DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm gonna tell you this one the way the official marker tells it — and friend, the marker doesn't need my help to be remarkable. Major Henry W. Augustine.
Born in 1806, died in 1874. He came to this part of Texas — came to Polk County — in 1827, moving up from Alabama. And whatever he was looking for when he arrived, what he found was a life that would leave marks on him.
Permanent ones. Let's walk through what this man did. The Battle of Nacogdoches in 1832 — he was there.
Then 1835, before the war with Mexico even got rolling, Augustine was seated as a delegate to the Consultation. That was the gathering where Texans were trying to figure out what they were, what they were going to do, and what kind of fight was coming. Henry Augustine had a seat at that table.
And when the Cherokee War came in 1838, he was there too. Now. The Republic of Texas looked at what this man had done — looked at his battle injuries, looked at his services — and said, here is what we owe you: a land grant.
And a wooden leg. That is what the marker says. A land grant and a wooden leg.
The Republic of Texas gave this man a piece of ground and a replacement for something the fighting had taken from him. There are monuments to men who gave speeches. Henry W.
Augustine gave something considerably harder to give. And he kept showing up anyway. That's the story the marker tells.
I'd say it's enough.
What the marker says
(1806-1874) In 1827 moved here from Alabama. For battle injuries and services under Republic of Texas, he received a land grant and wooden leg. Was in Battle of Nacogdoches, 1832; delegate to Consultation of 1835, before the war with Mexico; in Cherokee War, 1838.