Charles Jenkins Dibrell was born in Sparta, Tennessee on January 20, 1847.  During his boyhood, his father moved the family to Hallettsville, Texas, and Charles grew up there.  It was in Hallettsville schools that he became acquainted with his future wife, Minnie Lucia Hinckley.  Minnie, daughter and eldest child of Walter Roger and Anna (McDonald) Hinckley, was born In Racine, Wisconsin on August 17, 1851.  After the close of the Civil War, the family moved to Chicago.  The former schoolmates became engaged and the wedding day set.  The wedding dress of the bride-to-be was lost in the great Chicago fire of 1871, at the home of the dressmaker.  It was replaced and the couple were united in marriage Chicago on October 25, 1871.  Charles and his father-in-law were in sheet metal work in Dallas, but Charles longed for country life, so in 1880, he purchased 1,018 acres of land situated on Hords Creek in Coleman County, about two miles northwest of Coleman.  He built a large house for his wife and five children: Carrie May. born March 30, 1873; Walter Crockett, February 11, 1875; Florence July 7, 1877; Charles Jenkins, Jr., January 22, 1879; and Mariana, November 3, 1880.  From Dallas, the family came by train as far as the railroad had been built (probably to Baird), and then finished the trip to Coleman by wagon.

     On November 20, 1882, another girl, named Minnie, was born.  Two more sons were born, James Anthony, October 2, 1884, and Zack Hinckley, January 19, 1887.  While Charles was becoming a successful farmer, his wife was teaching the children reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic.  Carrie and Walter entered the fourth grade of the public school of Coleman at the ages of twelve and ten.  It was in 1885 that the children started school in town, and that was the same year that the railroad was built to Coleman and it ran right beside the school.

     In 1894, the Dibrell's oldest child, Carrie May, married Bird Wilson (see Bird Wilson).  Walter was five years old when the family moved to the farm near Coleman and attended the Coleman School.  Professor Carnes was the principal, Miss Zora Halbert was Walter's teacher, Miss Pettit was the third member of the faculty.  In the fall of 1892, he registered as a freshman at the University of Texas in the Civil Engineer course.  It was not possible to continue his education the following year, owing to financial difficulties during the severe depression of those years, but in 1897, he resumed his studies and in June 1900, was awarded a diploma as Civil Engineer.  He took a position in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, which included both shore and ship duties on Atlantic and Pacific coasts, U. S. interior surveys, operations in Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Hawaii.  In 1911, he joined the newly organized U. S. Lighthouse service and was sent to Ketchikan, Alaska, to have charge of all aids to navigation in Alaska, where in the summer of 1914, Nieta Irene Mitchell arrived to teach school.  This attractive young lady was very appealing to the bachelor Dibrell and the two were married in Los Angeles, October 4, 1916.  Their only child David McDonald was born in Ketchikan, October 7, 1919.  He majored in organic chemistry and economics and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in June 1941, at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.  He was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve in the spring of 1943, and commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1946.  On May 27, 1950, David married Mrs. Helene (White) Tate, Berkeley, California.  Helene's first husband was killed in World War II, and had one child, William James Tate, Ill.  Their son, Roger David, was born January 2, 1952.  The family resided in quarters on Yerba Buena Island during the final year (1965) of David's Naval career.  After his retirement, he moved his family to Honolulu, where he is a teacher of science and mathematics at Punahou School.  Walter C. retired in 1940, they moved from Ketchikan to Coleman in 1962, and resided on West College Avenue until after he had observed his 100th birthday.  He was recognized as the oldest living graduate of the University of Texas. and had much publicity as a Coleman Centenarian.  On his 105th and 106th birthday, Mr. and Mrs. Dibrell were living at Holiday Hill Care Center.  On January 16, 1982, Walter C. died, buried in Coleman.  Nieta, who became a Centenarian just twenty days after his death, passed away July 11, 1983.

     Florence finished public school in Coleman and then attended Teachers College at Huntsville.  She taught for many years in the schools of Fort Worth, before returning to Coleman where she lived with her mother and sister, Mariana, on Fifth Avenue.  She died in 1966 at Leisure Lodge Nursing home, and buried in Coleman.

     Charles Jenkins, Jr., was associated with his father in farming and later married the former Dera Tisdale.  She died November 23, 1968 (see Henry Harris Tisdale).

     Mariana finished her education, and taught Indian girls in Ardmore, Oklahoma for many years.  She returned to Coleman; never married.  She was secretary and member of the First Presbyterian Church.  She was a charter member of the DAR and treasurer of the organization for about fifty years.  She died September 3, 1969, buried in Coleman.

     Minnie finished Coleman High School with honors and attended Kidd Key College and the Dallas Conservatory of Music.  On April 24, 1907, she married Ben F. Robey (see John H. Robey).

     James Anthony married Anna Laurie Gray, and they had one son, Anthony, Jr.

     Zack Hinckley was an honor student at the University of Texas until a severe illness brought his education to a close.  He never married, buried in Coleman.