GOD & TEXAS: Sophia

Sophia Suttenfield Aughinbaugh Coffee Butt Porter was a complex character who attracted curious attention for her colorful behavior. Her life included four marriages, and was filled with a mixture of balderdash and mystifying exploits. Columnist Frank X. Tolbert referred to Sophia as the Texas version of Scarlett O’Hara.

Born in 1815 in Indiana, Sophia was just 17 when she married Jesse Aughinbaugh. Some say that he was the headmaster of her school when they eloped to Texas. Once there, he soon abandoned her. 

Many reports indicate that in between her several marriages, Sophia served as a camp-follower. These women traveled with the troops and washed their clothes and did other wifely duties. Sophia often told the story of how she tended to Sam Houston’s wounds following the Battle of San Jacinto. 

Sophia sought help from Sam Houston and Texas legislator Holland Coffee in acquiring a formal divorce from Aughinbaugh. As soon as the divorce was final, she married Coffee and they moved to his large plantation in Grayson County. Their happy life ended when Coffee died in a knife fight in 1846.

About one year later, Sophia married George Butt. Together, they enlarged the plantation and named it Glen Eden. Unfortunately, George was called up to fight in the Civil War and died in 1864. In 1944, most of Glen Eden was submerged when Lake Texoma was created.

An interesting incident occurred during the Civil War years that resulted in Sophia being named the Confederate Paul Revere. When union troops invited themselves into Glen Eden, Sophia made dinner for them and then took them into the wine cellar. Once the troopers were inebriated, she locked them in and crossed the Red River to warn Confederate Col. James Bourland.

In 1865, Sophia married Judge James Porter. He was a decorated officer with the Confederate army and brought the steadiness Sophia needed in her later years. Their 21-year marriage lasted until James died in 1886. During these years, Sophia became more aware of her atypical life and finally attended a Methodist camp meeting. It was then that she decided to follow Christ.

When she reached out to the local Methodist minister, he rebuked her for her earlier lifestyle and would not let her attend his church. But the Methodist minister in Sherman invited her into his congregation. Over the years the Porters made large financial gifts to that church. Further, they donated property for Southwestern University in Georgetown, and for the Preston Bend Methodist church that had rejected her. Sophia died at the age of 81, at peace with God and man.

Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) wrote, “There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” Jesus said in Matthew 9:13 NKJV, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. No one is beyond redemption. Not even Sophia Suttenfield Aughinbaugh Coffee Butt Porter.

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