Husband: William Allen COLEMAN
Birthdate: 25 Sep 1838
Birthplace: Powder Springs, GA
Death date: 30 Oct 1917
Place of death: Carrollton, GA
Father: Henry Allen Coleman
Mother: Sarah Ann Barnes

Marriage date: 23 Dec 1858
Marriage place: Carrollton, GA

Wife: Cynthia Florence RIGGS
Birthdate: 27 Mar 1837
Birthplace: Butts co., GA
Death date: 3 Feb 1877
Place of death: Spanish Honduras
Father: John Riggs
Mother: Jane Florence

CHILDREN

Child No. 1: John W. Coleman
Sex: M
Birthdate: 1859
Birthplace: Alabama
Death date: 1896
Place of death: San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Marriage date:
Marriage place:
Spouses' names:

Child No. 2: William Forrest Coleman
Sex: M
Birthdate: 17 Mar 1864
Birthplace: Carrollton, GA
Death date: 10 Feb 1944
Place of death: San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Marriage date: Abt 1880
Marriage place: San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Spouses' names: Yndelacia Paredes
 
 
Documentation:
1. Cenus Reports, 1860, Carrollton, Carroll co., GA relative to William Allen Coleman (also known as Allen Coleman).
2. Record of marriage W.A. Coleman to Cynthia F. Riggs in Carrollton, GA on 23 Dec 1858.
3. Grave Markers, the Coleman Family Mauseleum and vicinity located in the General cemetery of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
4. Biography of William Allen Coleman.

Notes:
  !OCCUPATION: Farmer, Businessman, Municiple Mayor of Carrollton, GA
  !MILITARY: Confederate Veteran; Company E, First Georgia Cavalry.
  !MARRIAGE: Married 23 Dec 1858 to Cynthia F. Riggs of Butts county, Ga., d/o Rev John and Jane(Florence)Riggs of South Carolina, in Carroll co. Ga.
Children:
  John W. Coleman, b. 1859 d. Abt 1896
  William Forrest Coleman, b.17 Mar 1864 m.Yndalecia Paredes d.10 Feb 1944
  !MARRIAGE: Married, 14 Feb 1879, to Clara E. Kolb of Cobb county, d/o Valentine and Eliza (Gant) Kolb , in Cobb county, Ga.
  Children:
  Carlos Coleman, b. 25 Sep 1881 d. 8 Jun 1884
  Laura Kolb Coleman, b. 29 Feb 1884 m. Cleve Kingsbery
  James Henry Coleman, b. Abt 1887
  !MARRIAGE: Married, 16 Feb 1898, to Mollie Bailey of Carroll county, in Carrollton, Carroll county, Ga.
  !Notes: William Allen Coleman, son of Henry Allen Coleman and Sarah Ann Barnes was born 25 Sep 1838,in Powder Springs, Georgia.(Notes from interview of Laura Kolb Coleman,d/o W.A. Coleman, conducted by Mauricio Zepeda, of Orlando,FL.)
  !BIOGRAPHY. The following biography was transcribed from the book: "Memoirs of Georgia," Vol. 1, copyright 1895, by The Southern Historical Association, Atlanta, GA.
