DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. George Washington Stell, Senior. Born 1793, died December 12, 1870.
Now hold that name in your mind, because this man left his mark on northeast Texas in ways that are still with us today. Virginia born, he made his way to Texas in the late 1830s — and when a man shows up in a place like this, in a time like that, you can bet the land had work for him. Stell was a farmer, a surveyor, and a builder.
Three different callings, and he answered all three. When Paris was named the Lamar County Seat in 1844, somebody had to put up the first courthouse. That somebody was George Washington Stell, Sr.
First courthouse. The one that said, in wood and nails and sweat, that this place was real, that it meant something. Now here's where the story takes a turn that'll make you sit up a little straighter.
Stell was deaf. Couldn't hear a word of the world around him — not the wind off the Red River, not the crack of timber, not the voices of the men he worked alongside. And yet the Republic of Texas Congress put their trust in him to survey the route of the Central National Road.
One hundred and thirty miles of it, stretching from the Trinity River all the way to the Red River. A hundred and thirty miles through country that was still finding itself. That road helped open the whole area for settlement.
So the next time you're rolling through northeast Texas, thinking about who came before — think about a Virginia man who couldn't hear the land but knew exactly how to read it.
What the marker says
(1793 - Dec. 12, 1870) A veteran of the War of 1812, Virginia native George W. Stell, Sr. came to Texas in the late 1830s. A farmer, surveyor, and builder, he constructed the first courthouse in Paris after it was named the Lamar County Seat in 1844. Stell, who was deaf, also surveyed the route of the Central National Road for the Republic of Texas Congress. Stretching for 130 miles from the Trinity River to the Red River, it helped open the area for settlement.