Richard Brown
Henderson, Rusk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(November 16, 1808 - August 24, 1893) An 1836-37 Republic of Texas soldier who joined the 1842 Mier Expedition to punish Mexican invasions of Texas. Captured in Mexico, he escaped firing squad by drawing a white bean, but was chained in prison for two years. The well-educated son of a Philadelphia, PA. doctor, Brown worked as a teacher, surveyor, and farmer. Helped found Pine Grove Church and Sharon Masonic Lodge. In 1849 he married Nancy Jane Cook; they had twelve children.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Richard Brown embodied the perilous decade after Texas won its independence, when the young Republic and Mexico still traded raids across a contested border. A Philadelphia doctor's educated son turned frontier soldier, he joined the ill-fated 1842 Mier Expedition, was captured, and famously cheated a firing squad by drawing a white bean in the notorious black-bean lottery—only to endure two years in a Mexican prison. He returned to build a settled life as teacher, surveyor, and farmer, helping found a local church and Masonic lodge.
Why it matters
His survival of the Mier Expedition's decimation lottery ties one East Texas family directly to the violent, uncertain birth of the Texas Republic and its long struggle with Mexico.
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Related people
- · Richard Brown
- · Nancy Jane Cook
Related events
- · Mier Expedition
Themes & tags
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