  !BIOGRAPHY:416,MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA; Vol. 1;Southern Historical Society: W.A. COLEMAN, farmer and banker, Carrollton, Carroll Co., Ga., son of Henry A. and Sarah Ann (Barnes) Coleman, was born in 1838. His paternal grandparent, George Coleman, was a native of South Carolina, and came from that state to Georgia early in this century. His father was born in Putnam county, Ga., in 1814, was reared a farmer, and was a soldier in the Indian war of 1836. For many years he was a bailiff, and also a major of militia in Cobb county,Ga., when to be a major was something of a distinction locally. He was a prominent member of the Missionary Baptist church. His maternal grandparents, James and Sarah (McKenzie) Barnes, were among the early settlers of Lincoln county, Ga. Mr. Coleman was reared on a farm in DeKalb county, and what little education he received was at the old-time log school so many times described elsewhere in this volume, and in obtaining it had to go three or four miles barefooted. In October, 1861, he enlisted in Company E (Capt. Sharpe), First Georgia cavalry, and continued in the service untill April 26, 1865. He was in many hard-fought battles, notably Chickamauga, Resaca, Kennesaw and Marietta---all the way to Atlanta and Savannah. He was on the skirmish line when Stoneman surrendered, and although he was neither wounded nor captured during the war, he narrowly escaped both. A spirit of enterprise and adventure took him to Honduras, Central America, in 1868, when he carried with him the necessary machinery and implements to engage extensively in saw-milling, fruit growing and cane-culture. He sawed the first lumber ever sawed and baled the first cotton ever baled for shipment in that country. His extensive manufacturing, agriculture and property interests in Honduras are now in charge of his son, William F., who resides there. From that source he derives a very large income, in addition to that from a large, well-improved farm in Carroll county, for, in addition to successfully managing enterprises so large and so remote, he prides himself on being one of the best farmers in this county. His success in everything he has undertaken has been phenomenal. He changed his residence from his farm to Carrollton, where he has an elegant home, so as to educate his children. He is one of the directors of the Carrollton bank. Mr. Coleman was married in 1858 to Miss Cynthia Riggs---born in Butts county, Ga.---daughter of John and Jane (Florence) Riggs, early settlers. Mr. Riggs was born in South Carolina, ran away from home and came to Georgia when sixteen years of age, and afterward became a Baptist minister of note. This wife died in 1877, leaving one child, William F., now in Honduras. In January, 1879, Mr. Coleman married Miss Clara, daughter of Valentine and Eliza (Gant) Kolb, a family of wealth, and among the first settlers of Meriwether county, Ga. By this marriage two children have been born to him---Laura and James. Mrs. Coleman is a member of the Missionary Baptist church and Mr. Coleman is a master Mason. (End)
  !Notes: A biography of James P. Griffen in the "Memoirs of Georgia,", 1895, The Southern Historical Association, Atlanta, Ga., states that Company E, First Georgia Cavalry, during the war, was in battles at Richmond, Ky., Wheeler's Gap, Murfreesboro,Tn., and Macon,Ga. (E. Coleman, Jr.)
  !Notes: Laura Kolb Coleman,d/o W.A.Coleman, in an interview conducted by M. Zepeda, stated that W.A. Coleman, during his service with the First Georgia Cavalry, had a horse shot out from under him, and that during the campaign in which they were chasing after Sherman, he only had rice to subsist on.
  !MILITARY: Confederate Service Records: William Allen Coleman, Pvt, Company E, and Company F, First Georgia Cavalry; (Microfilm No. 266, National Archives, Washington, D.C.) Information follows: *This company,(Company E), was designated at various times as Capt Blalock's Company. Lt. Col. Morrison's Battalion, Georgia Cavalry: Company F, 1st Georgia Cavalry; and Company E, 1st Georgia Cavalry. In 1862, W.A. Coleman was designated as a Company Blacksmith. "Apears on a Muster Roll of Officers and Men paroled in accordance with the terms of a Military Convention entered into on the 26th day of April, 1865, between General Joseph E. Johnston, Commanding Confederate Army, and Major General W.T. Sherman, Commanding United States Army in North Carolina." Paroled at Charlotte, N.C., May 3, 1865.
  !Notes:Morrison's Cavalry, participated in the Operation in Central Tennessee and Kentucky Jul-Oct 1862, led by General Nathan Bedford Forrest. This battalion was personally led by General Forrest on his raid and capture of the town of Murfreesboro on 12 July 1862.("That Devil Forrest," by John Allan Wyeth, Copyright 1989, Louisiana State University Press. Also, "Bedford Forrest, and His Critter Company," by Andrew Nelson Lytle, Copyright 1931/84/92, J.S. Sanders & Company.)
  !Notes:Laura Kolb Coleman, d/o W.A. Coleman, in a letter to Mauricio Zepeda, about 1963, stated that W.A. Coleman,1838-1917, had srved in the First Georgia Cavalry under Joe Wheeler, and, that after the war, he went to Honduras, and lived there for twenty-five years, then returning to Georgia and leaving Honduras interests to his son, William Forrest Coleman.
