Gideon Lincecum

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it — this one's about a man who spent a lifetime watching the world closer than most folks ever thought to look. Gideon Lincecum, born in 1793, died in 1874, and in between those two dates he managed to pack in about five lifetimes worth of living. As a boy, he moved with his father from place to place — frontier sites in Georgia, then Mississippi — and most kids in that situation just get restless.

Gideon got curious. He was out there soaking in the natural world around him, developing what the marker calls insights about natural habitats and cultivating an understanding of Indian culture that would follow him the rest of his days. Now, that's a foundation.

That's a boy building a mind. He participated in the War of 1812, and in 1814 he married Sarah Bryan. Life was moving.

And then in 1848, Gideon Lincecum settled near here — Washington County, Texas — and this self-taught man opened a medical practice. Self-taught. Let that sit a moment.

He hadn't come up through the established schools, hadn't memorized the standard texts, and you know what he thought of the commonly-used contemporary medicines of his day? He rejected them. Flat out.

Instead, he dispensed herbal remedies, and apparently word got around, because he gained a reputation for it. But medicine was only part of the story. The man was a naturalist.

He moved through Texas recording detailed observations of flora and fauna — plants, creatures, the living world spread out before him — and his work earned him international recognition. The crown jewel of that recognition was a long-term study of an agricultural ant common to Texas. An ant.

He watched ants long enough and carefully enough that the world took notice. For many years he also maintained weather records for the Smithsonian Institution right here in Washington County, feeding data to one of the great scientific bodies in the nation from his patch of Texas ground. Now, Reconstruction came, and Gideon Lincecum did something most people didn't do — he left for Mexico.

Stayed five years. But he came back to Washington County, and it was here that he completed his autobiography. When he died, he was initially buried in nearby Mt.

Zion Cemetery. That wasn't the end of that story though. In 1936 his remains were removed and reinterred in the Stephen F.

Austin lot in the State Cemetery in Austin. A self-taught frontier naturalist, a man who watched ants and weather and the wide Texas world — he ended up in the company of Austin himself. Somehow that feels about right.

What the marker says

(1793 - 1874) As a boy Gideon Lincecum moved with his father 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 and 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. Except for a 5-year stay in Mexico during Reconstruction Lincecum lived and worked in Washington County where he completed his autobiography. Initially buried in nearby Mt. Zion Cemetery, his remains were later removed and reinterred in the Stephen F. Austin lot in the State Cemetery in Austin in 1936. (1993)