Major John M. Allen

Galveston, TX

William S. Fisher, a Virginia-born soldier, captained a company at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, helping win Texas independence. Six years later he led the ill-fated Mier Expedition, a Texan raid into Mexico that ended in capture and the notorious "black bean" lottery of its prisoners. He died in Galveston in 1845, on the eve of Texas statehood.

Galveston, TX

North Carolina-born Warren DeWitt Clinton Hall came to Texas early and threw himself into the military expeditions that challenged Spanish and Mexican rule. At the time of the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in 1836 he was serving as acting secretary of war for the young Republic of Texas. He later practiced law and lived in Galveston until his death, and a Panhandle county bears his name.

Galveston, TX

A New York native, Henry Journeay (1815–70) joined the fight for Texas independence, serving in the army of Texas in 1836. Six years later he took part in the ill-fated Mier Expedition, a Republic of Texas raid into Mexico that ended in capture for many of its men. His grave marks a life bound up with the violent birth pangs of the Lone Star Republic.

Galveston, TX

A New York-born young man who came of age with the Texas Republic, Wilbur Cherry served in the Texas army during the revolutionary year of 1836 before turning to the printed word. In 1843 he purchased the Galveston News, joining the ranks of the frontier newspapermen who knit together public life in a scattered new nation. His Irish-born wife, Catherine, outlived him by decades, their intertwined lives marking Galveston's growth from Republic-era port to Gilded Age city.