Alexander Thomson, Jr.

Duane's take

The way this marker tells it, here's the story of Alexander Thomson, Jr., and I'm passing it along to you straight from the official record. Born on August 29, 1785, in St. Matthew's Parish, South Carolina, Alexander Thomson, Jr. was the only son of Alexander and Lucy Thomson, Lucy being a Fontaine before she married.

He moved around, the way ambitious men did back then. Georgia first, then Tennessee. And it was in Tennessee, in 1830, that his story really picked up speed.

That year, Thomson became a partner with empresario Sterling C. Robertson in the development of the Robertson Colony in Texas. Now Thomson wasn't just a silent partner content to watch from a distance.

He gathered up a number of families who had signed agreements to settle in that colony and he led them south, into Texas, headed for Nacogdoches. Here's where it gets interesting. Thomson and his party arrived in Nacogdoches just three days after Mexican officials there had received notice of an 1830 law requiring passports of immigrants.

Three days. Thomson tried, he tried hard, to have the rule waived for hardship reasons. The officials wouldn't budge.

So what did Thomson do? He didn't turn around. He didn't scatter those families to the wind.

He led them around Nacogdoches entirely, and that party cut a new trail through the country. That trail came to be called the Tennesseans' Road. He settled for a time in Austin's Colony, where he represented the District of Hidalgo, which is now Washington County, at the Texas Convention of 1832.

By 1835 he had moved into Robertson's Colony itself, where he served as the official surveyor, and he represented Viesca, later known as Milam Municipality, as a Consultation delegate. He was the man who knew the land and measured it, and he was also the man in the room when the decisions got made. When Sterling C.

Robertson died, Thomson was the one trusted to settle the estate, serving as executor in 1842. That is the kind of trust that is not given lightly. He was married twice and fathered thirteen children, and he became the ancestor of many noted Texans.

Among them, Thaddeus A. Thomson, who served as United States envoy to Colombia and signed the Thomson-Urrutia Treaty in 1914. Alexander Thomson, Jr. was also a leader in the early Methodist church in Texas, one more thread of his influence woven through the fabric of a young state.

He died on June 1, 1863, and today he rests in the Thomson Family Cemetery, approximately two miles northeast of Chriesman, the community also known as Yellow Prairie. The marker calls him a pioneer and a patriot. Given everything that man set in motion, that might just be underselling him.

What the marker says

(August 29, 1785 - June 1, 1863) A leader in colonizing Texas, Alexander Thomson, Jr., was born in St. Matthew's Parish, South Carolina, the only son of Alexander and Lucy (Fontaine) Thomson. He later lived in Georgia before moving to Tennessee. There, in 1830, he became partner with empresario Sterling C. Robertson in the development of the Robertson Colony. Conducting a number of families who had signed agreements to settle in the Robertson Colony, Thomson crossed into Texas and came to Nacogdoches three days after Mexican officials there received notice of an 1830 law requiring passports of immigrants. After Thomson tried unsuccessfully to have the rule waived for hardship reasons, the party bypassed Nacogdoches and made a new trail that came to be called the Tennesseans' Road. Thomson lived for a time in Austin's Colony, representing District of Hidalgo (now Washington County) at Texas Convention of 1832. By 1835, when he was Consultation delegate from Viesca (later Milam Municipality), he lived in and served as official surveyor of Robertson's Colony. Still a leader, he was executor of Robertson's estate in 1842. Married twice and the father of 13 children, Thomas was the ancestor of many noted Texans, including Thaddeus A. Thomson, United States envoy to Colombia and signer of the Thomson-Urrutia Treaty in 1914. He was also a leader in the early Methodist church in Texas. He is buried in the Thomson Family Cemetery (approx. 2 mi. NE) near Chriesman, also known as Yellow Prairie. He is remembered today as a pioneer and a patriot. (1972, 2004)