  !Notes: Letter from Laura Kolb Coleman, dated 17 May 1963: Dearest Marie and Willy,....."Yes, dear, I was born in San Pedro Sula on Feb. 29, 1884. Our old home is still standing, with its same mahogany floors. You and all the family spent a year there once after you all came to Carrollton to stay with us. Miss Helen Brown went down there with you all as governess. Next time you are here, remind me to show you some pictures..."...."My father and a group of friends went to Honduras after the Civil War, in which he fought all four years in the First Georgia Cavalry. I have his sword. After Sherman's march through Georgia, when he burned and destroyed everything in our part of the state (around Kennesaw Mt. and Marietta), things were very bad, and this group of young soldiers and their families decided to go to Honduras. Others went to Brazil. In those days, the trip across the Gulf had to be made by schooner. A storm wrecked the boat that Father was on, but he and his wife and two little children ( your father and Jack) made their way to shore (north of Puerto Cortez), saving only Father's rifle and violin. Several others in the party were saved, but they did not like the foreign country and came back to Ga. After many ups and downs, our little family settled in a village which is now San Pedro Sula, and by constant hard work and determination, Father made a fortune, as you know. He came back to bring money to his parents (Henry Allen and (---) Barnes Coleman," ...."as often as he could. They lived at Powder Springs, Ga. When your father was about 12, his mother (who was a Riggs, of Villa Rica, Ga.) died, and he brought her back to Villa Rica to be buried -- that little fellow, all by himself, while Father and Jack worked day and night to finish a sawmill which the goverment had ordered. Father gave your papa a large sum of money (I've forgotten the amount now) and told him to pay all expenses, save out enough for his return trip, and put the rest in the bank at Carrollton. Think of the responsibility on that young boy -- but even then he knew how to accomplish things. He kept that money right with him every minute. When his mother's family offered to take him to Carrollton, he just thanked them and said he'd rather walk. And so he did
  !Then that smart, reliable boy took the train to New Orleans, the ship to Honduras, and was back home in San Pedro in record time. A few years later, when Father came on a visit to the States, he and my mother (Clara Kolb) were married in Marietta, Ga. (Her family was also from Charleston, S.C.) A couple of years later, my older brother Carlos was born, and then I came along three years after that. Jim was not born untill we were living back in the States. Father and Mother had decided that Carlos and I should go to school over here.* They lived in New Orleans at the St. Charles Hotel while they made plans for the future. Then, on a visit to my Aunt Laura at Waverly Hall, Ga., Carlos contracted smallpox and died. He is buried there. Father bought a large plantation in Ga. from his brother, Uncle Jim, and my brother Jim was born there. We moved to Carrollton and my mother died there in 1897. For several years a cousin kept house for us, and then Father married Mama Mollie, and you know the rest, I think, from then on. I do hope Vera is getting better by now. Please give her and Anita, Johnny, Wally, Betty & Bobby our love. Hope some of you will be coming our way this summer. It is truly springtime now and I'm glad.
  !A heart full of love to you both.
  !Devotedly, Laura & Cleve
  !Father left his business and everything with your papa and Jack. You, of course , know that Jack died. (Courtesy Mauricio Zepeda, Orlando, FL.)
  !MARRIAGE RECORD: William Allen Coleman married to Cynthia F. Riggs on December 23, 1858 by Rev S.T. Sims, M.G. in Carroll county, Ga.(Georgia State Archives; MF#173/19; Marriage Book C, Carroll co., 1827-66, p.424). Children born to this marriage were as follows: a. John W. Coleman, b. 1859,(probably born in Alabama) b. William Forrest Coleman, b. 17 Mar 1864, Carrollton, Ga.,married Yndalecia Paredes abt 1881, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
  !MARRIAGE RECORD: William Allen Coleman married to Clara E. Kolb on January 14th, 1879, at Marietta, Ga.(Georgia State Archives). Children born to this marriage were: a. Carlos Coleman, b. 25 Sep 1881, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Died 8 June 1884 at Waverly Hall, Ga. b. Laura Kolb Coleman, b. 29 Feb 1884, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras; married Cleve Kingsbery. c. James Henry Coleman,b. abt 1887, Carrollton, Ga.
