Governor J. D. Sayers
Bastrop, Bastrop County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(September 23, 1841 - May 15, 1929) Joseph Draper Sayers moved to Bastrop with his father, Dr. David Sayers in 1851. His battlefield valor won him post of adjutant general of the Confederate Army in the Civil War. He married Ada Walton, and after Ada died, Orline (Lena) Walton. He was a Mason, a Methodist layman, a civic leader, and a lawyer. In 1873 he served as state senator from Bastrop. He was lieutenant governor, 1879-81; United States congressman, 1885-99; and governor of Texas, 1899-1903. Recorded - 1978
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Joseph Draper Sayers moved to Bastrop as a boy in 1851 and won distinction in the Civil War, rising to adjutant general of the Confederate Army through his battlefield valor. A Mason, Methodist layman, and lawyer, he built a long political career: state senator in 1873, lieutenant governor from 1879, U.S. congressman from 1885 to 1899, and governor of Texas from 1899 to 1903.
Why it matters
His career traces the path of a Confederate veteran who rose to lead Texas, embodying the postwar political ascendancy of the Old South's officer class.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hubbard - Trigg House
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This home was built in 1890 by Robert W. Hubbard, a Confederate veteran remembered for having fought in one of the last engagements of the Civil War. It later passed to a family descendant and was recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1964. The house stands as a tangible link between the postwar generation and the conflict that shaped their lives.
Home Town of Texas Confederate Major Joseph D. Sayers
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Joseph D. Sayers enlisted at Bastrop as a private in 1861 and rose through the Confederate ranks, winning a captaincy for gallantry at Valverde and organizing an artillery battery from cannons captured there. Wounded repeatedly in the Red River campaigns and the fighting in Louisiana, he served as a staff officer to Generals Tom Green and Richard Taylor. He returned home on crutches and later became a state senator, lieutenant governor, U.S. congressman, and, from 1899 to 1903, governor of Texas during the Spindletop oil strike and the Galveston hurricane.
Governor Sayers House
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Joseph D. Sayers built this Greek Revival home in Bastrop in 1868 for his bride, Ada Walton, having come to Texas from Mississippi as a boy and served as a Confederate officer in the Civil War. Returning to teach school and practice law, he rose through Texas politics as state senator, lieutenant governor, and U.S. congressman before serving two terms as governor from 1899 to 1903. The house stands as a physical anchor to one of the more consequential political careers of the post-Reconstruction South.
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