HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Samuel Wolfenberger

Rockne, Bastrop County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Born in Virginia 1804; came to Texas 1831. Died 1860. Fought under Lt. W. J. Russell at Velasco. Participated in the storming and capture of Bexar. Served with Colonel Robert M. Coleman's Rangers in 1836. His wife, Caroline, born 1806. Died 1873. Erected by the State of Texas 1956

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Samuel Wolfenberger came to Texas from Virginia in 1831, arriving as Anglo colonists and Mexican authorities edged toward open conflict. He fought under Lt. W. J. Russell at the 1832 clash at Velasco, took part in the 1835 storming and capture of Bexar, and served in Colonel Robert M. Coleman's Rangers during the 1836 revolution. His grave and that of his wife Caroline were marked by the State of Texas in 1956.

Why it matters

Wolfenberger was one of the settler-soldiers whose service across the whole arc of the Texas Revolution turned a frontier colony into an independent republic.

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Related people

  • ยท Samuel Wolfenberger
  • ยท Caroline Wolfenberger
  • ยท W. J. Russell
  • ยท Robert M. Coleman

Themes & tags

Military & WartimeWestward ExpansionFrontier HistoryMemorial

Nearby & related markers

Samuel Wolfenberger

Rockne, TX

Samuel Wolfenberger came to Texas in 1831, while it was still part of Mexico, as one of Stephen F. Austin's colonists, and received a Spanish league of land โ€” some 4,444 acres โ€” in this area. When revolution came he took up arms, joining the storming of Bexar in 1835 and riding with Robert Coleman's Rangers in 1836. He settled at Bastrop, helped campaign to make it capital of the young Republic, and served as a town official before his death in 1860.

Thomas Osborn

Red Rock, TX

Thomas Osborn was one of the settlers-turned-soldiers who took up arms in the Texas Revolution of 1835โ€“1836, the uprising that severed Mexican Texas from Mexico. The battles named here trace the war's arc: the early clash at Gonzales and the fight at Velasco, the grinding Siege of Bexar that drove Mexican forces from San Antonio, and the disastrous defeat at Coleto that led to the Goliad massacre. Texas erected the marker in 1962 to honor a veteran of that founding struggle.

Nicholas W. Eastland

Rockne, TX

Born in 1804, Nicholas W. Eastland came to Texas in 1834 and, in the spring of 1836, joined Captain Horton's company under Colonel James Fannin during the Texas Revolution. When Fannin's command was captured and largely massacred after the Battle of Coleto, Eastland was among the fortunate few who escaped. He lived on until 1891, and the State of Texas raised this memorial to him in 1957.