Ira Ingram
Matagorda County, Matagorda County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First alcalde of Matagorda municipality, 1834. Member of the Congress of the Republic and first Speaker of the House of Representatives, 1836. Pioneer patron of public school. Born in Vermont August 18, 1788 died September 22, 1837.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Vermont-born Ira Ingram cast his lot with Texas in its revolutionary years, serving as the first alcalde of the Matagorda municipality in 1834 and, two years later, as the first Speaker of the House in the Congress of the new Republic of Texas. An early champion of public schooling, he died in 1837, barely outliving the republic's founding. His grave marks the passing of a founding-generation Texan.
Why it matters
Ingram belongs to the small cohort of leaders who built the legislative institutions of the Republic of Texas and planted the idea of public education on the frontier.
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Related people
- · Ira Ingram
Related events
- · Republic of Texas Congress
Themes & tags
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