Henderson Yoakum

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the official marker record on this one. Now let me take you back to the beginning of a remarkable life. Henderson Yoakum was born on September 6, 1810, and in the years that followed, he packed more into a single life than most towns see in a generation.

He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1832, and from there he saw duty on the frontiers and in the Mexican War. That's not a bad résumé before a man even hangs out his shingle. But hang it out he did.

Yoakum went on to practice law and serve in the Senate in his native Tennessee. So we've got a soldier, a lawyer, a senator, all in one man, and Texas hadn't even gotten hold of him yet. In 1845 he made the move, settling in Huntsville.

Now Huntsville was already a town of some consequence, and Yoakum fit right in. He became a civic leader there, and somewhere along the way he struck up a friendship with Sam Houston. Think about that company for a moment.

Yoakum also joined his fellow citizens in establishing Austin College, and he didn't just lend his name to the effort. He became that school's first librarian and a teacher of law. The man who had studied war and argued cases in courtrooms was now shelving books and teaching the next generation.

Then came the work that may outlast everything else. After years of effort, in 1855, Yoakum published a comprehensive, two-volume history of Texas. Two volumes.

Years of work. That kind of undertaking doesn't happen by accident, and it doesn't happen fast. Through all of it, he and his wife Eveline, born a Cannon, were raising nine children together.

Henderson Yoakum died on November 30, 1856, just a year after that history reached print. He didn't get long to see what he'd built. But his descendants are still active in the cultural life of Texas, and that history he labored over still carries his name.

Some men leave a building behind. Yoakum left two volumes and a family line that never stopped showing up.

What the marker says

(September 6, 1810 - November 30, 1856) A graduate of the United States Military Academy (1832), Henderson Yoakum saw duty on frontiers and in the Mexican War. He practiced law and served in the Senate in his native Tennessee, moving to Texas in 1845. In Huntsville he became a civic leader and friend of Sam Houston. Joining fellow citizens in establishing Austin College, he became that school's first librarian and a teacher of law. In 1855, after years of work, he published a comprehensive, two-volume history of Texas. He and his wife Eveline (Cannon) had nine children. Descendants are still active in cultural life of Texas. (1976)