Joseph Bird

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, as best as Duane can carry it to you. Now, some men leave a mark on a place. Joseph Bird left his name on one, and then watched the place outgrow even that.

Born on July 15, 1821, in North Carolina, Bird eventually made his way to Arkansas, where in 1844 he married Eliza L. Doriss. By about 1854, Joseph and Eliza and their six children had pushed westward and settled on land between Cypress Creek and the Pedernales River, right here in what would become Blanco County, Texas.

Around 1858 they built a log cabin close to this very site. Six children became twelve. A log cabin became a life.

And the settlement that grew up around them? People were callin it Birdtown, in Joseph's honor. But by the time a post office was established here in 1857, the name had already changed to Round Mountain.

The man outlasted his own namesake town, and he kept right on workin. Bird served as postmaster in 1859 through 1866, and again in 1873 and 1874. He was a Baptist minister, an itinerant pastor who helped found churches across the area, performin marriages and baptisms and funeral services for the frontier families pushin into this country.

He was a rancher. He was a community leader. And in 1862, he enlisted in the Confederate army as a first lieutenant and was stationed at Camp Groce, over in Waller County.

After the war, he kept buildin. In the early 1890s he served two terms as Blanco County judge, movin to Johnson City to do it. Eliza, his partner through all those decades of frontier life, died in 1896.

In 1900, Joseph married Martha A. Gill. He lived on until August 15, 1909, and when it was over, they buried him in the Round Mountain Cemetery.

The town had changed its name. The log cabin was long gone. But for more than fifty years, Joseph Bird had been the kind of man a place organizes itself around.

Round Mountain knows where it came from.

What the marker says

(July 15, 1821-August 15, 1909) For more than 50 years after becoming a pioneer settler of this area, North Carolina native Joseph Bird greatly contributed to the development of Blanco County as a distinguished frontier Baptist minister, postmaster, Civil War soldier, county judge, rancher, and prominent community leader. Bird married Eliza L. Doriss in Arkansas in 1844. About 1854 they and their six children settled on land between Cypress Creek and the Pedernales River. They built a log cabin close to this site about 1858 and eventually their family grew to include 12 children. The area's pioneer settlement, called Birdtown in Joseph's honor, was renamed Round Mountain by the time a post office was established here in 1857. Bird served as postmaster in 1859-66 and in 1873-74. For the Baptist churches he helped found in the area Bird served as an itinerant pastor and performed marriages, baptisms, and funeral services. He enlisted in the Confederate army as a first lieutenant in 1862 and was stationed at Camp Groce, Waller County, Texas. Bird moved to Johnson City while serving his two terms as Blanco county judge in the early 1890s. Eliza Bird died in 1896 and in 1900 Joseph married Martha A. Gill. Bird was buried in the Round Mountain Cemetery. (1994)