DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it along. Henry Millard starts his story not in Texas, not even close — he starts it in Saratoga County, New York. His family moved him to Missouri while he was still a child, and from Missouri he made his way as a young man to Natchez, Mississippi.
That's where, in 1826, he married Mary Warren Beaumont. They built a life in Natchez — two sons, a growing family, and a mercantile business Millard opened alongside his brother-in-law, Franklin Beaumont. Things were moving along.
Then 1832 rolls around and the family relocates to New Orleans, where Millard goes into partnership in a drugstore with a man named Samuel Mason. And here's where the story starts collecting its losses. Mason dies in 1833.
Mary Warren Beaumont Millard dies in 1834. Two years, two losses, and a man standing in New Orleans with nothing pulling him there anymore. So in 1835, Henry Millard migrated to Texas.
He came with a new partner, J. P. Pulsifer, and the two of them bought land along the Neches River, between the settlements of Santa Anna and Tevis Bluff.
Millard laid out a townsite on that land. He named it Beaumont — his wife's maiden name. Now, the Texas Revolution was already stirring, and Millard didn't stand on the sidelines.
He served as a delegate to the Consultation of 1835, and then, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Texas Army, he commanded infantry at the Battle of San Jacinto. After the smoke cleared, he kept serving — chief justice, alderman, justice of the peace in Beaumont and Jefferson County. He moved to Galveston in 1842 and served there as tax assessor.
He died in Galveston in August 1844, and they buried him in the Episcopal Cemetery. A man who lost nearly everything in two years, crossed into a republic that barely existed yet, laid out a town, fought at San Jacinto, and spent the rest of his days in public service. The marker doesn't editorialize.
It doesn't have to.
What the marker says
A native of Saratoga County, New York, Henry Millard moved to Missouri with his family while still a child. As a young man he moved to Natchez, Mississippi, where in 1826 he married Mary Warren Beaumont. While living in Natchez they became the parents of two sons, and Millard opened a mercantile business with his brother-in-law, Franklin Beaumont. the family relocated to New Orleans in 1832, and Millard went into partnership in a drugstore with Samuel Mason. After his partner's death in 1833 and his wife's death in 1834, Millard migrated to Texas in 1835. with his new partner, J. P. Pulsifer, he bought land along the Neches River between the settlements of Santa Anna and Tevis Bluff. He laid out a townsite and named it Beaumont, his wife's maiden name. Embracing the political life of his new homeland, Millard served as a delegate to the Consultation of 1835 and, as a Lt. Colonel in the Texas Army, commanded infantry at the Battle of San Jacinto. He later served as chief justice, alderman, and justice of the peace in Beaumont and Jefferson County, as well as tax assessor in Galveston after his move there in 1842. He died in Galveston in August 1844 and was buried there in the Episcopal Cemetery.