Homesite of Samuel Cartmill Hiroms

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Samuel Cartmill Hiroms. Now there's a name worth saying out loud on a Texas road.

Born in 1836 in Polk County, his people weren't just Texans, they were among Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists, the very first wave. Whatever that meant to Samuel growing up, he carried it forward.

He taught school. He served as Polk County surveyor. And when the Civil War came, from 1861 to 1865, he served in the Confederate Army.

Life has a way of reshuffling a man after a war. Samuel lost his first wife. Then, in 1869, he married Emily Ann Johnston, born in 1853, and she would live all the way to 1948.

He moved his family to Houston County, and for a spell that was that. But Samuel Cartmill Hiroms wasn't done settlin'. In 1878, he put down roots right here, in a place called the Creek community, which would later become Austinio.

He received land for his teaching services. He became an early leader in the Methodist church. Pioneer settler.

Surveyor. Soldier. Teacher.

The kind of man a community gets built around, if it's lucky. And this one was.

What the marker says

One of the community's pioneer settlers, Samuel Cartmill Hiroms (1836-1920) was born in Polk County. His parents were among Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists. Hiroms taught school and served as Polk County surveyor. He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War (1861-1865). After his first wife died, he married Emily Ann Johnston (1853-1948) in 1869 and moved his family to Houston County. In 1878 Hiroms settled here in the Creek community, which later became Austinio. He received land for his teaching services and was an early leader in the Methodist church. (1978)