DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and friend, this one's worth every mile. George Alexander Pattillo. Born in Georgia in 1796, and by the time he was done, southeast Texas would carry his name on the map.
He came to this area in the early 1830s, a veteran of the War of 1812 who apparently decided one revolution wasn't quite enough for a man of his constitution. Because Texas was just getting started. In 1832, Pattillo was already sitting on the local Committee of Correspondence, the kind of body that gets formed when people are feeling restless about their government.
Three years later, in 1835, the Consultation convened and stood up a provisional government — and Pattillo was on its General Council. Now, he had earlier received a Mexican land grant on this very land, which means he had skin in the game. Real skin.
When the Texas Revolution came to a head in 1836, he joined with other area settlers to aid the Texas Army. He rode toward San Jacinto — and here's the thing that'll stick with you — he arrived the day after the decisive battle. One day.
History thundered past just ahead of him. But Texas President David G. Burnet didn't let him stand idle.
Burnet commissioned Pattillo to direct the formation of Jefferson County, which included this area. So the man who missed the battle helped build what came after it. He became an associate justice for that new county.
He served as postmaster for a settlement that carried his own name — Pattillo's Station, later known as the Terry community of central Orange County. Then in the early 1840s he went to the Republic of Texas Congress, first as a Representative, then as a Senator, where he actively pushed for annexation to the United States. He wanted Texas in the Union, and he worked for it from the floor of that Congress.
In 1852 he was elected the first judge of the newly-formed Orange County. Masonic leader. Justice.
Senator. Judge. Postmaster.
The man had a gift for showing up wherever things needed doing. Since 1844, he had lived at Bunn's Bluff on the Neches River, and that's where the story ends — 1871, buried in a family plot on the same river he'd called home. One day late to San Jacinto, maybe.
But not a single day late to anything else that mattered.
What the marker says
A veteran of the War of 1812, Georgia native George Alexander Pattillo (1796-1871) migrated to this area in the early 1830s. He served on the local Committee of Correspondence created by the Convention of 1832 and on the General Council of the provisional government established by the Consultation of 1835. During the Texas Revolution of 1836, Pattillo, who had earlier received a Mexican land grant, joined with other area settlers to aid the Texas Army. Arriving at San Jacinto the day after the decisive battle, he was commissioned by Texas President David G. Burnet to direct the formation of Jefferson County, which included this area. He also became an associate justice for the new county and was a postmaster for the settlement of Pattillo's station, later the Terry community of central Orange County. In the early 1840s Pattillo served this area as a Representative and a Senator in the Republic of Texas Congress, where he actively supported annexation to the United States. In 1852 he was elected the first judge of the newly-formed Orange County. An active Masonic leader in southeast Texas, Pattillo died in 1871 and was buried in a family plot at Bunn's Bluff on the Neches River, where he had lived since 1844.