Daniel and Precilla Gilleland
Rockdale, Milam County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Among the first Anglo American settlers to come to Texas with colonizer Stephen F. Austin, Daniel (b. 1795) and Precilla Boatwright (b. 1803) Gilleland were members of Austin's Old Three Hundred colony. The couple and their infant daughter, along with relatives in the Kuykendall and Boatwright families, left their homes in Arkansas Territory and arrived in Texas in December 1821. Making his living as a farmer, Daniel Gilleland received land grants in present Colorado and Austin counties. During the 1830s and 1840s the family moved frequently, farming in Wharton, Fayette, Washington, Harrison, and Montgomery counties. By 1847 they had settled in present Milam County. Daniel Gilleland was instrumental in the growth of the Methodist church in Texas, assisting several congregations. He and Precilla were the parents of thirteen children, three of whom died in childhood. Six Gilleland sons served in the Confederate army. The family cemetery (2.8 miles SW) was established in 1848 and serves as the final resting place of Daniel and Precilla Gilleland, both of whom died in 1873 after more than 50 years spent as pioneers in Texas. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Daniel and Precilla Gilleland were among Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred, the first Anglo-American families legally colonizing Texas, arriving from Arkansas Territory with their infant daughter in December 1821. Over the next decades they farmed their way across a half-dozen counties, Daniel helping plant Methodist congregations as they went, before settling in present Milam County. Parents of thirteen children — six sons of whom served in the Confederate army — the couple both died in 1873 after more than fifty years as Texas pioneers.
Why it matters
As members of the Old Three Hundred, the Gillelands helped launch the Anglo-American settlement of Texas, a migration that would ultimately reshape the map of North America.
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Related people
- · Daniel Gilleland
- · Precilla Boatwright Gilleland
- · Stephen F. Austin
Related events
- · Austin's Old Three Hundred
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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