George Lawton Bledsoe

Duane's take

The official marker in Wise County tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it along. Now, George Lawton Bledsoe came into this world in Georgia, born in 1805, and he came into Texas in 1834. A carpenter by trade, a builder of cotton gins, a man who worked with his hands and apparently didn't mind starting over somewhere new.

Texas in 1834 was not exactly a settled proposition, and Bledsoe would find that out firsthand soon enough. When the Texas Revolution came, he was there. He fought in it.

And not just anywhere; he was at San Jacinto. That battle. The one that settled things.

George Lawton Bledsoe stood on that ground, and the Republic of Texas later saw fit to give him a pension for his service and patented land grants in Brazoria, Cooke, Jack, Fannin, and Wise counties. Five counties. The man had range.

He married Ellen Bowdre, and together they had five children. Ellen passed in 1850. She is buried in Fannin County, probably in Bledsoe Cemetery near Dial, along with four of their children.

That word (probably) sits quiet in the marker, and it carries a kind of weight. Some of that family's resting places just aren't certain anymore. But here, in Wise County, George Lawton Bledsoe is buried.

And he is not alone. His daughter Georgia is here. And a brother-in-law, Preston E.

Bowdre, lies beside them. A Georgia boy who built things with his hands, crossed into Texas before it was Texas, fought in the revolution that made it one, spread himself across five counties of the new land he helped win, and in the end, came to rest here in Wise County, his daughter and kin nearby. Some men just plant themselves deep wherever they go.

What the marker says

Georgia native George Lawton Bledsoe (b. 1805), a carpenter and cotton gin builder, came to Texas in 1834. A veteran of the Texas Revolution and the Battle of San Jacinto, he received a pension for his military service and patented land grants in Brazoria, Cooke, Jack, Fannin, and Wise counties. He was married to the former Ellen Bowdre (d. 1850) and had five children. Bledsoe is buried here along with his daughter Georgia and a brother-in-law, Preston E. Bowdre. Ellen Bledsoe and the couple's other four children are buried in Fannin County, probably in Bledsoe Cemetery near Dial.