DUANE
Duane's take
The way the State of Texas told it in 1936, and the way I'm telling it now — this is the story carved into the marker for Elias E. Hamilton. Born in Clarksville, Georgia, in 1816.
That's where the story starts — a boy from Georgia who would end up at the center of two of the most consequential fights in Texas history. Now, some men live long quiet lives and leave barely a ripple. Elias Hamilton was not that kind of man.
By 1835, he was there at the storming of Bexar — charging into that fight when Texas was still a raw and dangerous idea. And then, as if once wasn't enough, he came back the following year for the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Two battles that shaped a nation.
Elias Hamilton stood in both of them. You have to let that settle for a moment. And then comes the part that the marker doesn't let you look away from.
After Bexar, after San Jacinto, after all of it — Elias E. Hamilton died in Douglass, Texas, on September 30, 1840. Not on a battlefield.
Just gone, in a young republic he had helped bring into being. The State of Texas put his name on a marker in 1936 so nobody would forget. Seems like the least they could do.
What the marker says
Participated in storming of Bexar, 1835 Battle of San Jacinto, 1836. Born in Clarksville, Georgia in 1816 Died in Douglass, Texas, September 30, 1840 Erected by the State of Texas 1936