DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, the way I understand it to be told. Now, some men just drift through history, and some men seem to have been pointed at it from the start. Aaron Lowery was born in Kentucky in 1814, and right away the man could not sit still.
Kentucky gave way to Tennessee, Tennessee gave way to Louisiana, and Louisiana gave way to Texas — in 1835, when Texas was still the kind of place that either made you or buried you, and sometimes both. Not long after he crossed in, Aaron Lowery joined the Texian Army. He enlisted in Captain George English's Company — and here's the detail worth savoring — he enlisted at the same time as Sam Houston himself.
The same moment. The same company. You wonder what that morning looked like, who nodded at whom, whether either man had any notion of what was coming.
That company saw action in the Battle of Bexar, which was not a comfortable afternoon stroll, I can promise you that. Now, the story doesn't end on the battlefield. Years later — 1848, over in Panola County — Aaron Lowery married a Miss Louisa English.
You may notice that name. Louisa was a cousin of Captain George English, the very officer whose company Aaron had signed on with back in those early days. The war had drawn him to the English family's orbit, and something kept him there.
By about 1851, Aaron and Louisa had moved to Trinity County, and together they raised ten children. Ten. A man who crossed four states, stood in the Texian Army alongside Sam Houston, fought at Bexar, and then came home — if Trinity County could be called home — and built a family ten deep.
Aaron Lowery died December 6, 1888. The marker in Houston County makes sure nobody forgets the road he traveled to get there.
What the marker says
(1814 -- December 6, 1888) Born in Kentucky, lived in Tennessee and Louisiana before entering Texas in 1835; shortly thereafter joined Texian Army, enlisting in Capt. George English's Company at the same time as did Sam Houston. The company saw action in the Battle of Bexar. Married Miss Louisa English, cousin of George English, 1848, in Panola County; Moved to Trinity County about 1851. The couple had 10 children.