  !Notes: News Item from "Carroll County Freepress," dated 24 Jan 1896: "Mr. W. A. Coleman went up to Atlanta Tuesday. He will also visit Marietta before he returns." 2nd Item dated 24 Jan 1896: "Mr. W. A. Coleman has bought out the interest of sheriff J. C. Gammon in the business of Robison & Gammon on Newnan street and the business will hereafter be conducted under the name of Robison & Coleman. Mr. Will Coleman,(John William Coleman), has resigned the office of deputy sheriff and has accepted a position with Robison & Coleman. He will give his entire time to this firm and will be glad to have his friends call and see him."
  !MARRIAGE RECORD: Captain William Allen Coleman married to Mollie Bailey on February 16th, 1898, at Carrollton, Ga., by J.C. Wingo, Gospel Minister.(Microfilm # 173-22, Carol co. marriages Book I, 1898-1904, p.61, and Microfilm # 300-42, Loose marriages--Cpt Coleman & Mollie Bailey., Georgia State Archives). No children were born to this marriage.
  !OBITUARY of W.A. Coleman appears in the "Atlanta Constitution," dated November 2d, 1917, on page 5. The following is an extract:
  !W. A. COLEMAN, OF CARROLLTON, DEAD
  !Carrollton, Ga., November 1 (Special.)-- Captain W.A. Coleman, a prominent citizen of Carrollton, died October 30, and his funeral occurred at the First Baptist church today. He was buried in the city cemetery with Masonic honors. Captain Coleman was a confederate veteran. He leaves a widow and two sons who reside in Honduras, and one daughter, Mrs Cleve Kingsbery, of Birmingham, Ala. Mr. Coleman at the close of the war went to Honduras, where he resided a number of years and accumulated a handsome estate. When he came back to his old home, He served two years as mayor of Carrollton.
  !Notes: Wiliam Allen Coleman died on Oct 30th, 1917 in Carrollton, Ga. He was buried in the family plot, in Carrolton City cemetery, Carroll co., Ga. The inscription on his gravestone reads: W.A. Coleman, Sept 25, 1838-Oct 30, 1917.(Photographed by E. Coleman, Jr., 1997).
  !Notes: The "Southern Cross of Honor" was presented to W.A. Coleman by the United Daughters of The Confederacy after 1895.(Notes from communication with Mr. Charles Lott, Commander of Camp 165, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Carrollton, Ga.....E. Coleman, Jr., 1996).
  !Notes: A book titled "The Confederados," by Dawsey, The University of Alabama Press, Copyright 1995. The focus of this book is primarily on the immigration of Confederates to Brazil, and only mentions Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. Its value is in its description of the post war setting, circumstances, and motivations of those Confederate soldiers who chose to immigrate to Latin America following the war. These conditions and the impact of immigration were shared by all ex-confederates and the countries to which they immigrated.
  !Notes: A book titled "Biografia De San Pedro Sula: 1536-1954,"in Spanish, by Rodolfo Pastor Faquelle, 1989, CENTRAL IMPRESORA, S.A., San Pedro Sula, Honduras. This book states that there were two waves of Ex-Confederates, and Southerners who immigrated to Honduras to escape "Reconstruction" by their former enemies. The first wave consisted of 30 families led by Colonel Malcom Green of Kentucky in 1866. These families included the surnames of: Andrews, Barnes, Becker, Caron, Coleman, Doubleday, Duffie, Growle, Henderson, Hunter, Johnes, Lubbe, Mitchell, Murphy, Noren, Pierce, Port (or Porter), Schmidt, Thomas, Troy, Waller, and Weinreich. The following is an excerpt from that book: Chapter V, pages 179-182.
