Harrison County
Marshall, Harrison County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Formed from Shelby County; created January 28, 1839; organized June 12, 1842. Named in honor of Jonas Harrison, a pioneer statesman of New Jersey, who came to Texas in 1820. A member of the First Convention of Texas held at San Felipe in 1832. Died in 1836. Marshall, the county seat. Named in honor of John Marshall, chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Harrison County was carved from Shelby County and created in January 1839, in the days of the Republic of Texas, and organized in 1842. It honors Jonas Harrison, a New Jersey–born statesman who came to Texas in 1820 and served in the 1832 convention at San Felipe before his death in 1836. The county seat, Marshall, was named for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.
Why it matters
The county's naming ties frontier Texas self-government to both a Republic-era founder and the shaping figures of the early United States.
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Related people
- · Jonas Harrison
- · John Marshall
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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William Thomas Scott came to Texas in 1834 and founded the town of Scottsville, building this home of hand-hewn timbers and handmade brick between 1838 and 1840. He served as a congressman and senator in the Republic of Texas and eight terms in the state legislature, and in 1852 helped charter the Vicksburg & El Paso Railroad, a forerunner of the transcontinental-minded Texas & Pacific. Through his wife's family he was drawn into the bloody Regulator-Moderator feud that convulsed the region in the 1840s.
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