Richard S. Stokes
Lometa, Lampasas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Joined Confederate Army, as a private, Aug. 7, 1861; was promoted to 1st Lt., Co. I, 8th Infantry, Miss. Regiment, on Aug. 29, 1864. Came to Texas in 1868, settled in Lampasas County as a rancher and farmer; married Elizabeth Rawson, and had seven children. On July 19, 1911, at Chadwick's Mill, on the Colorado River, at age 73, Stokes rescued Lillie B. Evetts, Eva Foster, and R. Ashley Greaves from drowning. For the feat, he received a Carnegie Hero Medal. Recorded - 1973
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Richard S. Stokes came of age in the divided South, enlisting as a Confederate private in 1861 and rising to lieutenant before the war's end. Like thousands of Southerners, he headed west afterward, settling in Lampasas County, Texas, in 1868 to ranch, farm, and raise a large family. His most remarkable moment came in 1911, when at age 73 he pulled three young people from the Colorado River at Chadwick's Mill—an act of courage that earned him a Carnegie Hero Medal.
Why it matters
His life bridges the Civil War and the frontier resettlement of Texas, while his late-life rescue reminds us that everyday heroism has long been honored alongside the famous in the American story.
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Related people
- · Richard S. Stokes
- · Elizabeth Rawson
Related events
- · 1911 Chadwick's Mill rescue
- · Carnegie Hero Medal
Themes & tags
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