Samuel McCarley Homesite
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Texas Army Camp - April 15, 1836 Samuel McCarley (1775-1838), his wife Celia (1794-1873), and their ten children settled near here on Spring Creek in 1831. By 1836 the McCarley home was located on a well-traveled road linking Washington-on-the-Brazos (30 mi. NW) with Harrisburg (40 mi. SE). Their neighbor, Abraham Roberts, lived about three miles east at a fork in the road. One fork led east to the Trinity River and the other southeast to Harrisburg. On April 15, 1836, the Texas army led by General Sam Houston left camp near the Brazos River and marched east, arriving here at dusk. Overnight, Houston's 1100 hungry soldiers consumed cattle, corn, and bacon belonging to the McCarleys and burned about 4,000 of their fence rails for fuel. According to post-war accounts, many in the Texas army strongly suspected that Houston was unwilling to engage the Mexican army, known to be advancing toward Harrisburg. On April 16, however, Houston and the Texas soldiers took the Harrisburg Road at the fork and on April 21 defeated the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto to win Texas independence. Samuel McCarley died in 1838 and in 1858 the state of Texas awarded his widow, Celia, $460 as compensation for damages caused by the Texas army. Sam Houston Bicentennial 1793-1993
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Samuel McCarley, his wife Celia, and their ten children settled on Spring Creek in 1831, and by 1836 their home sat on a well-traveled road between Washington-on-the-Brazos and Harrisburg. On April 15, 1836, Sam Houston's Texas Army arrived at dusk and, over one hungry night, consumed the family's cattle, corn, and bacon and burned some four thousand fence rails for fuel. The next day Houston took the Harrisburg road and, on April 21, won independence at San Jacinto; decades later the state paid the widowed Celia $460 for the damage.
Why it matters
The McCarley homesite records the human cost borne by ordinary settlers along Houston's march to San Jacinto — and the tense uncertainty that shadowed the campaign for Texas independence.
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Related people
- · Samuel McCarley
- · Celia McCarley
- · Sam Houston
- · Abraham Roberts
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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