Haunting the Graveyard: Unearthing the Story of the Coker Settlement

by Gayle Brennan Spencer

Inconspicuously tucked away north of Loop 410 and in the shadow of Wurzbach Parkway in San Antonio, the Coker Cemetery contains the graves of more than 600 people. Several Texas Ranger and Texas Historical Markers serve as obvious signs this turf is fertile with stories. Beginning with the arrival of Americans on the eve of the Texas Revolution, Haunting the Unearthing the Story of the Coker Settlement offers a regional perspective of a century of Texas history. While a schoolhouse and Methodist church served as anchors for the Coker Settlement, men who went off to fight in bloody battles of the Civil War, spent months pursuing Indians and herded cattle and horses northward, found settling back into everyday farm chores difficult. Struggling to survive, families battled rattlesnakes, endured extended droughts and suffered through the Great Depression. Many overcame these obstacles, only to find their rural lifestyle vanquished by San Antonio itself. As the city grew, increased demands for housing convinced some to sell. Roads to reach new homes chopped up dairy farms with wider and wider ribbons of asphalt, and airport runways buried fields. The headstones in Coker Cemetery are almost the only evidence of the former farming community, but the tales of its residents are rich. Expect to encounter some heart-breaking tragedies, a bit of mayhem and even an unsolved murder as their lives unfold on these pages.

496 pages, Hardcover

Published September 2, 2019

About the author

Gayle Brennan Spencer first migrated from Virginia to San Antonio, Texas, more than 40 years ago, equipped with a degree in international relations hampered by now-forgotten French as a second language. Following major stints of time with the Paseo del Rio Association creating such meaningful San Antonio traditions as the now-extinct Mud Festival, she departed to make her living on the computer as a freelance writer. The majority of her writing and design work was for nonprofit organizations.

In August 2004, Gayle returned to the River as Executive Director of the fledgling San Antonio River Foundation working to secure private contributions to complete the San Antonio River Improvements Project. With more than $10 million in pledges received for the project during her final fiscal year there, Gayle decided to stop to catch her breath - even take a vacation or two.

In February of 2021, Gayle Brennan Spencer and the Mister, presumably in semi-full possession of their faculties, packed up and moved to South Austin. She now writes and devotes herself to practicing the art of slow travel full-time. She blogs on Wordpress under Postcards from Barton Springs (postcardsfromsanantonio.com) and tweets under @postcardsfromsa.

The Author's nonfiction book about Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker, "Last Farm Standing on Buttermilk Hill: Voelcker Roots Run Deep in Hardberger Park," was released in 2010. "Haunting the Graveyard: Unearthing the Story of the Coker Settlement" was published in 2019. "An Ostrich-Plumed Hat, and Yes, She Shot Him Dead" was released via Amazon Kindle in December 2021.