Alexander Beaton

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. A man came a long way to leave his name on a street in Corsicana, and the story's worth the telling. Alexander Beaton was a native of Scotland who crossed the Atlantic and arrived in the United States in 1843.

Now, a lot of men make that crossing and disappear into the crowd. Beaton was not that kind of man. He served in the U.S.

Army during the Mexican War, and when it was done, he migrated to Texas in 1848. Two years later, in 1850, he settled in Corsicana and hung out his shingle as a lawyer. So far, a solid life, but not yet a street.

Here's where it gets interesting. By 1871, Corsicana had a decision to make. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad was plotting its route, and a town either got on that map or it didn't.

Beaton sat as chairman of the finance committee working to bring the railroad right through Corsicana. He pushed, he organized, he promoted, and the railroad came. The marker tells us that because of his efforts, Beaton Street was named in his honor.

A street is a particular kind of legacy. Long after a man is gone, people are still saying his name every time they give directions. Outside the law and the railroad work, Beaton was a Mason, a member of the First Methodist Church, and an amateur geologist.

He married Elizabeth Jane McKinney, and the two of them raised three children. A Scotsman who served in an American war, practiced law on the Texas frontier, and put a railroad through a town. Corsicana remembered, and they spelled it out in the only way a town really knows how.

What the marker says

A native of Scotland, Alexander Beaton came to the United States in 1843. He migrated to Texas in 1848 after serving in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War. In 1850 he settled in Corsicana and began the practice of law. He was chairman of the finance committee to promote the routing of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad through Corsicana in 1871. Because of his efforts to bring the railroad to town, Beaton Street was named in his honor. Beaton was a Mason, a member of the First Methodist Church, and an amateur geologist. He married Elizabeth Jane McKinney and had 3 children. (1985)