HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

In Memory of Edward Conrad

Victoria, Victoria County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Born in Pennsylvania in 1810. Came to Texas in 1835. A signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence March 2, 1836. Died in Victoria July 13, 1836 while an officer in the Army of the Republic of Texas. Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Born in Pennsylvania in 1810, Edward Conrad came to Texas in 1835 on the eve of revolution. On March 2, 1836, he added his name to the Texas Declaration of Independence, casting his lot with the new republic. He died in Victoria that July while serving as an officer in the Army of the Republic of Texas, his life bound up entirely with Texas's fight for nationhood.

Why it matters

Conrad is remembered as one of the signers who founded the Republic of Texas, a pivotal step in the American expansion that would eventually reach the Pacific.

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Related people

  • · Edward Conrad

Related events

  • · Texas Declaration of Independence

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionMilitary & WartimeFrontier HistoryMemorial

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Laid out in 1824 when Martín de León founded Victoria in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas, this square was the town's oldest public burial ground. Pioneers, Texas Revolution soldiers of 1836, and later citizens of a cholera epidemic were interred here, along with soldiers under General Zachary Taylor and, during the Civil War, Confederate dead. After the war some occupying Federal troops destroyed headstones, leaving most graves unknown, and since 1899 the ground has been set aside as Memorial Square.

Fernando De Leon

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Silvestre De Leon

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