DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm going to tell you what the official marker says about Governor James Webb Throckmorton — so settle in, because this man lived about four different lives before most folks finish one. James W. Throckmorton was born February 1, 1825, a doctor's son, way up in Tennessee.
But Tennessee couldn't hold the family long. In 1841, when James was still a teenager, they pulled up stakes and migrated to the Texas frontier, settling right near this very site. And what does a seventeen-year-old do on the raw Texas frontier?
He becomes the hunter and scout for his pioneer neighbors. Seventeen years old. Keeping watch over a community with a rifle and whatever nerve the good Lord gave him.
He served in the Mexican War — 1846 to 1848 — and when he came home, he didn't come home empty-handed. In 1848 he married Annie Rattan, and they built themselves a home near McKinney. Now, here's where the story gets interesting.
The man had been trained as a physician. But James Throckmorton looked at medicine and said — no. Not for me.
So in 1851, he walked into law and politics instead, and that is where he truly came alive. He served in the Texas Legislature from 1851 to 1857, pushing hard for railroad building. Later he became attorney for the Texas and Pacific Railroad.
He was state senator from 1857 to 1861, and again from 1863 to 1865. And then came the moment that tells you everything about this man. February 1861.
Texas is holding a Secession Convention. The air in that room is charged — most of the men there have already made up their minds. Now, Throckmorton believed in the right of secession.
He said so. But when the vote came to actually leave the Union, James Throckmorton was one of only seven men in that entire convention who voted no. Seven.
Out of a room full of Texans in 1861. You want to talk about standing in a cold wind — that's what that looks like. The Civil War came anyway, and Throckmorton fought in the Confederate Army.
When it ended, he was elected governor in the summer of 1866, and the problems waiting for him were enormous — frontier defense, federal military occupation, a state trying to find its footing in a changed world. He didn't get long to work on them. In July of 1867, General Philip H.
Sheridan — commander of the 5th Military District, to which Texas had been assigned — removed Throckmorton from office. The general called him, and I want you to hear this exactly, "an impediment to Reconstruction." Sheridan named E.M. Pease as provisional governor in his place.
Being thrown out of the governor's chair by a Union general might have finished a smaller man. Not Throckmorton. He went right back to work.
He served his North Texas district in the U.S. Congress from 1875 to 1879, and again from 1883 to 1887. James Webb Throckmorton died April 21, 1894.
He's buried at Pecan Grove Cemetery, where this marker now stands. And the family that started all of this — they settled a quarter mile northeast of what you'd now call US-75 North and Throckmorton Road, on the raw Texas frontier, back in 1841. One family.
One piece of ground. And a man who managed to vote against secession, fight for the Confederacy, get removed from the governorship by a Union general, and still come back to serve in Congress — twice. James Throckmorton didn't live one life.
He lived an argument with history, and he never backed down from it.
What the marker says
(February 1, 1825 - April 21, 1894) A doctor's son, James W. Throckmorton was born in Tennessee. He migrated with his parents to the Texas frontier in 1841 and settled near this site. At age 17, he became hunter and scout for his pioneer neighbors. He served in the Mexican War (1846-48). In 1848 he married Annie Rattan (1828-1895) and built a home near McKinney. Trained as a physician, Throckmorton disliked medicine and in 1851 entered law and politics. He served 1851-57 in the Texas Legislature, where he promoted railroad building. Later he became attorney for Texas and Pacific Railroad. He was state senator, 1857-61 and 1863-65. Although he upheld the right of secession, he was one of seven men who voted against Texas leaving the union at the Feb. 1861 Secession Convention. During the Civil War (1861-65), he fought in the Confederate Army. Elected governor in the summer of 1866, he grappled with postwar problems of frontier defense and federal military occupation. In July 1867 Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, commander of the 5th military district to which Texas was assigned, removed Throckmorton from office as "an impediment to Reconstruction" and named E.M. Pease provisional governor. Throckmorton continued his political career in the U.S. Congress, serving his North Texas district in 1875-79 and 1883-87. (1977) The Throckmortons settled 1/4 mile NE of US-75 N and Throckmorton Rd. Marker moved in 2016 to Pecan Grove Cemetery where he is buried.