Henry Livingston Thompson
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Commodore of the Texan navy. Died in Houston, Nov. 1, 1837. "The funeral of the late Commodore Thompson took place on the morning of Thursday last. His remains were followed to the grave by the largest and most respectable assemblage of citizens which has ever attended a similar occasion in this city. An oration was delivered at the grave by General Rusk." Texas Telegraph
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Henry Livingston Thompson served as a commodore of the navy of the Republic of Texas, the small fleet that guarded the young nation's Gulf coast. His death in Houston in November 1837 drew what the Telegraph called the largest and most respectable assemblage the fledgling capital had yet seen, with an oration delivered at the grave by General Rusk.
Why it matters
Thompson's honored burial reflects how the Republic of Texas prized the naval service that helped secure its brief independence.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- ยท Henry Livingston Thompson
- ยท Thomas J. Rusk
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
William C. Swearingen
Houston, TX
Kentucky-born William C. Swearingen sailed into Velasco aboard the schooner Pennsylvania on January 28, 1836, to fight for Texas independence, and served in Captain Amasa Turner's company at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto. He died in Houston on Christmas Eve, 1839. A tender line from a letter home โ asking that his son be kissed and told "Pappy will be there in the fall" โ survives him.
William Daniel Durham
Houston, TX
Born in England in 1814, William Daniel Durham threw himself into the Texas Revolution, joining the storming of Bexar in December 1835 and then fighting at San Jacinto in Captain William J. E. Heard's company. He rose to second lieutenant in the Milam Guards, a Houston militia unit, before his early death in 1838, just two years after independence.
John Richardson
Houston, TX
John Richardson came to Texas in 1834, on the eve of the revolution against Mexico. He served in Captain James Gillaspie's company at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, the decisive victory that secured Texas independence. He died in Houston, the young republic's capital, in 1840.
John Cheevers
Houston, TX
John Cheevers came to Texas in 1829, in the years when Anglo colonists were streaming into what was then Mexican territory. When the fight for Texas independence reached its climax in 1836, he stood among the men of Captain Thomas H. McIntire's company at the Battle of San Jacinto, the short, decisive clash that secured the Republic. He lived out his remaining years in the growing town of Houston, dying there in 1846.