DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Norwood Community out in San Augustine County. Now settle in, because this one's got roots that run deep — all the way back to North Carolina and forward to the present day. Back in the 1840s, a man named William Coleson Norwood — folks knew him as W.
C. — packed up everything he had and pointed himself toward Texas. He'd been a merchant and a postmaster in a town called Norwood up in North Carolina, so he wasn't exactly a man who did things small. And he didn't travel light, either.
W. C. and his wife Eliza LeGrand Norwood made that journey with nine children and a whole constellation of extended family trailing along behind them. That is not a road trip.
That is a migration. Now, tucked into that family party was Eliza's brother, a man by the name of E. O.
LeGrand — and here's where you want to pay attention — E. O. LeGrand was a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto and a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
A man like that doesn't just fade into the background. He became a member of the Norwood household right there in the community that would carry the family name. W.
C. Norwood got to work. He served as San Augustine County commissioner, and the marker tells us he was instrumental in building early county roads — the kind of work that doesn't get you a parade but gets people where they're going.
His son James L. Norwood followed in those footsteps, serving as county commissioner himself. Another son, E.
O. Norwood, took a different path and became the town's doctor. And then there was Hampton L.
Norwood, who built a sawmill out there — one piece of a community that also had a cotton gin, a grist mill, and a syrup mill. The Norwood community was doing the full range of what a working Texas settlement needed to do. The story keeps building from there.
In 1892, a school was established on one acre of land deeded by James Norwood — the same James who'd walked in his father's shoes as county commissioner. And in 1926, his daughter Cora donated land for a church. Grocery store, houses, a cemetery — the Norwood community had the whole shape of a life lived together.
And here's the part that tends to stop people: Norwood family members remain in the area to this day, and they continue to own land that once belonged to their ancestors. Some stories end. This one just keeps goin'.
What the marker says
This rural community was settled in the 1840s by William Coleson (W. C.) Norwood (1794-1885) and Eliza LeGrand Norwood (1808-1869). They migrated from North Carolina, where W. C. was a merchant and postmaster in the town of Norwood. The Norwoods were accompanied to Texas by their nine children and extended family members. Eliza Norwood's brother, E. O. LeGrand, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, became a member of their household in the Norwood community. W. C. Norwood served as San Augustine County commissioner and was instrumental in building early county roads. James L. Norwood, son of W. C. and Eliza Norwood, also served as San Augustine County commissioner. The Norwood community included a cotton gin, grist mill, syrup mill, and a sawmill built by Hampton L. Norwood. E. O. Norwood, another of W. C. and Eliza's sons, became the town's doctor. In 1892 a school was established on one acre of land deeded by James Norwood. His daughter Cora donated land for a church in 1926. The community also included a grocery store, houses, and a cemetery. Norwood family members remain in the area, and continue to own land that once belonged to their ancestors. (1997)