DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker out here in Williamson County tells it like this, and I'm just gonna do my best to honor the telling. We're talking about Adam Lawrence — born in Kentucky in 1799, pioneer farmer, cattle raiser, and a man who apparently did not consider retreating a particularly useful option. He received a Texas land grant in 1822, which means he was putting down roots in this country long before most folks had even looked at a map of it.
When the Texas Revolution came in 1836, Adam Lawrence was there. And when Indian battles came — and apparently they came more than once — Adam Lawrence was there for those too. The marker says 'many Indian battles,' and I find myself believing every word of that.
Now here's the part where the story earns its place around a campfire. At some point during one of those encounters, Adam Lawrence found himself face to face with a war party with nowhere to run but one direction — down. He jumped his horse twenty feet into the river below.
Twenty feet. Horse and man, together, off the edge, into the water. You can decide for yourself what kind of man looks at a twenty-foot drop into a river and calls that the better option.
The kind, I'd say, who lives to donate a tract of land in 1840, which is exactly what Adam Lawrence did — setting aside this very ground for what would become Lawrence Chapel Cemetery. He made it to 1878. Born 1799, died 1878.
The horse, the marker does not say — but I like to think it stuck around too.
What the marker says
Adam Lawrence (1799-1878), pioneer farmer and cattle raiser, donated this tract in 1840. Born in Kentucky, he received a Texas land grant, 1822. Fought in Texas Revolution (1836) and many Indian battles. Once jumped horse 20 feet into river below to evade war party.