DUANE
Duane's take
The marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now here's a name worth knowin' out here in Blanco County — John Walton Harrington. Born on the Fourth of July, 1822, in Arkansas.
You want to talk about a life that spans some serious Texas history, well, pull up a log and listen. Harrington was thirteen years old when he went and joined the Army of the Republic of Texas. Thirteen.
Let that land for a second. He served from May 10, 1836, to August 14, 1837 — and in payment for that service, the Republic handed him a bounty land grant of 1,280 acres out in what is now Newton County. Not bad for a teenager.
He grew into a stockraiser, and apparently he had a good eye for land, because by the time all was said and done, he'd come to own several hundred acres spread across Llano, Blanco, and Henderson counties. This man did not stay in one place. His wife, Sarah, was born in 1829 in North Carolina, and she lived all the way to 1928.
Together they had at least thirteen children — every single one of them born in Texas. John Walton Harrington passed on January 7, 1908. He came to Texas as a boy-soldier for a republic that was still findin' its feet, and he left behind a family, a spread across three counties, and a story that starts on the Fourth of July and never really stops bein' American.
What the marker says
(July 4, 1822-Jan. 7, 1908) A soldier in Army of Republic of Texas at age 13, Harrington served from May 10, 1836, to August 14, 1837. In payment he received a bounty land grant of 1,280 acres in present Newton County. A stockraiser, he came to own several hundred acres in Llano, Blanco, and Henderson counties. He was born in Arkansas; his wife, Sarah (1829-1928), in North Carolina. They had at least 13 children, all of whom were born in Texas. Recorded-1972