DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as it comes straight from the marker, and I'll let it speak for its worth. George Campbell Childress. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 8, 1804.
And if you know anything about the spring of 1836, that name ought to ring like a church bell on a clear morning. Before he ever set foot in Texas — and he arrived in December of 1835 — Childress had already been working on behalf of this place. Raising funds.
Securing volunteers for the Army of Texas. The man showed up ready. Then, barely three months after his arrival, he was seated as a delegate from the Municipality of Milam at the Constitutional Convention, held right here from March 1 to March 17, 1836.
Seventeen days. That's all the time they had. And Childress was named chairman of the Committee of Five — five men charged with drafting the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Five men. Seventeen days. Think on that for just a moment.
The Declaration they produced wasn't drafted by accident or leisure. It was drafted under the kind of pressure that either breaks a man or defines him. And the story doesn't stop there.
On March 19, 1836 — two days after that convention closed — President Burnet appointed Childress as agent of Texas at Washington, his mission to secure the recognition of Texas sovereignty and independence by the United States. He carried the weight of a brand new republic on his shoulders across the miles to the American capital. George Campbell Childress died in Galveston, Texas, on October 6, 1841.
The Declaration he helped draft outlasted him. Most of the things worth building do.
What the marker says
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, January 8, 1804. Died in Galveston, Texas, October 6, 1841. Before coming to Texas in December 1835, he assisted in raising funds and securing volunteers for the Army of Texas; delegate from the Municipality of Milam to the Constitutional Convention held here from March 1 to 17, 1836, chairman of Committee of Five which drafted the Texas Declaration of Independence; appointed by President Burnet March 19, 1836; agent of Texas at Washington to secure the recognition of the sovereignty and independence of Texas by the United States.