Site of Linwood
Linwood, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Star and Wreath On land inherited by Delilah Dill Durst from Helena Kimble Dill, whose daughter born in 1804 was thought to be first white child native to Texas. Built about 1830 by Delilah's husband, Joseph Durst, who settled in Texas in early 1800s and rose by 1826 to office of Alcalde in Nacogdoches. During troubles of 1832, the battle of Nacogdoches ended here with the surrender of Colonel Piedras' army to 17 Texans. Later was home of Geo. Whitfield Terrell (1802-1846), who served Republic of Texas as attorney-general and as Minister to England, France and Spain. Birthplace of Geo. B. Terrell (1862-1947), State Representative, Commissioner of Agriculture, and Congressman-at-Large.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built about 1830 on land tied to some of the earliest Anglo families in Texas, Linwood stood at the crossroads of the region's founding dramas. Its builder, Joseph Durst, had risen to alcalde of Nacogdoches by 1826, and in 1832 the Battle of Nacogdoches ended on this ground with the surrender of Colonel Piedras's Mexican force to a small band of Texans. The home later belonged to George Whitfield Terrell, a diplomat of the Republic of Texas, and was the birthplace of congressman George B. Terrell.
Why it matters
Linwood links the household of Texas's first Anglo settlers to the armed unrest that preceded the revolution, capturing the moment Mexican Texas began slipping toward independence.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Delilah Dill Durst
- · Joseph Durst
- · Colonel Piedras
- · George Whitfield Terrell
- · George B. Terrell
Related events
- · Battle of Nacogdoches (1832)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Brewer Cemetery
Cushing, TX
In 1835 the Mexican government granted Henry Brewer a league of land — some 4,000 acres — where settlers built log cabins by the springs and farmed, raised stock, and mined iron on the peak variously called Flowery, Brewer, or Iron Mountain. Brewer and his son John fought in the 1832 Battle of Nacogdoches, and Henry Mitchel Brewer served at San Jacinto before John later joined the Confederacy. A 1936 Texas Centennial marker honors the family and doubles as a grave marker; descendants revived the overgrown cemetery in 2001.
Brewer Cemetery
Douglass, TX
This family burial ground dates to 1816, when East Texas was still Spanish and later Mexican territory, and it holds members of the Brewer family who helped win Texas independence. Henry and John Brewer took part in the Battle of Nacogdoches, an 1832 clash that pushed Mexican forces from the town, while Henry Mitchell Brewer fought in the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Their graves record a household woven directly into the fight for the Texas Republic.
Isaac Lee
Alto, TX
Born in Georgia in 1788, Isaac Lee lived in Mississippi and Arkansas before reaching Texas in 1828, settling near San Augustine and later Nacogdoches. He took part in the 1832 Battle of Nacogdoches and served in the Army of the Republic of Texas during the fight for independence. In old age he moved to a farm near Alto to live with his daughter, dying there in 1880 at age 92.
John Joseph Bowman
Wells, TX
John Joseph Bowman came to Texas from Tennessee in 1822 as a boy, settling with his family in Stephen F. Austin's colony on the Colorado River among the very first Anglo-American colonists. In 1835 he enlisted in the Texian Army and fought in the war for independence alongside his father and brother. He later put down permanent roots in Cherokee County, where he is buried near his brother James.