Col. James Tarleton
Bonham, Fannin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(August 4, 1789 - April 4, 1861) In the cause of independence, raised company of 36 riflemen in his native Kentucky, starting for Texas November 1835. City of San Antonio was liberated by time they arrived. Although an officer, Tarleton fought in the ranks in the victory at San Jacinto, April 21, 1836. Col. Tarleton settled in Fannin County with son, Robert Price Tarleton (1833-1897). Tarleton's wife, Nancy Price, had died in Kentucky in 1835.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In late 1835 James Tarleton raised a company of 36 riflemen in his native Kentucky and set out for Texas, arriving to find San Antonio already liberated. Though an officer, he fought in the ranks at the victory of San Jacinto in April 1836. Having lost his wife Nancy in Kentucky that same year, he settled afterward in Fannin County with his son Robert.
Why it matters
Tarleton is one of the many volunteers who poured from the American states into the Texas Revolution, then stayed to settle the land they had helped win.
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Related people
- · James Tarleton
- · Robert Price Tarleton
- · Nancy Price Tarleton
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fannin County
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Anglo-American settlers reached this stretch of the Red River by steamboat in 1836, and Fannin County was created the next year, organized in 1838. It honors James W. Fannin, executed with his surrendered command at Goliad in March 1836, one of the darkest episodes of the Texas Revolution. County officials first met at Jacob Black's cabin, and the seat wandered from Warren to Bois d'Arc — renamed Bonham in 1844 for Alamo defender James Butler Bonham.
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A Tennessee native, John P. Simpson reached the raw new county of Fannin about 1837 and signed the petition that created it, in a region named for a hero of the Texas Revolution. He farmed here and became one of its first officeholders, serving as sheriff and chief justice, and he donated the land that became Bonham's courthouse square and downtown. He also led the Fannin Guards, a citizen militia that guarded this stretch of frontier.
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