DUANE
Duane's take
The way this marker tells it — and I'm sticking to the marker — here's the story of David Choate Jr. and the town he built on a bayou that time eventually swallowed whole. Born in Louisiana in 1811, Choate made his way to Texas with his family, and before long he was standing on a battlefield that would define a generation. On April 21, 1836, he joined a group of Beaumont volunteers and fought in the Battle of San Jacinto.
That single day earned him something substantial — 320 acres of bounty land for serving in the army, and 640 acres of donation land specifically for fighting in the battle itself. Nearly a thousand acres, surveyed on the north side of Pine Island Bayou. Now, a man with that much land on a bayou is going to do something with it.
And David Choate Jr. did. In 1856, he founded Concord — at the time, part of Jefferson County. It had a well-known ferry crossing that connected Beaumont to Points North, which in that era meant it sat right in the middle of where people needed to go.
Two years later, in 1858, Choate and his wife, Mary — born a Coon — contacted the Orange County surveyor to lay the town out proper. That same year, Hardin County was carved out of Jefferson, Liberty, and Tyler counties. A new county needs a county seat, and in 1859 the town of Hardin was created to fill that role, situated right on the Concord to Woodville road.
So now you've got a county, a county seat, a ferry crossing, and a man with a surveyed town sitting on Pine Island Bayou. Concord grew into something. It became the southern shipping point for steamboat traffic on the Neches River — farm products and lumber rolling in from Hardin, Tyler, and Jasper Counties, all funneling through Concord and down into Beaumont.
At its peak, three hundred people called the place home. Concord and the town of Hardin both thrived on that steamboat traffic. Then came the railroads.
With the completion of the rail line from Beaumont to Rockland, steamboats were no longer needed, and Concord — the ferry crossing, the shipping point, the town David Choate Jr. laid out on land he earned at San Jacinto — passed into history. It was abandoned in 1880. David Choate Jr. himself had died in Concord just the year before, in 1879, and was buried in Leatherwood Cemetery, located on the very survey that bore his name.
His widow, Mary, lived on until 1909 and is buried there too. A man plants a town on land he was given for fighting. The town thrives, serves its purpose, and then the world moves on.
He's still there, in the ground on his own survey, which is about as Texas an ending as you're going to find.
What the marker says
David Choate Jr. was born in Louisiana in 1811. He moved with his family to Texas and later joined a group of Beaumont volunteers and fought in the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Choate received bounty for 320 acres of land for serving in the army and 640 acres of donation land for fighting in the Battle of San Jacinto. These lands were surveyed on the north side of Pine Island Bayou, where in 1856 he founded Concord, originally part of Jefferson County. It had a well-known ferry crossing that connected Beaumont to Points North. Choate and his wife, Mary (Coon), contacted the Orange County surveyor to lay out the town in 1858. Hardin County was created in 1858, carved out of Jefferson, Liberty and Tyler counties. The town of Hardin was created as the county seat in 1859. It was located on the Concord to Woodville road. Concord became the southern shipping point for steamboat traffic on the Neches River, bringing farm products and lumber from Hardin, Tyler and Jasper Counties into Beaumont. At its peak, concord had 300 residents. Concord and the town of Hardin thrived from steamboat traffic and shipping. With the completion of the railroads from Beaumont to Rockland, the town of Concord passed into history as steamboats were no longer needed. Concord was abandoned in 1880 but had served its purpose as a steamboat stop. David Choate Jr. died in Concord in 1879 and was buried in Leatherwood Cemetery, located on the David Choate survey. His widow died in 1909 and is also buried in the cemetery.