DUANE
Duane's take
This one comes straight from the official marker — let me tell it to you the way it deserves to be told. Gideon Lincecum. Born 1793, died 1874.
Eighty-one years on this earth, and not a single one of them wasted. He started out restless, the way some people just do. As a boy he moved with his family from one frontier site to another — through Georgia, through Mississippi — and while most kids were just trying to keep up, young Gideon was paying attention.
To the land. To the plants growing at the edge of the clearing. To the Indian cultures he encountered along the way.
He was building something inside himself — a way of seeing the natural world that most schoolmen never manage even with a lifetime of formal education. And Gideon Lincecum never had much of that. He was self-taught.
Remember that. Hold onto it. He fought in the War of 1812.
Married Sarah Bryan in 1814. And then, after a life that had already covered more ground than most men see, he settled near here in 1848 and opened a medical practice. Now, you might expect a frontier doctor to reach for the standard remedies of the day.
Gideon Lincecum was not that kind of doctor. He rejected commonly-used contemporary medicines outright and dispensed herbal remedies instead. The man trusted what the land provided.
That wasn't accident — that was a whole philosophy, built out of decades of watching, learning, and remembering. As a naturalist, he recorded detailed observations of flora and fauna across Texas. He studied the weather, year after year, keeping records for the Smithsonian Institution right here in Washington County.
And then there was the ant. An agricultural ant — common to Texas — and Lincecum studied it. Not for a season, not for a year.
A long-term study, the kind that requires patience most of us can barely imagine. That study brought him international recognition. A self-taught boy from the Georgia frontier, corresponding with the scientific world.
He did much of this work in a cabin at nearby Longpoint. Wrote his autobiography there, too. That cabin was moved to this very site in 1994 to make sure it survived.
And Gideon Lincecum himself? He's buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, where he was reinterred during the 1936 Texas Centennial celebrations. Even in death, the man kept moving — though this time, for keeps.
Not bad for someone who never set foot in a university.
What the marker says
(1793-1874) As a boy Gideon Lincecum moved with his family to various frontier sites in his native Georgia and in Mississippi. It was during this time that he developed insights about natural habitats and cultivated an understanding of Indian culture which later characterized his various scientific and social achievements. He participated in the War of 1812, and in 1814 married Sarah Bryan. After settling near here in 1848 the self-taught Lincecum opened a medical practice. He gained a reputation for rejecting commonly-used contemporary medicines, dispensing herbal remedies instead. As a naturalist Lincecum recorded detailed observations of a variety of flora and fauna in Texas and achieved international recognition for a long-term study of an agricultural ant common to the state. He conducted scientific research in numerous fields and for many years maintained records of the weather in Washington County for the Smithsonian Institution. Lincecum conducted much of his work and wrote his autobiography in a cabin on his property at nearby Longpoint. The cabin was moved to this site in 1994 to ensure its preservation. Lincecum is buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, where he was reinterred during the 1936 Texas Centennial celebrations. (1997)