Asa Hill of Rutersville
Rutersville, Fayette County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1788? - 1844) Born in Martin County, N.C. Married Elizabeth Barksdale in Georgia, Oct. 6, 1808. Came to Texas 1835. In army in 1836, was sent by Gen. Houston to warn people in enemy's path. Settled here 1839. In 1840, enrolled eight children in Rutersville College. With sons Jeffrey and John C.C., joined the 1842 expedition to Mier, Mex.; captured, he drew a white bean thus escaped death, but was in prison until Aug. 1843. Jeffrey was wounded, captured, likewise imprisoned. John C.C., then 14, was adopted by Gen. Santa Anna. Asa Hill died here; was buried on Cedar Creek, off SH 159. Incise on back of marker: In Memory of Jeffrey Barksdale Hill, son of Asa Hill; william Carroll Jackson Hill, son of Asa Hill; James Monroe Hill, son of asa Hill; Asa Collinsworth Hill, son of Asa Hill; John Christopher Columbus Hill, son of Asa Hill; Lucy Amanda (Hill) Jones, daughter of James Monroe Hill; Frank Webb Hill, son of James Monroe Hill; George Alfred Hill, Jr., grandson of James Monroe Hill; Thomas Lindsay Blanton, great-grandson of Asa Hill
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Asa Hill came to Texas in 1835 and served the young republic in 1836, riding ahead of the enemy to warn settlers in the army's path. In 1842 he and two sons joined the ill-fated Mier Expedition into Mexico, where Hill drew a white bean in Santa Anna's deadly lottery and escaped execution, though he languished in prison until 1843; his youngest son, John C.C., was famously adopted by Santa Anna himself. Hill settled at Rutersville, enrolling eight children in its pioneering college before his death in 1844.
Why it matters
The Hill family's ordeal in the Mier Expedition and the drawing of the black beans became one of the enduring sagas of the Texas Republic, a tale of frontier sacrifice on the contested Texas-Mexico border.
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Related people
- · Asa Hill
- · John Christopher Columbus Hill
- · Antonio López de Santa Anna
Related events
- · Mier Expedition
Themes & tags
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