  !"Una nueva inmigracion configuradora"
  !La poblacion de San Pedro no iba a poder crecer rapidamente sobre una base tan exigua y parecia haber mayor interes de inmigrar, pese a las generosas ofertas de exencion del municipio y concesiones. Habia quizas por parte de la poblacion campesina del interior un rechazo de San Pedro Sula con fama de plagosa y en donde, aunque abundaban la tierra y el agua, no habia eso que ambiguamente llamamos "ambiente". A principios de 1866---recien resuelta la guerra civil norteamericana con el triunfo del Norte---llego a San Pedro sin embargo, como caido del cielo, un grupo numeroso de unas treinta familias norteamericanas surenas, encabezadas por el Coronel Mr. Green Malcomln. Ese grupo decia ademas ser un anticipo de otros que vendrian en el futuro proximo a avecindarse, huyendo de la "Reconstruccion" en su pais. Es dificil detectar que habia cambiado con respecto a la situacion de veinte anos atras, cuando los vecinos de San Pedro hablaban de todo extranjero como sospechoso y abusivo, cuando el enemigo era extranjero por antonomasia y el extranjero enemigo por definicion. Una de las objeciones de los conservadores contra la primera Reforma Liberal habia sido precisamente su fomento a la inmigracion anglosajona. En 1844 cualquier norteamericano hubiera sido considerado con mas desconfianza que entusiasmo o incluso curiosidad. En 1855 se hubiera hablado de los recien llegados como filibusteros. Pero algo habia cambiado. En todo caso, el Coronel M. se presento ante el cabildo a solicitar "por si" y a nombre de sus consocios que se les acogiera y "se les concediera" a los nuevos arribos "poblarse con nosotros y terrenos de los nuestros para edificar casas, para maquinas, fabricas o manufacuras y para cultivar." La municipalidad respondio positivamente, formalizandro a favor de los nuevos colonos una concesion que quedo plasmada en la siguiente acta, sin duda singular:
  !"Que el territorio de la Republica de Honduras es un asilo para todo extranjero, maxime que venga a trabajar...Que ofreciendo Mr Malcomln y sus consosios establecer fabricas y manufacturas en el pais y, ademas, ensenar a los hijos de este vecindario dichosoficios u otros; (ofreciendo) establecer una ruta de comunicacion por el Chamelecon entre Omoa y San Pedro, para exportar e importar mercancias suyas y de los hijos del pais, cobrandoles precios equitativos... Vivir fraternalmente con los de este pais y servirse mutuamente con ellos; acatar a las autoridades, las leyes y la religion del pais y contribuir, por su parte, a su respeto y cumplimiento de modo que, si entre ellos alguno faltare a su respeto, pediran y haran que sea castigado segun las dichas leyes... Y establecer colegios y escuelas de ensenanza para los hijos del pais ...ACORDO... Dar a todo extranjero que quiera radicarse en San Pedro Sula derecho a los ejidos de esta poblacion, para edificar casas.... y para el cultivo de la cana, el algodon, el cafe, etc. (advirtiendo)... Que los norteamericanos que han llegado y llegaren a establecerse no podran impedir a ningun centroamericano o de otra nacion amiga que viniere...edificar casas cerca de las suyas en los lugares que no tengan ocupados ...Que el derecho que tendran en los ejidos sera igual al que tienen los vecinos de San Pedro, para cultivar y cortar maderas... menos para exportarlas como articulo mercantil (y prometiendoles que)... Igual derecho tendran a las plantas medicinales y frutas silvestres sin dueno... y al uso de las aguas para sus maquinas, si de esto no resultare dano alguno al comun del pueblo... Que ninguno de los vecinos de San Pedro les molestara ni inquietara por la posesion de lo que adquieran bajo los principios de esta concesion y que el que lo hiciere sera castigado, como perturbador de la paz y la tranquilidad de las familias... Que de este acuerdo se de testimonio al Sr Malcomln, para que lo presente al Senor Presidente de la Republica para que, si lo estimare por conveniente, le de su aprobacion o disponga lo que fuere mas conveniente..."
