Zachariah Ellis Coombes

Portrait of Zachariah Ellis Coombes (1833–1895), American lawyer, politician, and Confederate States Army officer in Texas.

Zachariah Ellis Coombes (March 30, 1833 – November 25, 1895) was an American lawyer, politician, and Confederate States Army officer in Texas. He served as county judge of Dallas County during Reconstruction and later represented Dallas County in the Texas House of Representatives (19th Legislature, 1885).

Early life and family Coombes was born in Nelson County, Kentucky, to William and Ivy (Green) Coombes. His family moved to the Dallas area in 1843 as early members of the Peters Colony. He later returned to Kentucky for schooling before resettling in Texas.

Civil War service During the American Civil War, Coombes entered Confederate service in 1862 in the 31st Texas Cavalry (Trezevant C. Hawpe's regiment). He was promoted to lieutenant in April 1863 and to captain of Company G in June 1863.

Freemasonry and civic activity Coombes was a Mason; the Handbook of Texas notes he served "for a time" as grand master of the state body.

Cemetery-related land transactions The Texas Historical Commission's marker text for Western Heights Cemetery states that the cemetery was formally dedicated in 1881 when land was set aside for a "graveyard forever" by "Z. E. Coombes and W. R. Fisher," and it lists Coombes among pioneers interred there.

A Texas Historical Commission publication about Oakland Cemetery notes that the Oakland Cemetery Company, incorporated in 1891, purchased 60 acres in 1892 from "Z. E. Coombes and W. B. Gano" (among other sellers) as part of the cemetery's early land assembly outside Dallas city limits at the time.

Death and burial Coombes died in Dallas on November 25, 1895. He was buried at Western Heights Cemetery in Dallas. The Legislative Reference Library's member profile also lists contemporaneous death notices and funeral coverage in The Dallas Morning News (late November 1895).