association, a 501(c) (13) non-profit corporation chartered by Law of the State of Texas, September 15, 1967. A Board of Trustees governs and operates the cemetery under this charter. In 2009, the Texas Historical Commission designated Coker Cemetery as a Historic Texas Cemetery (HTC) and awarded a Texas Historical Marker in 2010. The Cemetery is the site of three (3) Texas Historical Markers - John “Jack” Coker and Jefferson Davis Smith, and Coker Cemetery itself. Coker Cemetery also has three (3) Texas Ranger Markers – Zachary Taylor Autry, Ransom Capps and Samuel C.
