DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this one, and I'm just the voice carryin' it down the road. Now here's a man who never seemed to run out of chapters. Oran Milo Roberts was born on July 9, 1815, in South Carolina.
Before he ever set eyes on Texas, he'd already been an Alabama legislator — so he knew something about the machinery of government. In 1841, he came to San Augustine, Texas, and from that point on, the Lone Star State had his full attention. He worked his way through district and state judicial positions, and by 1850 he was presiding over the first district court in Canon.
That's a man building something, one ruling at a time. Then 1861 arrived, and Roberts stepped into one of the most consequential rooms in Texas history — he was president of the Secession Convention. Whatever you make of that moment, he was the man at the head of it.
War came, and Roberts served as a colonel in the 11th Regiment, Texas Infantry. When the war ended, he didn't disappear into the quiet. He came back — back to the bench, back to the work.
He took a second turn as a state Supreme Court judge, and in 1877 he issued the ruling that ended the Van Zandt County Seat War. A whole county had been fighting over where to plant its courthouse, and Roberts drew the line. Then in 1878, the people of Texas elected him governor.
And even after that, he wasn't finished. He became a law professor at the new University of Texas, shaping the next generation of Texas lawyers until 1893. And in 1895, he helped form the Texas State Historical Association — a man who'd lived through so much history deciding it all ought to be written down.
Oran Milo Roberts died on May 19, 1898. South Carolina gave him his start. Texas got everything else.
This marker was researched by Annette Herndon Plemmons.
What the marker says
(July 9, 1815 - May 19, 1898) A South Carolina-born Alabama legislator, Oran M. Roberts came to San Augustine, Texas in 1841. He served in district and state judicial positions, including the first district court in Canon in 1850, and was president of the Secession Convention in 1861. After service as a colonel in the 11th Regiment, Texas Infantry, his postwar career included a second turn as a state Supreme Court judge; he made the 1877 ruling that ended the Van Zandt County Seat War. Roberts was elected governor of Texas in 1878. He was a law professor at the new University of Texas until 1893. Roberts helped form the Texas State Historical Association in 1895. (1998) Incise on base: Researched by Annette Herndon Plemmons