Burial Site of David G. Burnet
Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1788-1870) Provisional President of Texas (March 16, 1836 - Oct. 22, 1836). A man of strong principle who carried a gun in one pocket and a Bible in the other, Burnet acted as a cohesive force in the chaotic days of early Texas independence, though his dour, quick-tempered disposition kept him from ever winning wide popularity. As an idealistic youth, he took part in the Miranda Expeditions (1806 and 1808) to free Venezuela from Spain, almost losing his life to yellow fever. He bought a trading post, 1817, in Louisiana, but had to sell it after developing tuberculosis. Though weak from the disease, he rode to west Texas, where he fell into the hands of unusually friendly Comanches. He lived with them for 18 months, thus becoming an expert on the pre-settlement days of these Indians. Burnet began his statesman's career in 1833 when Texas was beginning her fight for independence from Mexico. In 1836, he ran as a compromise candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Texas and won by 6 votes. His interim government was mainly concerned with winning military victory and escaping, sometimes only by minutes, Mexican troops. In later years, he held various offices under the Republic and State of Texas. He married Hannah Este in 1830 and they had four children. Recorded - 1967
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
David G. Burnet led an eventful life long before he served as provisional president of the Republic of Texas in 1836 â joining youthful expeditions to free Venezuela from Spain, running a Louisiana trading post, and, while ailing with tuberculosis, living some eighteen months among the Comanches of west Texas. Elected the republic's interim president by a margin of six votes, he guided a chaotic government that was often fleeing Mexican troops by minutes even as it pressed for military victory. A man said to carry a gun in one pocket and a Bible in the other, he held office through the republic and statehood before his death in 1870.
Why it matters
Burnet steadied the fragile provisional government of Texas in the frantic months of its independence, and his years among the Comanches make him a rare bridge between Anglo statecraft and the region's Native world.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- ¡ David G. Burnet
- ¡ Hannah Este Burnet
Related events
- ¡ Republic of Texas
- ¡ Miranda Expeditions
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
William Tennant Austin
Galveston, TX
Connecticut-born William Tennant Austin came to Texas in 1829 and threw himself into its revolution, fighting in the 1835 Siege of Bexar and serving as aide to his distant relative Stephen F. Austin as well as to Generals Burleson and Houston. He commanded the Port of Velasco, held county offices, and worked as a customs collector before moving to Galveston as a cotton factor, later serving the Confederacy in the Civil War.
Thomas Henry Borden
Galveston, TX
Thomas Henry Borden was one of Austin's 'Old Three Hundred,' the first legal Anglo-American colonists of Texas. A surveyor, he laid out the town of Galveston, and in 1835 he helped found the Telegraph and Texas Register, the newspaper that chronicled the Texas Revolution. A New York native, he lived in Galveston until his death in 1877.
John Overton Trueheart
Galveston, TX
John Overton Trueheart came to the young Republic of Texas from Virginia around 1838 and earned a land grant for riding with Jack Hays' celebrated Texas Rangers. Settling in the booming port of Galveston, he built a general land agency with partner Memucan Hunt and brought his family west. The Trueheart name lingered in the city's Trueheart-Adriance Building and even in varieties of oleander named for family members.
Michel B. Menard
Galveston, TX
A French-Canadian trader, Michel B. Menard reached Texas in 1829 and settled on Galveston Island in 1833, then signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836. As a founder of the Galveston City Company he steered the island's early development into a major port, and later served the Republic in its Congress. Menard County was named in his honor in 1858.