James David "Jim" Coffman

James David "Jim" Coffman

TexasConfirmed

1881–1972

Born

3 September 1881, Buffalo Gap, Taylor County, Texas

Died

22 December 1972, Callahan County, Texas

Buried

at Dudley Cemetery, 23 December 1972

Parents

Mary Jane "Mollie" Wright

Married

Lydia Mae Bowles

Sources

5

Images

1

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1881

Born 3 September 1881, Buffalo Gap, Taylor County, Texas S18

Death1972

Died 22 December 1972, Callahan County, Texas, aged 91; buried Dudley Cemetery S18

Death2026

🆕 His death certificate has been read, 21 September 2026. Texas certificate no. 95942, Taylor County: he died 22 December 1972 at the West Texas Medical Center, Abilene, of arteriosclerotic heart disease, his usual residence a farm on Rt. 2 outside Abilene; occupation stock farmer, cattle; buried at Dudley Cemetery, 23 December 1972. Father David E. Coffman; mother Molly Jane Wright. The informant was his own son, Jesse J. Coffman S134

Military1918

🆕 Registered for the draft on 12 September 1918 at Potosi, “Stk. farming”, born 3 September 1881, with his wife Lydia as nearest relative S379; added 24 September 2026.

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Marriage1901

Married Lydia Mae Bowles, 1 August 1901, Potosi, Texas S16

Parents2026

🆕 His mother: Mary Jane “Mollie” Wright, named as Molly Jane Wright on his death certificate S134. FamilySearch indexes of his death and of the deaths of his brothers Dee Carl and Joseph Franklin, and his brother Jesse Lee's Social Security record, all give the parents as D. E. Coffman and Mary Jane Wright S831. added 28 September 2026.

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Open question

⚠️ The certificate gives his birthplace as Dallas, Texas, where this page carries Buffalo Gap, Taylor County S18. His mother's family were Dallas people and she married there in 1878, so Dallas is not implausible

but a certificate written ninety-one years after the fact, from a son's memory, is weak evidence of a birthplace. Recorded, not resolved S134

Photos & documents 0 photos · 1 document

Documents (1)

Documents · 1 page image all documents

Retrieved from the UNT Libraries' Portal to Texas History, or — for the University of Texas Cactus yearbooks — from Texas ScholarWorks. Each thumbnail opens the full page scan, which can also be downloaded. The quoted text is the OCR that ships with the scan, copied verbatim; the page image is the authority.

Open full page

Texas death certificate no. 95942 — Taylor County, filed 8 Jan 1973 (Ancestry coll. 2272) · full resolution 2842 × 2393 px — page no. 95942

Vital record — death certificate · 22 December 1972

View full page Download image

In the record Generation 4 — Earl's great-grandparents

1. S16FindAGrave memorial 53116850, Lydia Mae Bowles Coffman (1883–1972), Dudley Cemetery — includes the transcribed obituary naming son Robert Coffman — findagrave.com/memorial/53116850.
2. S18FindAGrave memorial 53116702, James David "Jim" Coffman (1881–1972) — findagrave.com/memorial/53116702.
3. S134James David "Jim" Coffman — Texas death certificate, 22 December 1972. Texas State Department of Health, Standard Certificate of Death, state file no. 95942, local file 911, Taylor County, filed 8 January 1973; Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903–1982. Read from the certificate image at full resolution, 2842 × 2393 px, 21 September 2026. Died 22 December 1972 at the West Texas Medical Center, Abilene, of arteriosclerotic heart disease with congestive heart failure, gradual onset, certified by S. B. Estes of 1502 N. 2nd, Abilene; usual residence Rt. 2, Abilene, Taylor County, rural, on a farm; born 3 September 1881, age 91, male, white, married; occupation stock farmer, cattle. Father David E. Coffman; mother's maiden name Molly Jane Wright. Informant Jesse J. Coffman, his son. Buried Dudley Cemetery, Dudley, Texas, 23 December 1972, Elliott's Funeral Home. It expands his mother's record; it does not correct it. Her grandson gave her name as Molly Jane Wright, which is what the family called her; the formal Mary Jane stands on her own certificate [S81] and in the 1924 photograph's caption [S108]. Same woman, two registers of the same name, and neither displaces the other. ⚠ The certificate gives his birthplace as Dallas, where this page carries Buffalo Gap [S18]; a birthplace recalled ninety-one years later by a son is weak evidence and the conflict is recorded, not resolved. ⚠ It does nothing for the Page County, Virginia Coffman/Kaufman spelling wall — this is a Texas birth three generations below it.
4. S379World War I draft registration card — James David Coffman, Taylor County, Texas, 12 September 1918. Ancestry record 71113877. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed James David Coffman, 37, born 3 September 1881, stock farming at Potosi, Taylor Co.; nearest relative his wife Lydia Coffman, Potosi; medium height and build, black eyes, black hair.
5. S831FamilySearch indexes naming James David Coffman's parents — Texas deaths and Social Security records of the Coffman brothers. FamilySearch 1:1:VZCR-CLC (Texas death index: James Coffman, died 22 December 1972, Taylor County); 1:1:K3M3-Z4Z (Texas death: Dee Carl Coffman); 1:1:K7DS-V7K (Texas death: Joseph Franklin Coffman); 1:1:6K7G-ZNV2 (Social Security NUMIDENT: Jesse Lee Coffman); 1:1:M238-MGB (1910 census, Abilene). Checked 28 September 2026. Probable The brothers' records give their parents as D. E. Coffman and Mary Jane Wright. Index entries only; no images were read. They agree with James David's own death certificate (S134) and with Mary Jane Wright's certificate (S81).