Isaac Lafayette Hill
Round Top, Fayette County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Born in Jasper County, Georgia. Moved to Texas in 1835. Taught school at Coles settlement. In Texas revolution served as 3rd corporal, Co. D, 1st regiment. Piloted ferry for Texas army at San Felipe during General San Houston's retreat, in 1836. Fought under Houston at the victorious Battle of San Jacinto same year. Later lived in San Felipe and on his land grant near Round Top. Was senator from Fayette County in State Legislature, 1853-1857.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Georgia and arrived in Texas in 1835, Isaac Lafayette Hill taught school before the fight for Texas independence swept him up. He piloted the ferry at San Felipe that carried Sam Houston's retreating army in 1836 and then fought at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto that same year. He later farmed his land grant near Round Top and represented Fayette County in the state legislature in the 1850s.
Why it matters
Hill's life traces the arc of a whole generation of Anglo settlers who arrived on the eve of revolution and stayed to build the institutions of the new Texas.
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Related people
- · Isaac Lafayette Hill
- · Sam Houston
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Round Top
Round Top, TX
Standing on the route of the Old San Felipe Trail, this monument honors the pioneers of the Round Top vicinity who fought for Texas independence. It names veterans of the Battle of San Jacinto and the Battle of Velasco, along with men of the Santa Fe, Snively, and Mier expeditions that followed in the turbulent Republic years. Several members of the Townsend family are among those remembered.
Breeding Family Cemetery / First School in Fayette County
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David and Sarah Breeding came from Kentucky in 1833 with their sons to settle here in Mexican Texas, and three of those sons—John, Napoleon, and Fidelio—fought in the Texian army, sharing in the victory at San Jacinto in 1836. On the family's land in 1834, a teacher named Rutland held what is remembered as the first school session in Fayette County, drawing children from settler families for miles around. The family cemetery opened with David Breeding's burial in 1843 and still holds him and his kin.
Asa Hill of Rutersville
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Asa Hill came to Texas in 1835 and served the young republic in 1836, riding ahead of the enemy to warn settlers in the army's path. In 1842 he and two sons joined the ill-fated Mier Expedition into Mexico, where Hill drew a white bean in Santa Anna's deadly lottery and escaped execution, though he languished in prison until 1843; his youngest son, John C.C., was famously adopted by Santa Anna himself. Hill settled at Rutersville, enrolling eight children in its pioneering college before his death in 1844.
Fayetteville
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Fayetteville began as a stage station on the Old San Felipe Trail, founded by members of Stephen F. Austin's first colony of settlers. The surrounding community became home to a remarkable roster of Texas Revolution figures—veterans of the Battle of Velasco, heroes of the San Jacinto campaign, and participants in the ill-fated Mier Expedition. Their presence made this quiet Fayette County town a gathering place of the Republic's founding generation.