S. Rhoads Fisher
Matagorda, Matagorda County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Statesman - businessman who contributed talent and time to establish and maintain Texas Independence. A quaker; born in Pennsylvania. Moved to Texas 1830. Set up mercantile house and shipping business in Matagorda. Struggled against anti-Texas policies of Santa Anna's dictatorship in Mexico. Won election as one of Matagorda delegates to the 1836 convention in Washington on the Brazos. Signed Texas declaration of Independence. In first regular administration of Republic of Texas, became secretary of the navy in cabinet of president Sam Houston in October 1836. By March 1837 Mexican blockaders were trying to reduce Texas to starvation by capturing shipments including those of the U.S.A. -- on Gulf of Mexico. Secretary Fisher went to sea with the Texas navy to attack Mexican coast and draw blockaders away from ports of Galveston, Matagorda, and Velasco. Texas captured territory and ships of the enemy; but later accidents and storms destroyed the navy and prizes. In late 1837 secretary Fisher resigned. Back in Matagorda he died as result of a shooting in 1839. He and his wife had four children. Several leaders in state government have come from this family. In 1876 a new county was named in honor of S. Rhoads Fisher. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A Pennsylvania-born Quaker, S. Rhoads Fisher came to Texas in 1830 and set up a mercantile house and shipping business at Matagorda. Chosen as a Matagorda delegate to the 1836 convention, he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence and became the young Republic's secretary of the navy under President Sam Houston. When Mexican ships blockaded the coast in 1837, Fisher himself put to sea with the Texas Navy to draw the enemy away from Galveston, Matagorda, and Velasco before resigning late that year; he died in Matagorda in 1839, and a county was named in his honor in 1876.
Why it matters
Fisher helped both declare and defend Texas independence, and the naval war he joined kept the Republic's Gulf ports open in its perilous first years.
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Related people
- · S. Rhoads Fisher
- · Sam Houston
- · Santa Anna
Related events
- · Texas Declaration of Independence
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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