Burton B. Tarkington

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Burton B. Tarkington was born in 1790, and by the mid-1820s he and his wife Sarah Berry Tarkington had packed up their family and pointed themselves south and west — all the way from Indiana down to the Mexican state of Coahuila.

Now that is a move. They settled west of the Trinity River, in what is now the northwest corner of Liberty County, and they got to work — ranchin', raisin' crops, building something out of raw land. And the land remembered them for it.

The area around their farm came to be known as Tarkington's Prairie, and a creek running through that country is called Tarkington Bayou to this day. But holdon — things were about to get complicated. According to family legend, the year 1836 brought the kind of trouble that doesn't knock before it enters.

Santa Anna's forces were advancing, and the Tarkingtons — along with other early settlers in the area — had to vacate their property ahead of the Battle of San Jacinto. Just pick up and go. Now here's a wrinkle the marker is honest enough to admit: apparently Tarkington never had a land grant from the Mexican government for the land he was working.

He was out there on faith and sweat, essentially. But Texas gained its independence from Mexico in 1836, and the new republic saw fit to reward men like him. Tarkington received a headright land grant — one league and one labor, amounting to four thousand six hundred and five acres.

The State of Texas patented that grant in 1847, and it became known, formally and officially, as the Tarkington Survey. The man had a survey named after him. That's not nothing.

And he didn't slow down once the land was secured. He served in the Texas Militia in 1842. He was elected Liberty County commissioner — not once, not twice, but three terms, beginning in 1854.

He earned recognition for his service from Governor H. R. Runnels himself.

Burton B. Tarkington died on February the second, 1861, and he's buried in the McGinnis Cemetery, just a quarter mile west of where this marker stands. A man who crossed a continent, outran an army, built a prairie that still carries his name.

Some legacies, they just stick to the land.

What the marker says

Burton B. Tarkington (1790-1861) and his wife Sarah Berry Tarkington migrated with their family from Indiana in the mid-1820s to the Mexican state of Coahuila. They settled west of the Trinity River in present northwest Liberty County, and began ranching and raising crops. The area around their farm became known as Tarkington's Prairie, and a creek in the area is called Tarkington Bayou. According to family legend, the Tarkingtons and other early settlers had to vacate their property in 1836 when Santa Anna's forces advanced prior to the Battle of San Jacinto. Apparently Tarkington did not have a land grant from the Mexican government for the land he claimed, but when Texas gained independence from Mexico in 1836 he received a headright land grant of one league and one labor (4,605 acres). The grant was patented in 1847 by the new state of Texas and became known as the Tarkington Survey. Tarkington became a leader in the community. He served in the Texas Militia in 1842, and was elected Liberty County commissioner for three terms beginning in 1854. He received recognition for his service from Governor H. R. Runnels. Tarkington died Feb. 2, 1861, and is buried in the McGinnis Cemetery (.25 mi. W). (1996)