  !Firmaban ese documento de 23 de Abril de 1867 "Monico Padilla el Secretario... Por el Regidor Mario Caliz, que no sabe firmar y por mi como Sindico, Antonio Sarabia, Por los Consejeros, Juan Caliz y Luis Matamoros, que no saben firmar y por mi como Consejero, Manuel Cruz, Timoteo Quintero, Lazaro Bardales. Por mi padre Serapio Reyes que no sabe firmar y por los Senores Jorge Vallecillo y Concepcion Vallecillo, Andres Reyes, Manuel Caliz, Jose Reynaud, Rufino Gonzalez, Eduardo Bukmor y Jose Maria Merlo." El Presidenteconservador Jose Maria Medina aprobo la concesion de San Pedro a su colonia nueva de norteamericanos. Y para certificacion legal de dicha aprobacion elActa-rubricada-fue reproducida por el numero 61 de La Gaceta, organo oficialdel gobierno, el 11 de Mayo del mismo ano. En tanto que evocan sus intenciones (reproducir a orillas del Chamelecon unsistema de plantaciones como el del Mississippi o la bahia de Virginia, conectadas con una capital comercial y orientadas al mercado europeo), laspeticiones de los surenos resultan conmovedores. Tal proyecto no tenia desde luego mayor viabilidad. Buena parte de los norteamericanos recien inmigrados seregresaron despues a su pais, "cuando vieron que aqui tampoco podrian teneresclavos y se dieron cuenta de que la gente era jodida" explica el historiadorlocal don Armando Bonilla Gastel. Pero no se fueron antes de fertilizar a SanPedro con proyectos y descendencia. Su idea de de lo que habia que hacer anticipa de alguna manera el desarrollo que, con el andar de los anos prevaleceria. Y varios esclavistas decepcionados se quedaron a trabajar, primero con sus manos y despues con la mano de obra inmigrada que empezo afluir hacia el litoral. Estos fueron los fundadores de la numerosa colonia norteamericana que, a principios del siglo, antes de la llegada de las fruteras, contaba todavia con casi treinta familias de apellidos: ANDREWS, BARNES, BECKER, CARON, COLEMAN, DOUBLEDAY, DUFFIE, GROWLE, HENDERSON,HUNTER, JOHNES, LUBBE, MITCHELL, MURPHY, NOREN, PIERCE, PORT (o PORTER), SCHMIDT, THOMAS, TROY, WALLER & WEINREICH. Varios de estos vecinos establecieron comercios, y relaciones comerciales con el sur de Estados Unidos,relaciones que se volvieron cada vez mas importantes despues de la industrializacion de ese pais a fines del siglo. Algunos se tornaron rancheros y sembraron bananos, igual que los nativos. Casi todos se convirtieron en ciudadanos ejemplares y por lo menos uno de sus descendientes, el Dr. Waller, habria de convertirse en un heroe local, durante las epidemias de fin de siglo.
  !CENSUS: US Census Report, Carroll county, Georgia; 6th District, Villa Rica, dated 3 Jul 1860: W.A. Coleman is listed as Allen Coleman, male , age: 21, Occupation: Farmer, with Wife: Cintha, female, age: 24, and son: John W.,male, age: 8 months.(National Archives).
  !MILITARY: History of the "First Georgia Cavalry," by John F. Walter, Copyright April, 1978; Revised: Dec 1996. : "The First Georgia Cavalry, was organized at Rome, Ga. during the fall of 1861. Slightly more than one thousand officers and enlisted men were mustered into service as members of the regiment. Shortly after being mustered into Confederate service the First Georgia Cavalry was ordered to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and from there, to Knoxville,Ky. The regiment served in the Department of East Tennessee untill the end of 1862. It then joined the Army of Tennessee, serving in that Army untill later 1863. It then returned to service in the Department of East Tennessee. It subsequently rejoined the Army of Tennessee. In early 1865 the unit served in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida before returning to the Army of Tennessee for a final time. The First Georgia Cavalry participated in more than one hundred and seventy-five various type engagements during its career. No official figure have been found to show how many members of the regiment were still with it when it finally surrendered in April, 1865. According to one unofficial source, however, fewer than fifty officers and enlisted men were still with the unit at that late date." (End).
