DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Moses Fisk Roberts, out there in Shelby County. Now, most men go through life with a name their mama gave them and that's the end of it. Moses Fisk Roberts was not most men.
Somewhere along the way, the people of Shelby County started calling him something else entirely — "Dog" Roberts. And before you go drawing your own conclusions, the marker sets the record straight: it was the pack of fox hounds. His ever-present pack of fox hounds.
You apparently could not find Moses Fisk Roberts without also finding that pack, and after a while folks just leaned into it. He was born in 1803, in Tennessee, and made his way to Texas in 1836. That timing, if you know your Texas history, put him right in the thick of things — because Roberts served as a soldier in the Texas Revolution, and he did not come out of it whole.
He lost his right eye. The marker doesn't dress that up, and neither will I. That's the kind of cost the Revolution asked of the men who showed up for it.
He kept serving after that. He became an officer in the Texas militia. Then the Republic of Texas sent him to Congress — he served there from 1839 to 1842.
And Texas wasn't done with him when it became a state, either. He came back to the State Legislature, serving in 1853 to 1854, and again in 1857 to 1858. In between and around all of that, he was also a justice of the peace and a county judge.
And through it all — the public office, the legislation, the judging — he remained what the marker calls a farmer of Shelby County. A highly regarded public servant and farmer. Two things at once, the way a lot of Texas men were.
He married twice. His first wife was Amanda Grant. His second, Nancy Murray.
He lived until 1889. So when you picture "Dog" Roberts, picture a one-eyed veteran of the Texas Revolution, farmer, judge, legislator, militiaman — and yes, a man who apparently went nowhere without his hounds. Shelby County knew exactly what it had in him.
What the marker says
(1803-1889) Highly regarded public servant and farmer of Shelby County. His ever-present pack of fox hounds earned him nickname "Dog" Roberts. Born in Tennessee, he moved to Texas in 1836. Lost right eye as soldier in Texas revolution. Was later officer in Texas militia. Served in Congress of Republic (1839-42) and State Legislature (1853-54; 1857-58). Was also justice of the peace and county judge. First wife was Amanda Grant; second, Nancy Murray.