Dr. Daniel Rowlett
Bonham, Fannin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(b. Virginia, 1786 - d. Texas, 1848) Came to Texas 1836. Caused Fannin County to be created, 1837. Served as Congressman, Republic of Texas, 1837-38, 1839-40, 1843-44. Helped (1840) organize Constantine Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M., and was its first Worshipful Master. Was most versatile pioneer here.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Virginia in 1786, Dr. Daniel Rowlett came to Texas in 1836 and quickly became one of the young republic's most active frontiersmen. He engineered the creation of Fannin County in 1837 and served several terms in the Congress of the Republic of Texas. In 1840 he helped organize Constantine Masonic Lodge No. 13 and became its first Worshipful Master.
Why it matters
Founders like Rowlett built the counties, laws, and institutions of the Republic of Texas from raw frontier, shaping the state that would join the Union in 1845.
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Related people
- · Daniel Rowlett
Related events
- · Creation of Fannin County
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Col. James Tarleton
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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.
Inglish Cemetery
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The county's oldest burial ground holds the story of its frontier beginnings: Bailey Inglish donated a plot near old Fort Inglish, and among the pioneers laid to rest here are victims of an 1838 Indian attack, the 1836 colonizers who first claimed Fannin County, and veterans of the Texas Revolution.
Vicinity of Fort Inglish
Bonham, TX
In 1837 Bailey Inglish, a former Arkansas sheriff, led a train of oxcart settlers to a Republic of Texas land grant and built a log stockade and blockhouse for defense. The fortified settlement became the seed of the town, which fended off frontier raids—one 1841 fight saw two boys taken and later returned. First called Bois d'Arc, the town was renamed in 1843 for Alamo defender James Butler Bonham.
First Baptist Church
Bonham, TX
Organized in 1852 with six members, Bonham's First Baptist Church began in a log building that doubled as the town's school — a common frugality on the Texas frontier, where an Indian trail still ran nearby. Early converts were baptized in a local pool, and the congregation generously shared its space with other denominations. A succession of ever-larger buildings followed, one of them dedicated in 1921 by the renowned evangelist George W. Truett.