William C. Davis
Henderson, Rusk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Came to Texas from North Carolina in 1835 and settled in this area, in what was then part of Nacogdoches County. He received a land grant in Lamar County for his service in the Indian wars of the late 1830s, but retained his homestead in Rusk County and was the patriarch of a large family. He set aside part of his homestead for this family cemetery upon the death of his first wife, Caroline, in 1852.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
William C. Davis came to Texas from North Carolina in 1835, settling in what was then part of Nacogdoches County during the era of the Republic of Texas. He earned a land grant for service in the frontier conflicts of the late 1830s and became patriarch of a large family, setting aside part of his homestead as a family cemetery after his first wife Caroline died in 1852.
Why it matters
Davis's life maps the settlement of East Texas in the Republic years, when land grants and frontier militia service knit together the region's earliest Anglo-American families.
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Related people
- · William C. Davis
- · Caroline Davis
Themes & tags
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