  !LAND: Tax Digest, Carroll county, 6th district, 749 Militia District. ca. 1860: W.A. Coleman, 1 poll, Cash $125.00, Other property $210.00, total $335.00, tax .628 .
  !IMMIGRATION: Dr. Jose Guevara-Escudero, Ph.D. of New York, contributed the following information in a letter to E. Coleman, Jr. in an e-mail dtd 97-05-13: Dear Mr. Coleman, Jr. ....I found information on these people in Honduras but not in the USA. I am attaching a page of my dissertation which is being revised for publication. 2. One group of immigrants that came to Honduras with the purpose of settling on the north coast was that led by Major Green Malcom of Kentucky. Malcom, an ex-Confederate army officer, left Atlanta, Georgia in April, 1867 for the port of Omoa. Major Malcom planned to settle in the municipality of San Pedro Sula. In a letter to the President of Honduras, General Jose Maria Medina, dated May 3rd, 1867, Malcom explained the hopes of these new and unexpected immigrants. The undersigned respectfuly submits to your consideration, he wrote, that on the 10th of April after a passage of 10 days, I arrived in the city of Omoa with 70 souls, emigrants to your beautiful land, these persons consists of men, women, and children, who are what might be termed the forerunners of perhaps thousands of the best citizens of the Southern States, of the United States. We wish to make this our home. To find in this that which we have lost in our native land, liberty. To make this what our country was before it was destroyed by our enemies. Our desire is to claim your protection, defend you with our lives from foreign invasion, and to do our whole duty to our adopted country. Medina provided the( Kentuckians?) a town site which they later named after him. According to official dictates each family was to receive 61 ha of land and each single man 40 1/2 ha. An immigrant could buy an additional lot of the same size for the sum of $25 providing that the first lot had been cleared off immediately and improved within six months. The second lot had to be cleared and improved within twelve months. In addition, the immigrants were to have the same rights enjoyed by Honduran citizens to use public lands and national forest. They could obtain lumber from the forest whether for building or for use in their establishments or other purposes, excepting exportation. As for Major Green Malcom, he was made inspector of Foreign Immigration by the goverment in order to remove all difficulties that may arise (to further immigration) and to promote the views of the goverment on the subject of immigration. Few of the immigrants (from Kentucky?) succeeded in their enterprise. Medina City did not survive the hardship of the first months of existance and most of the immigrants went their separate ways. The biggest problem encountered by the new citizens who wanted to plant commercial crops with hired labor, was that the field hands were almost non-existent in that region. When they were available, the immigrants could not afford to pay the going rate of $7 to $10 per month. None the less, the records show that Green Malcom became one of the first large cultivators of cotton in the Sula valley in the 1880's and 1890's.(Charles Swett, A Trip to British Honduras and to San Pedro, Republic of Honduras, New Orleans, 1868,)
  !OCCUPATION: W.A. Coleman served one term as mayor of Carrollton, Georgia in the year 1897. Ref. "Elected Officials of Carrollton and Carroll county," by Miriam Merrell; Special Collections, Ingram Library,West GA College, Carrollton, GA.
  !Notes: News Item, CARROLL FREE PRESS, dated Jan 24, 1896,page 1; Carrollton, GA. " Mr. W.A. Coleman went up to Atlanta Tuesday. He will also visit Marietta before he returns."
  !Notes: News Item,(advertisement), CARROLL FREE PRESS, Carrollton, GA., Feb 7, 1896: " W.A. COLEMAN; Having bought out the Jewelry store of my brother, J.P. Coleman, I propose to keep in stock a good assortment of SOLID AND PLATED GOODS, GUNS, PISTOLS, AMMUNITION, CLOCKS, SEWING MACHINES, SPECTACLES, TOBACCO, &c. Mr. Tom Coleman will always be found ready to do all kinds of repairing of Watches, Clocks, Guns, Sewing Machines, Jewelry of all kinds &c under a gaurantee to be just what we say is, or do what we say it will do. W.A. COLEMAN.