In Memory of_Colonel Benjamin Fort Smith_and all other pioneers
Anderson, Grimes County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(FRONT) In memory of Colonel Benjamin Fort Smith, Dr. Robert C. Neblett, veterans of The War of 1812; Colonel Benjamin F. Smith, veteran of the Black Hawk War, 1832; Jared E. Groce, Joshua Hadley, William Robinson, delegates to the First Convention of Texas, 1832; Jared E. Groce, Francis Holland, Jesse Grimes, delegates to the Second Convention of Texas, 1833; Joshua Hadley, Dr. George M. Patrick, delegates to the Consultation, 1835; Benjamin Briggs Goodrich, Jesse Grimes, signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, 1836; Francis Holland, Anthony Drew Kennard, soldiers in the Army, 1835; Sarah Rudolph Dodson, who made a flag for a military company, Army of Texas, 1835. Erected by the State of Texas 1936 (BACK) In memory of Tapley Holland, John Camp Goodrich, Alfred Calvin Grimes, martyrs of the Alamo; Anderson Buffington, Benjamin Fort Smith, heroes of San Jacinto; Francis Holland, Michael Kennard, John F. Martin, Dr. Verplank Ackerman, William P. Zuber, Soldiers in the Army, 1836; Robert Holman Dunham who was massacred in Mexico, 1842; Kenneth Lewis Anderson, Vice President of the Republic, who died in Anderson, July 3, 1845; William Carley, veteran of the Mexican War, 1846; and all other pioneers who lived in this vicinity during the days of the Republic.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Erected by the State of Texas in 1936, this monument honors the pioneers of the Grimes County vicinity who shaped the Republic of Texas. Its two faces name veterans of the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War, delegates to the conventions that pressed for independence, signers of the Texas Declaration, martyrs of the Alamo, and heroes of San Jacinto. Among them are figures like Jesse Grimes and a woman who sewed a flag for the Texas army.
Why it matters
The memorial gathers a single community's remarkable roll of soldiers and statesmen who helped birth the Republic of Texas.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the 1820s and 1830s, the land along the Brazos and its tributaries in what is now Grimes County was among the first areas settled by Anglo-American colonists in Mexican Texas. Families came from the southern United States, drawn by fertile soil and generous land grants. Many of the men had already fought in American wars before they arrived. The marker lists veterans of the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War of 1832.
As tensions with the Mexican government grew, settlers held conventions in 1832 and 1833 to press their grievances. In 1835 they formed the Consultation, which moved toward self-government as fighting broke out. Within months, Texans had declared independence on March 2, 1836. The Alamo fell four days later, and in April the Texian army won a decisive victory at San Jacinto. The Republic of Texas then existed for nearly a decade before joining the United States.
This monument went up in 1936, during the Texas Centennial, when the state placed markers and monuments across Texas to honor the people and places of the Revolution and the Republic. The Centennial was a statewide effort to tell Texas history in stone, and this memorial is a typical example. A whole community's contribution is gathered in one place.
People & events
The two faces of this monument read like a roll call of early Texas, and many of the names carry big stories. Jared E. Groce was one of the wealthiest planters of colonial Texas and a delegate to the first two conventions. Jesse Grimes, for whom the county is named, served at the 1833 convention and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, along with Benjamin Briggs Goodrich. Others served at the Consultation of 1835 or in the army as the revolution began. Sarah Rudolph Dodson is remembered here for making a flag for a military company in 1835, a reminder that women shaped the revolution too.
The back of the monument turns to the cost and the victory of 1836. Tapley Holland, John Camp Goodrich, and Alfred Calvin Grimes died at the Alamo. Tradition has made Tapley Holland a figure of legend, though the most dramatic Alamo stories are hard to verify. Anderson Buffington and Colonel Benjamin Fort Smith are honored as heroes of San Jacinto, and several more neighbors served in the army that year. Robert Holman Dunham, the marker records, was killed in Mexico in 1842 during the violent years after independence.
The town itself takes its name from Kenneth Lewis Anderson, vice president of the Republic, who died here on July 3, 1845. His death came just as Texas was preparing to join the United States. He did not live to see the end of the republic he helped lead. William Carley, a veteran of the Mexican War of 1846, brings the story into the next conflict. The monument closes by honoring all the other pioneers of the area, many of whose names are lost.
Its place in the American story
The Texas Revolution and the Republic of Texas are part of the larger story of American expansion. Texas joined the Union in 1845, and that annexation helped bring on the Mexican War. The war's outcome reshaped the map of North America. The people named on this monument lived through every step of that process, from colonists under Mexico to citizens of an independent republic and finally of the United States.
The monument also shows how American wars connected across generations. Some of these men had fought in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War before coming to Texas. Others fought in the Mexican War after it. Moving west, many families carried with them a habit of military service and self-government that shaped the new country.
It is also a product of 1930s memory-making. The Texas Centennial was part of a national movement, during the Depression, to mark historic sites and celebrate local heroes. Reading this monument tells you about the 1830s, and also about how Texans in 1936 chose to remember them.
If you visit
Take your time with this monument, front and back. Reading the names in order is like walking through the founding of Texas, from conventions to the battlefield and on to the republic's final years. Look for the less famous entries too, like the woman who sewed a flag. Every name had a family and a farm somewhere nearby.
Anderson is a small, historic town in Grimes County with an old courthouse and a strong sense of its nineteenth-century past. It is a quiet place to stop. The rolling, wooded farmland around it is much the same landscape the early settlers knew.
This stop fits naturally into a Texas Revolution road trip. Washington-on-the-Brazos, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, is in the same region of the Brazos valley. The San Jacinto battleground lies farther southeast near Houston. Seeing them together turns the names on this monument into a story you can drive.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Benjamin Fort Smith
- · Jesse Grimes
- · Kenneth Lewis Anderson
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
- · Battle of the Alamo
- · Texas Declaration of Independence
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fuqua Family Cemetery
Anderson, TX
This family burial ground honors the Ephraim Fuqua family, among the earliest settlers in this part of Grimes County. Fuqua secured a land patent from the young Republic of Texas in 1841 and set aside part of it for a cemetery, whose first recorded grave belongs to a Confederate soldier who died in 1862. Generations of the family rest here, including veterans of the Spanish-American War and both world wars.
Anthony Drew Kennard
Roans Prairie, TX
Anthony Drew Kennard, born in Tennessee in 1788, served in the Army of Texas in 1835 during the struggle for Texas independence, and lies buried here with his wife Sallie Moore Kennard. The State of Texas erected this marker in 1936, the centennial of the Republic, to honor his service. His grave ties this quiet Grimes County spot to the revolution that made Texas a nation.
John Montgomery
Stoneham, TX
A native of Alabama, John Montgomery came to Texas about 1830 with his brother Andrew and joined the struggle for independence. Like his brother he served in Captain James Gillaspie's company at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, the battle that secured the Republic of Texas. The state placed this marker in 1957 to honor his part in that founding moment.
Andrew Jackson Montgomery
Stoneham, TX
Andrew Jackson Montgomery came to Texas around 1830 and took his place in the fight for its independence, serving in Captain James Gillaspie's company at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, the decisive victory that won the Republic of Texas its freedom. The marker, erected by the state in 1957, carries a supplemental plate offering differing dates for his birth and arrival, a reminder of how uncertain early frontier records could be.