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 Sophia Porter - Preston Bend Cemetery - Preston, TX
N 33° 52.938 W 096° 38.053
14S E 718799 N 3751624
Grave of Sophia Porter in the Preston Bend Cemetery, Preston, TX. Porter is known as the "Confederate Paul Revere" for her bravery in preventing a possible Federal invasion of Texas during the Civil War.
Waymark Code: WMG4WX
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/13/2013
Views: 2
A Texas Historical Marker for Sophia Porter stands outside the cemetery, not far from her grave. It says: (1813-1899) Settled 1839 at Glen Eden, a site now under Lake Texoma (N. of here). Her husband, early trader Holland Coffee, built fine home. Guests included Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant. other Army officers, 1845-60. During Civil War, wined and dined passing Federal scouts, found out they were seeking Col. Jas. Bourland, Confederate defender of Texas frontier. While guests were busy, she slipped out, swam her horse across icy Red River, warned Col. Bourland, helped prevent Federal invasion of North Texas. (1965) -- Although the Handbook of Texas Online indicates that the wood from Glen Eden was accidentally destroyed, there is a "Replica of Sophia Porter's early home" at Frontier Village in Loy Lake Park, Denison, TX. A sign on the house suggests that some of the wood from Glen Eden survived. ( visit link)
Description:
This waymark's website link to the Texas Handbook Online has this to say about Mrs. Porter [Slightly edited, with a correction made to the birth year.]
PORTER, SOPHIA SUTTENFIELD (1813–1897). Sophia Porter, North Texas pioneer, was born on December 3, 1813, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the second child of William and Laura (Taylor) Suttenfield (or Suttonfield). Little is known of her childhood, but many stories exist about her adult life and her four marriages. In 1833 she married Jesse Augustine Aughinbaugh (or Auginbaugh), a druggist and teacher. In 1835 the couple arrived in Nacogdoches, where she said Aughinbaugh deserted her. As a participant in the Runaway Scrape, Sophia claimed to have arrived at the battle of San Jacinto and to have nursed Sam Houston there. Holland Coffee, a member of the House of Representatives and an Indian trader, successfully lobbied the Texas Congress to pass a bill granting Sophia Aughinbaugh a divorce from her missing husband, and on January 19, 1839, she and Coffee were married at Independence in Washington County. From there the couple traveled over 600 miles to Coffee's Station on the Red River in Grayson County. There they developed Glen Eden Plantation and the town of Preston until Coffee was killed in 1846. In December 1847 Sophia married Maj. George N. Butt (or Butts), who helped her run Glen Eden until he was killed in 1863. Butt reportedly was ambushed by a member of William C. Quantrill's gang. The sobriquet "Confederate Paul Revere" was given Sophia during the Civil War, when she is said to have ridden her mount across the Red River to warn Col. James G. Bourland and his men that Union troops were at her plantation. The story continues that Mrs. Butt supplied the enemy with enough wine that they remained unaware of her departure. One account claims she locked the inebriated men in her wine cellar while she rode off. Other variants say either that Bourland escaped the Unionists or that he came to Glen Eden and captured them. On August 2, 1865, Sophia Butt married Judge James Porter, and they lived together at Glen Eden until his death in 1886. Sophia joined the Methodist church in Sherman in 1869. She had no children, but she raised two of Holland Coffee's nieces. She died on August 27, 1897, and was buried near Glen Eden. When the area was to be inundated to form Lake Texoma, her home was dismantled with the intention that it be reassembled as a museum of Grayson County history, but the wood was mistakenly burned.
Date of birth: 12/03/1813
Date of death: 08/27/1897
Area of notoriety: Historical Figure
Marker Type: Monument
Setting: Outdoor
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Daylight hours
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
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