HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Joseph Baker

Austin, Travis County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Born in Maine 1804. Died in Austin, Texas, July 11, 1846. One of the founders of "The Telegraph and Texas Register" at San Felipe de Austin, October 10, 1835. A soldier at San Jacinto. First chief justice of Bexar County, 1836. Member of the Congress of the Republic, 1837. Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Maine-born Joseph Baker helped launch the Telegraph and Texas Register at San Felipe de Austin in October 1835, giving the Texas independence movement a printed voice on the eve of revolution. He then took up arms, fought at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto, and served the new republic as first chief justice of Bexar County and a member of its Congress before his death in 1846.

Why it matters

Baker's combined career as printer, soldier, and jurist shows how the Texas Revolution was won as much in the press and the courtroom as on the battlefield.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

  • · Joseph Baker

Related events

  • · Battle of San Jacinto
  • · Texas Revolution

Themes & tags

Military & WartimeWestward ExpansionFrontier HistoryMonument

Nearby & related markers

Gen. George W. Terrell

Austin, TX

George W. Terrell arrived in Texas in 1840, during the brief life of the independent Republic of Texas, and rose almost at once to its highest offices — associate justice of its Supreme Court, Secretary of State, and Attorney General. As chargé d'affaires he carried the young nation's case to the courts of England, France, and Spain in 1844–45, the very years annexation to the United States was being decided. He died in Austin in 1846, months after Texas became a state.

Col. Lewis Miles Hobbs Washington

Austin, TX

Georgia native Lewis Washington came to Texas around 1835 and joined the revolutionary forces at San Antonio, serving on Colonel Fannin's staff with the Georgia Battalion at Refugio and Goliad. He held an office in Sam Houston's administration during the days of the Republic of Texas. Years later he was killed in Nicaragua while working as a news reporter in Central America; his body was never recovered, though his wife Rebecca is buried here.

Fort Colorado Historical Marker

Austin, TX

In the first anxious years of the Republic of Texas, the young nation strung frontier posts along its edge to guard settlers from raids. This site marks Fort Colorado — also known as Coleman's Fort — a short-lived station of the late 1830s garrisoned by early ranging companies on the Colorado River near present-day Austin. It stood only about two years before being abandoned as the line of settlement shifted.

Davis Cemetery

Austin, TX

George W. Davis brought his family to Texas in 1835, on the eve of revolution. He fought in Captain Mosely Baker's company at the Battle of San Jacinto while his wife Emiline sheltered their children on the Sabine River during the Runaway Scrape. Davis received a large land patent in 1841 and built a home near this burial ground, which holds Davis family members and neighbors and is still cared for by descendants.