James Thompson
Daingerfield, Morris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1759-1841) Veteran of the American Revolution. Ancestors of James Thompson lived in Virginia in the 17th century. Thompson served in Capt. Bynum's Company of North Carolina Militia in 1781, helping win victory in the American Revolution. In pioneer spirit, he and his family later moved to Alabama, then to Mississippi, then to the Republic of Texas. Here in the new land, he was a revered patriarch. His son-in-law, John Peacock (1786-1848), fought in the 2D Regiment, North Carolina Militia, in the War of 1812. His health broken by the war, he went to Ittawamba County, Miss., where he received land in lieu of army pay. About 1840 he emigrated with his wife Zilpha (Thompson), four sons, two daughters, and his father-in-law to Paschal (Morris) County. Here he donated sites for a church, school, and cemetery. Thompson's grandson, Williams Peacock (1811-64), came to Texas in the 1830s, then returned to Mississippi and brought back his grandfather, parents, and other relatives. In 1841 President M. B. Lamar appointed him sheriff of Paschal (Morris) County. Later a member of the Texas Rangers, he was killed in an Indian fight. This family helped make Texas great. Thompson and many descendants rest in the Daingerfield Cemetery.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
James Thompson served in the North Carolina militia in 1781, helping secure American independence, before joining the westward drift of pioneer families through Alabama and Mississippi to the young Republic of Texas, where he was revered as a patriarch. His kin carried that martial thread onward: a son-in-law fought in the War of 1812, and a grandson became a Texas Ranger and county sheriff, killed in an Indian fight. Thompson and many descendants rest in the Daingerfield Cemetery.
Why it matters
Three generations of one family — Revolutionary soldier, War of 1812 veteran, and frontier Ranger — trace the nation's expansion from the eastern seaboard to the Texas frontier in a single bloodline.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · James Thompson
- · John Peacock
- · Williams Peacock
- · Mirabeau B. Lamar
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Rev. Nathan S. Johnson
Daingerfield, TX
Born in Virginia in 1802 and raised near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Nathan Johnson was licensed to preach in 1824 and served as a Methodist missionary to the Cherokee and others. He brought his family to Texas in 1851 and rode the East Texas circuit for seven years, ministering in towns like Marshall, Jefferson, and Clarksville before ending his life as pastor at Daingerfield, where he died of pneumonia in 1860.
Caddo Trace
Daingerfield, TX
The Caddo Trace was an ancient hunting and trade path worn by the Caddo people who lived in the northeast corner of what became Texas. Like many Indigenous routes, it was later taken over by newcomers, becoming part of stage and mail lines after 1840 and a road for teamsters and marching soldiers. It touched or crossed the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Trammel's traces, and modern state highways still trace its course.
Rocky Branch
Daingerfield, TX
Drawn by an abundance of creeks, settlers reached this corner of Northeast Texas as early as the 1820s and named the community for the rocky beds of its streams. Through the nineteenth century Rocky Branch grew into a full rural settlement with grist, lumber, and syrup mills, a cotton gin, a broom factory, and a general store, plus a rodeo arena and a baseball team. Its school served families for more than sixty years before consolidating with neighboring districts.
Trammel's Trace
Hughes Springs, TX
Blazed in 1813 by Nicholas Trammel, this pioneer trail ran from St. Louis down into Texas, knitting the older "Southwest Trail" to the King's Highway that led toward Mexico. It entered Cass County at Epperson's Ferry and arced through Chalybeate Springs, later Hughes Springs. In the decades before roads and railroads, such traces carried settlers, traders, and adventurers into the contested borderlands of a still-Spanish, soon-Mexican Texas.