DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Peter Kerr, out there in Burnet County. Now, some men come to Texas with everything, and some come with nothing. Peter Kerr — born in 1795, out of Pennsylvania — came as part of Stephen F.
Austin's first colony. You know the ones. History calls them the Old Three Hundred, and Kerr was among them.
That is not a small thing to say about a man. He was there in 1836 when Texas fought for its independence, took part in that war himself. And after the smoke cleared, Peter Kerr set about doing what a certain kind of restless man does — he made stakes, and he lost them, and he made them again.
The marker doesn't sugarcoat it: he made and lost several stakes. That's a whole life of highs and lows compressed into a single sentence, and if you've ever driven through this part of Texas you can feel the weight of that. By 1851, he put down roots in Burnet County in a serious way — bought a league and labor of land, and that parcel included the site of Fort Croghan.
He built wealth from there, amassing it as an army beef contractor. Not glamorous work, maybe, but it paid, and Peter Kerr knew how to hold onto a dollar when he had one. Here's where the man's character starts to show itself.
He gave a hundred acres and the town square to establish the county seat of Burnet County. Gave it. And then, when he sat down to write his will, he didn't stop there.
He willed twenty-three thousand five hundred dollars — and six thousand three hundred and fifty-nine acres of land — to Burnet. All of it earmarked to build a college. Now.
Here's where the story takes its turn. The will was broken. All that land, all that money, all that vision of a college rising up out of the Hill Country — it did not come to pass.
What the city received in the end was a two-acre site for a public school. Two acres, where there might have been a college. And yet.
The marker leaves you with this, almost quietly, like a coda: it is said that Peter Kerr never refused to help when he observed its need. He died in 1861. His grand design got whittled down by forces the marker doesn't name.
But that one line about the man himself — never refusing help when he saw the need — that one they couldn't break.
What the marker says
1795-1861 One of "Old 300" of Stephen F. Austin's first colony; from Pennsylvania. Took part in 1836 war for Texas Independence. He made and lost several stakes. In 1851 bought a league and labor of Burnet County land, including site of Fort Croghan. Amassed wealth as army beef contractor. Gave 100 acres and town square for Burnet County seat. To build a college here, he willed $23,500 and 6,359 acres of land to Burnet. The will was broken; city got a 2-acre site for a public school. It is said "he never refused to help when he observed its need." (1970)