Joseph Peter Davidson

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm followin' the official marker on Joseph Peter Davidson, right here in Palo Pinto County. Born in Giles County, Tennessee, in 1823, Joseph Peter Davidson was the kind of man Texas seemed to be calling by name. He answered that call, settling in Palo Pinto County about 1856, and he didn't show up empty-handed.

He established a trading post near this very site. Think about that for a moment. A trading post.

Out here. That takes a certain kind of nerve, and a certain kind of vision. Then 1865 rolls around, and Davidson wasn't done yet.

He started a ranch in what is now Eastland County, and later helped organize that county into the thing it became. He served as official surveyor, which means he was out there with his instruments, drawing the lines that told the land who it belonged to. He helped establish a Methodist church.

He helped establish a Masonic Lodge. The man was building a civilization one institution at a time. Now, Davidson was also a family man, three times over.

Married three times, he had fourteen children. Fourteen. The trading post, the ranch, the church, the lodge, the county itself, and fourteen children.

When Joseph Peter Davidson passed in 1897, he and many of his descendants were laid to rest right here, in the family cemetery near his Palo Pinto County homestead. Some men pass through a place. Davidson built one.

What the marker says

(1823-1897) Born in Giles County, Tennessee, Joseph Peter Davidson moved to Texas and settled in Palo Pinto County about 1856. Davidson established a trading post near this site. In 1865 he started a ranch in present Eastland County and later helped organize the county. He served as official surveyor. He helped establish a Methodist church and Masonic Lodge. Married three times, he had 14 children. Davidson and many of his descendants are buried in this family cemetery, located near his Palo Pinto County homestead. Incise in base: Sponsored by Floreine D. Palmer