Alexander Thomson, Jr.
Caldwell, Burleson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(August 29, 1785 - June 1, 1863) A leader in colonizing Texas, Alexander Thomson, Jr., was born in St. Matthew's Parish, South Carolina, the only son of Alexander and Lucy (Fontaine) Thomson. He later lived in Georgia before moving to Tennessee. There, in 1830, he became partner with empresario Sterling C. Robertson in the development of the Robertson Colony. Conducting a number of families who had signed agreements to settle in the Robertson Colony, Thomson crossed into Texas and came to Nacogdoches three days after Mexican officials there received notice of an 1830 law requiring passports of immigrants. After Thomson tried unsuccessfully to have the rule waived for hardship reasons, the party bypassed Nacogdoches and made a new trail that came to be called the Tennesseans' Road. Thomson lived for a time in Austin's Colony, representing District of Hidalgo (now Washington County) at Texas Convention of 1832. By 1835, when he was Consultation delegate from Viesca (later Milam Municipality), he lived in and served as official surveyor of Robertson's Colony. Still a leader, he was executor of Robertson's estate in 1842. Married twice and the father of 13 children, Thomas was the ancestor of many noted Texans, including Thaddeus A. Thomson, United States envoy to Colombia and signer of the Thomson-Urrutia Treaty in 1914. He was also a leader in the early Methodist church in Texas. He is buried in the Thomson Family Cemetery (approx. 2 mi. NE) near Chriesman, also known as Yellow Prairie. He is remembered today as a pioneer and a patriot. (1972, 2004)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in South Carolina in 1785, Alexander Thomson, Jr. became a leader in the Anglo colonization of Texas, partnering in 1830 with empresario Sterling C. Robertson to settle families in the Robertson Colony. When Mexican officials began requiring passports of immigrants, Thomson's party bypassed Nacogdoches and blazed a new route that became known as the Tennesseans' Road. He served as a convention delegate, colony surveyor, and executor of Robertson's estate, and fathered thirteen children whose descendants include a U.S. diplomat.
Why it matters
Thomson embodies the empresario era that brought thousands of American families into Mexican Texas, setting the stage for revolution and statehood.
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Related people
- · Alexander Thomson, Jr.
- · Sterling C. Robertson
- · Thaddeus A. Thomson
Related events
- · Robertson Colony settlement
- · Texas Convention of 1832
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Town of Chriesman
Caldwell, TX
Originally called Yellow Prairie and settled by Alexander Thomson, Jr. — an early Texas patriot and partner of colonizer Sterling C. Robertson — this community relocated to the railroad tracks when the line came through in 1880. It was renamed in 1884 for Capt. H.C. Chriesman, a surveyor for Stephen F. Austin. Today it serves the surrounding ranches.
Horatio Chriesman
Caldwell, TX
Horatio Chriesman came to Texas from Kentucky in 1822 and became a surveyor for Stephen F. Austin's Colony, laying out land in the Mexican province during its earliest Anglo settlement. He fought in conflicts with Native peoples and served under Sam Houston in the war for Texas independence, and in 1837 sat on the commission that chose the capital site for the new Republic. A Methodist lay leader and father of eleven, he was a pioneer figure in Burleson County.
Waugh Campground
Caldwell, TX
Donated by the Baltimore-born Addison family, this Methodist camp-meeting ground honored Bishop Beverly Waugh, who presided over the first Methodist Conference in Texas. In the frontier decades it drew crowds for revivals and quarterly conferences—here the young B. H. Carroll, later a towering Baptist leader, was converted. Its open grounds also hosted secular events, most famously an 1857 debate between U.S. Senator Sam Houston and Judge A. S. Broaddus.
City of Caldwell
Caldwell, TX
Caldwell was founded in 1840 by Lewis L. Chiles, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto, and named for Mathew 'Old Paint' Caldwell, an Indian fighter and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. It served as county seat of Milam County in 1845 and has been the seat of Burleson County since 1846. The town is home to the Burleson County Fair.