Robert F. Mitchell
Alto, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Nov. 13, 1801 -- Apr. 10, 1878) Ohio native Robert F. Mitchell came to Nacogdoches County, Texas in 1837. Briefly associated with John Durst in a mercantile firm, Mitchell moved to Cherokee County in 1849 and, soon after, his land on the upland divide between the Neches and Angelina Rivers was used for the townsite of Alto (Latin for high). He later ran a store and gin in Alto and a hotel north of the Old San Antonio Road and served as a leader in the development of the town and area.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
An Ohio native, Robert F. Mitchell arrived in the Republic of Texas in 1837 and, after a stint in the mercantile trade at Nacogdoches, settled in Cherokee County in 1849. His land on the high ground between the Neches and Angelina rivers became the townsite of Alto — Latin for "high." A storekeeper, ginner, and hotelkeeper, Mitchell was a driving force in the young town's growth over the following decades.
Why it matters
Founders like Mitchell turned river-country claims into the trading towns that filled in the map of early East Texas.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Robert F. Mitchell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Terrell Lodge No. 83
Alto, TX
Organized in 1851 and chartered by the Grand Lodge of Texas the next year, this Masonic lodge first met in the small Linwood community before relocating to Alto in 1852. It was named for a prominent public figure of the Republic of Texas who served as its attorney general and represented the young nation as both an Indian commissioner and a diplomat abroad. The lodge worshiped in two earlier buildings before its present hall was built in 1966.
A. Frank Smith United Methodist Church
Alto, TX
Circuit-riding preachers reached this community by 1845, and the Rev. Andrew Cummings formally organized the congregation in 1852 as part of the new Rusk circuit. Meeting first in a schoolhouse and worshiping in a succession of buildings donated and designed by local families, the church grew into a full-time station and in 1960 took the name of Bishop A. Frank Smith, who began his ministry here.
Site of Lacy's Fort
Alto, TX
Before 1835, Martin Lacy—an Indian agent for the Mexican government—built this home and trading post on the East Texas frontier. When the Killough family was attacked on October 5, 1838, in what became known as one of the largest such incidents in the region, settlers fled to Lacy's Fort for refuge amid the turmoil between Anglo colonists and Native peoples during the young Republic of Texas.
Chief Bowles' Last Homesite
Alto vicinity, TX
In 1836 Sam Houston negotiated a treaty recognizing the Cherokees' right to the East Texas lands they occupied, where their leading figure was Duwali — known also as Bowl or Chief Bowles. But after the Texas Revolution the Senate of the new Republic voided the treaty, and in 1839 President Mirabeau B. Lamar ordered the Cherokee expelled. Learning of the order near this site, Bowles rallied his people to resist and was killed at the Battle of the Neches on July 16, 1839.