Henry Davis Pearce

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The story of Henry Davis Pearce. Born June 4, 1845, in Illinois, and he didn't stay there long.

By 1856 he was in Texas, and Texas, well, Texas had a way of keeping people. When the war came, Henry Pearce made his way to New Orleans and joined the Confederate army in 1861. Now, if you're going to fight a war, you're going to find out real quick what you're made of, and Henry found out in some of the hardest places that conflict had to offer.

He fought in the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863. Let that sink in a moment. Vicksburg.

Then 1864 brought the Battle of Mansfield, and after Mansfield came Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, and that is where Henry Davis Pearce was captured. A man who'd come through Vicksburg, through Mansfield, taken at Pleasant Hill. But the story doesn't end there.

He was exchanged at Blair's Landing, and he served right on through to the end of the war. When it was all over, Henry didn't just walk away from what he'd seen and done. He wrote a history of Confederate veterans.

He made sure those stories got told. On the personal side, he married Sarah Elizabeth Pride, and together they had eight children. He helped pioneer and organize Runnels County, which is the kind of work that doesn't make the history books as often as the battles do, but it shapes the land just as surely.

Then in 1906, Henry Davis Pearce moved to Robert Lee, here in Coke County, where this marker stands. He died December 8, 1911. A man born in Illinois, shaped by Texas, tested by war, and determined to see that none of it was forgotten.

What the marker says

(June 4, 1845 - December 8, 1911) Born in Illinois. Came to Texas 1856. Joined Confederate army in New Orleans, 1861; fought in Siege of Vicksburg (1863), in Battle of Mansfield (1864), and at Pleasant Hill, La., where he was captured. Exchanged at Blair's Landing, he served to end of war. He wrote history of Confederate veterans. Married Sarah Elizabeth Pride. Had eight children. Pioneered and helped organize Runnels County. He moved to Robert Lee, Coke County, in 1906. Recorded - 1970