Hermon and Margaret L. Aiken

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Hermon and Margaret L. Aiken. Now settle in, because this one starts up in New Hampshire and doesn't stop moving for a good long while.

Hermon Aiken, also known as Herman, was a New Hampshire native who clearly had restless boots. He worked his way through Illinois, then Tennessee, before landing in New Orleans. And that's where the story takes a sharp turn toward Texas history, because in New Orleans, Hermon took the wheel, literally.

He served as a ship's captain, carrying supplies to Galveston in support of the Texas Revolution. Not a soldier, not a politician, just a man with a vessel and a purpose. By 1840, he was living in Texas.

He had five children from his marriage to Mary Ann Taylor, and then in 1846 he wed a German-born woman named Margaret E. Louchious. Five years later, in 1851, the family put down roots near Belton on Cedar Creek.

Herman took up surveying, and he and Margaret had seven children together. That is a household with some noise in it. Then in 1859 the family moved to Salado, and Herman stepped into the role of trustee for the new Salado College.

He was active in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, he was a Freemason, and by every measure the marker gives us, he was the kind of man a community leans on. From a New Hampshire boyhood to a ship on the Gulf to a surveyor's line drawn through Bell County, Hermon Aiken covered some ground.

What the marker says

New Hampshire native Hermon (Herman) Aiken worked in Illinois and Tennessee before moving to New Orleans. There, he served as a ship's captain taking supplies to Galveston in support the Texas Revolution. He lived in Texas by 1840. In 1846, with five children from his marriage to Mary Ann (Taylor), he wed German-born Margaret E. (Louchious) and in 1851 settled near Belton on Cedar Creek. The couple had seven children, and Herman worked as a surveyor. The family moved to Salado in 1859, and Herman served as trustee for the new Salado College. A community leader, he was active in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Freemasons. (2006)