John Franklin Overton

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little road dust on top. The man we're talking about is John Franklin Overton, born May 24, 1816, in Maury County, Tennessee. Now, a lot of folks talk about coming to Texas, but Overton actually did it.

In 1845, he packed up and made the journey, and he didn't come alone. He brought his wife, Jane Jameson Overton, and his mother, Susan Alexander Overton, right along with him. When a man moves his wife and his mother to the Texas frontier at the same time, that tells you something about his constitution.

The land rewarded him for it. He received land grants totaling 1,600 acres. Sixteen hundred acres.

That's not a farm, friends. That's a statement. Tragedy came early, though.

Jane died in 1849. Overton married again in 1852, a woman named Mary D. Walker, and together they had eleven children.

Eleven. The frontier was not a quiet place for this family. When the Civil War came, Overton sold supplies to the Confederacy, and somewhere along the way people started calling him Colonel.

The marker doesn't say who pinned that title on him first, but it stuck, and a man with 1,600 acres and eleven children and a supply line probably didn't argue the point. Then came 1871, and here is where John Franklin Overton left his name on the map in a way that outlasted him by a long stretch. He donated land to the International Railroad Company.

And the town that grew up there, eight miles northeast of where you're likely standing right now, they named it Overton. In his honor. John Franklin Overton died July 29, 1879, but you can still find his name on the sign.

What the marker says

(May 24, 1816 - July 29, 1879) Born in Maury County, Tenn., came to Texas in 1845 with his wife, Jane Jameson Overton, and mother, Susan Alexander Overton. He received land grants totaling 1600 acres. His wife died in 1849, and he married Mary D. Walker in 1852. They had 11 children. During the Civil War he sold supplies to the Confederacy and was addressed as "Colonel." In 1871, he donated land to the International Railroad Company, and the town of Overton (8 miles NE) was named in his honor.