Milton Garrett York, Sr.

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, and the way I'm passin' it on to you, here is the story of Milton Garrett York, Senior. Born September 5th, 1843, in San Augustine County, East Texas. Life came at him early and hard.

His parents, Aaron and Ruth Lucas York, passed away while he was still young, and young Milton went to live with an uncle, all the way up in Arkansas. But Texas has a way of callin' people back. Around 1860, Milton returned, and he took up teaching school in the Evergreen community, in what is now Lee County.

A young man, standing at the front of a classroom, trying to shape a future out of a place still finding its own shape. Then 1861 arrived, and whatever else Milton York had planned, the Confederate army had other ideas. He served from 1861 to 1865, four years that changed everything for everybody they touched.

When it was done, M. G. York came back to this part of Texas, and he married Matilda Heck.

They settled on land along the Brenham-Austin Trace, and that land held them for years. Around 1880, they moved to Giddings, which by then was growing into something. York grew right along with it.

He joined the J. G. Giddings Masonic Lodge and became a strong supporter of education for the children of the area.

A man who once taught school in a frontier community apparently never lost his belief that learning mattered. Now, Lee County itself was a new thing in those days. Created in 1874 out of portions of Bastrop, Burleson, Washington, and Fayette counties, it needed organizing from the ground up.

York was appointed to a commission to help do exactly that, serving alongside C. Perry, A. P.

Gaines, Solomon Fehr, and O. G. Jones.

Five men, a brand new county, a whole lot of work. He later went on to be elected county commissioner of Precinct 1. But Milton York wasn't finished building things.

In 1890, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, representing Lee and Burleson counties during his two-year term. A man who started out as a schoolteacher in a community that didn't even have its own county yet, ending up on the floor of the Texas legislature. When M.

G. York died in 1911, he was survived by his wife and six children. The marker puts it plainly: his role in early Lee County history is an important part of the area's heritage.

And out here on the road, passing through the ground he helped organize, that sounds about right.

What the marker says

Was born in East Texas (San Augustine County) on Sept. 5, 1843. After the death of his parents, Aaron and Ruth (lucas) York, he went to live with an uncle in Arkansas. Milton returned to Texas about 1860 and briefly taught school in the Evergreen community, in what is now Lee County. After serving in the Confederate army from 1861 to 1865, M. G. York returned to this area and married Matilda Heck. They settled on land along the Brenham-Austin Trace and lived there until they moved to Giddings about 1880. As a member of the J. G. Giddings Masonic Lodge, York was a strong supporter of education for the children of the area. After Lee County was created in 1874 out of portions of Bastrop, Burleson, Washington, and Fayette counties, he was appointed to a commission, along with C. Perry, A. P. Gaines, Solomon Fehr, and O. G. Jones, to help organize the new county. He later was elected county commissioner of Precinct 1. York's interest in public affairs continued with his election to the Texas House of Representatives in 1890. He represented Lee and Burleson counties during his two-year term. Upon his death in 1911, M. G. York was survived by his wife and six children. His role in early Lee County history is an important part of the area's heritage.