Milton Irish
Center, Shelby County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(May 7, 1812 - July 15, 1869) Born in Maine in 1812, Milton Irish came to East Texas in 1835 at age 23. His service in the Texas Army in 1835 and 1836 included action with Capt. John English's Company of Shelby County Volunteers and Ben Milam's assault during the Siege of Bexar, as well as Col. James Fannin's command at the Battle of Coleto Creek. Taken prisoner at Goliad, Irish barely escaped the massacre. In 1838 he was granted a headright of 1/3 league in Shelby County and a bounty grant of 640 acres in San Augustine County. He married Emily Eaves in 1845. Irish left to search for gold in California and is believed to have died there in 1869. Emily settled on the Shelby County headright in 1864. She later supported herself and her children with a widow's pension and lands due her as a veteran's wife. Irish descendants became part of Shelby County history. (2000)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Maine in 1812, Milton Irish came to East Texas at 23 and threw himself into the fight for Texas independence. He served in the Siege of Bexar under Ben Milam and stood with Colonel Fannin's command at Coleto Creek, was taken prisoner at Goliad, and barely escaped the massacre that killed hundreds of his comrades. Rewarded with land grants, he later left to seek gold in California, where he is believed to have died in 1869, while his widow Emily held the Shelby County homestead.
Why it matters
Irish's life traces the arc of a frontier generation—revolution in Texas, survival of one of its darkest atrocities, and the lure of the California gold fields—that carried Anglo-American settlement across the continent.
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Related people
- · Milton Irish
- · Emily Eaves Irish
- · Ben Milam
- · James Fannin
Related events
- · Siege of Bexar
- · Battle of Coleto Creek
- · Goliad Massacre
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Shelby County
Center, TX
This corner of East Texas lay within the lawless 'neutral ground' between 1803 and 1819 before Anglo-American settlement began in the 1820s, first organized as the district and then municipality of Tenehaw. Renamed in 1836 to honor Revolutionary War officer Isaac Shelby, the county sent delegates to Texas's early conventions and soldiers to San Jacinto, and its seat moved from Shelbyville to Center in 1866. From 1841 to 1844 it was torn by the Regulator-Moderator Feud, a bloody vigilante conflict finally ended when Republic of Texas troops under Gen. James Smith restored order.
The First Battle
Center, TX
This marks the vicinity of the first clash in the Regulator-Moderator War, a bitter feud that convulsed Shelby County from 1841 to 1844 in the days of the Republic of Texas. What began as a quarrel between rival factions escalated into an unorganized war of ambush and reprisal, ending only when General James Smith led Texas forces in to restore order in August 1844—reportedly without firing a gun.
Shelby County
Shelbyville, TX
Shelby County lay in the old "Neutral Ground," a long-disputed no-man's-land where law was thin, and between 1841 and 1844 it erupted into the Regulator-Moderator War—a violent, unorganized feud that cost many lives and much property. The turmoil grew so severe that President Sam Houston ordered General James Smith and Republic of Texas troops to intervene. Remarkably, Smith restored order and ended the uprising without firing a single shot.
Moses Fisk Roberts
Shelbyville, TX
Born in Tennessee, Moses Fisk Roberts came to Texas in 1836 and lost his right eye fighting in the Texas Revolution. A farmer whose beloved fox hounds earned him the nickname "Dog" Roberts, he became a respected public servant in Shelby County — serving in the Congress of the Republic, the State Legislature, and as justice of the peace and county judge.