DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Somewhere outside Jewett, in Leon County, there's a marker bearing the name Manaen Turnbull Smith — and friend, that name deserves a little air around it. Born in Georgia in 1802, this man showed up in what would become Shelby County, Texas, in 1822.
Eighteen twenty-two. Texas wasn't even Texas yet in any formal sense, and Manaen Smith was already here, already gettin' involved. That right there tells you something about the kind of man we're dealin' with.
He jumped into civic affairs the way some men jump into cold rivers — without much hesitation and with apparent intention to stay wet. Then October of 1835 rolls around, and Smith joined the Texas Army. He served through January of 1836, and in December of 1835, he was there — right there — at the Siege of Bexar.
You let that settle for a second. That was not a quiet month in Texas history. After the smoke cleared on that chapter of his life, Smith kept movin', the way men of that era tended to do.
He lived in Harris County. He lived in Houston County. Then around 1848 or 1849, he packed up his family and headed to Leon County, and that's where he put down something closer to permanent roots.
He farmed. He ranched. He bought land, sold land — did the kind of steady, unglamorous work that actually builds a place into somewhere worth livin'.
And then, later on, he landed in Jewett, where he ran a hotel. Twice married, the father of nine children, Manaen Turnbull Smith died in Jewett in 1886 — the same year Texas marked its Sesquicentennial, one hundred and fifty years from 1836. A man who arrived before the Republic, served during its birth, and farmed through its becoming a state and then some.
Jewett's got his name on a marker now. Seems about right.
What the marker says
(1802-1886) Georgia native Manaen T. Smith arrived in present Shelby County, Texas in 1822. He became active in civic affairs, and served in the Texas Army from October 1835 to January 1836. He was a participant in the Siege of Bexar in December 1835. He lived in Harris and Houston counties before moving his family to Leon County about 1848-49. He farmed, ranched, and was involved in the buying and selling of land in the county. He later lived in Jewett, where he operated a hotel. Twice married and the father of nine children, Smith died in Jewett in 1886. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986