Robert E. Neill

Duane's take

Here's my telling of the official marker for Robert E. Neill, just as the record has it. Now settle in, because this is a life that started young and kept on moving.

Robert E. Neill was born in Williamson County, Tennessee, in 1827. Four years old, and his family was already pulling up roots and heading to what is now Caldwell County, Texas.

Four years old. Most children that age are worried about supper. Robert Neill was about to grow up fast.

And then, at nine years old, it happened. He was grinding corn meal for the Texas army, just a boy doing his part, when he suffered a crushing injury that crippled his left arm. Nine years old.

That arm would never be right again. Now here is where the story could have taken a different road entirely. A crippled arm, a hard country, a hard time.

Most folks would have let that be the end of a certain kind of story. Robert Neill did not. Come 1847, he was in the U.S.

Army, serving during the war with Mexico. Crippled arm and all. After that, he turned to ranching, but when Texas needed him, he volunteered with the Texas Rangers and other units, as the need arose.

And when the Civil War came, he served the Confederacy. That was how his military career concluded. When it was finally done, Robert Neill did what a man does after a long road.

He retired to his ranch and his family. He and his wife, Elizabeth, raised five children together, and they spent their remaining years on their property in Atascosa County. Robert died in 1878.

A boy who ground corn meal for an army at nine, a soldier, a ranger, a rancher, a father. That left arm never did work right. The rest of him more than made up for it.

What the marker says

Born in Williamson County, Tennessee, in 1827, Robert E. Neill migrated with his family to what is now Caldwell County, Texas, at the age of four. At age nine, while grinding corn meal for the Texas army, he suffered a crushing injury that crippled his left arm. Despite this, he went on to serve in the U.S. Army in 1847, during the war with Mexico. Afterward he was a rancher but volunteered with the Texas Rangers and other units, as needed. His military career concluded with service to the confederacy in the Civil War. Neill retired to his ranch and family. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had five children, and spent their remaining years on their property in Atascosa County. Robert died in 1878.