John Edward Nite_Lucy Stepp Nite
Crockett, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
John Edward Nite (1805-1849) Lucy Stepp Nite (1807-1865) John Edward Nite, born in North Carolina, married Lucy Stepp, a native of Georgia, in 1826. Although robbed of $1800 in gold enroute to Texas from Tennessee in 1835, they were able to secure 1,506 acres of land along the Trinity River in Houston County by 1838. John served as a Captain of a Home Guard Ranger unit and later as the area's official mail carrier. Together they helped establish a school for their eight children and those of their neighbors. Recorded - 1992
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
John Edward Nite, born in North Carolina, married Georgia native Lucy Stepp in 1826 and set out for Texas from Tennessee in 1835 — robbed of $1,800 in gold along the way, yet still able to secure over 1,500 acres along the Trinity River by 1838. John served as captain of a Home Guard Ranger unit and later as the area's mail carrier, while the couple helped found a school for their eight children and their neighbors' families. Their story is that of the striving pioneer families who settled Houston County in the Republic era.
Why it matters
The Nites embody the ordinary settlers whose land claims, frontier defense, and homegrown schools built the fabric of the early Republic of Texas.
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Related people
- · John Edward Nite
- · Lucy Stepp Nite
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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