DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker tells it, here's the story of William Cornelius Dalrymple. Born August 3, 1814, in North Carolina — a long way from Texas, though Texas had a way of calling men from a long way off. By the 1830s, Dalrymple had answered that call.
He served in the Texas Revolutionary forces and rode as a Texas Ranger, two things that, taken together, tell you something about the kind of man he was before he'd even settled down. And settling down, when it finally came, wasn't quiet either. In 1840 he married Elizabeth Wilbarger in Bastrop County, and by 1846 he had put his roots down on the San Gabriel River in Williamson County.
Now here's where the story gets interesting, because Williamson County was going to keep this man very, very busy. When the time came to choose a county seat, Dalrymple was one of only six commissioners trusted with that decision. He served as Tax Assessor and Collector.
He went to Austin as State Representative in 1855, and again in 1857. The man was practically load-bearing for that county. Then in 1860, Governor Sam Houston — Sam Houston himself — appointed Dalrymple his aide-de-camp and Commander in Chief of the Texas Militia.
That's not a title you put on a quiet man. And still he wasn't finished. In 1865, he served as State Senator and as a delegate to Texas' Constitutional Convention.
William Cornelius Dalrymple died March 29, 1898. He came from North Carolina, fought for a republic, built a county, and helped write a constitution. Some men pass through history.
Others, it seems, just keep making it.
What the marker says
(August 3, 1814 - March 29, 1898) North Carolina native William Cornelius Dalrymple served in the Texas Revolutionary forces and as a Texas Ranger during the 1830s. He married Elizabeth Wilbarger in Bastrop County, Texas, in 1840, and settled on the San Gabriel River in 1846. He served Williamson County as one of six commissioners to select the county seat, as Tax Assessor/Collector, and as State Representative in 1855 and 1857. In 1860 Texas Governor Sam Houston appointed him his aide-de-camp and Commander in Chief of the Texas Militia. In 1865 he served as State Senator and delegate to Texas' Constitutional Convention. (1995)