Ben Milam was killed when the Texas Revolution was just getting underway. But his leadership prior to his death helped inspire his fellow Texans to retake San Antonio in 1835 at the Siege of Baxer, and ultimately to win Texas independence. Milam was born October 20, 1788 in Frankfort, Kentucky, where he lived until joining … Read more
One of Texas’ most noted heroes, Ben McCulloch was born in Tennessee and died in Arkansas. He spent most of his life in service to Texas, however, and is buried in the Texas State cemetery in Austin. McCulloch was born November 11, 1811 in Rutherford County, Tennessee into a family that would grow to twelve … Read more
Francis Lubbock was born in South Carolina on October 15, 1815. Lacking a formal education, he engaged in an unsuccessful mercantile trade while still in his youth. He moved to New Orleans, then to Texas soon after the revolution was won. In 1837, he entered into public service as a clerk of the House of … Read more
Orphaned at the age of fourteen and widowed at twenty-four, Jane Wilkinson Long led a long and hard life. But her independent and determined character earned for her the title “Mother of Texas.” Long was born Jane Wilkinson on July 23, 1798 in Charles County, Maryland. Her father died when she was less that one … Read more
Already well known as an explorer and fur trader in Canada, Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle wound his way in 1682 down the Mississippi, claiming the entire Mississippi watershed in the name of France. Two years later, French king Louis XIV supplied LaSalle with ships and colonists to return to the mouth of the … Read more
Born in Georgia in 1798, Mirabeau B. Lamar excelled in his youth as a horseman, writer of verse, and painter in oils. He came to Texas in 1835. After a quick trip back to Georgia to settle his affairs, he returned to Texas in the midst of the revolution and enlisted as a private in … Read more
Scott Joplin, the “King of Ragtime” music, was born near Linden, Texas on November 24, 1868. He moved with his family to Texarkana at the age of about seven. Even at this early age, Joplin demonstrated his extraordinary talent for music. Encouraged by his parents, he was already proficient on the banjo and was beginning … Read more
Anson Jones was born in Massachusetts in 1798. He studied medicine and began a medical practice in Philadelphia in 1826. Jones came to Texas in 1833 and during the struggle for independence entered the army as a private soldier. Following the revolution, Jones was elected to the second Congress of Texas in 1837, and the … Read more
Born in Washington, Kentucky in 1803, Albert Sidney Johnston attended Transylvania University before graduating from the U. S. Military Academy in 1826. Johnston resigned his military commission in 1834 because of his wife’s illness, and farmed near St. Louis in 1835 before coming to Texas to enlist as a private in the Texas army. Because … Read more
One of the most colorful and controversial figures in Texas history, Sam Houston was born in Virginia on March 2, 1793. He spent much of his youth, however, in the mountains of Tennessee. There, young Houston became acquainted with the Cherokee Indians, and he spent much time with them, an activity which he much preferred … Read more