Samuel G. Evetts

Duane's take

Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some men leave a mark on a place. Samuel G.

Evetts left a mark on just about every place he ever set foot in Texas — and he set foot in a lot of them. He came out of Tennessee, this man did, and made his way to Texas in the 1830s. That tells you something right there.

Coming to Texas in the 1830s wasn't exactly a leisurely proposition. And sure enough, by December of 1835, Samuel G. Evetts was right in the thick of it at the Siege of Bexar — where he was wounded.

Not deterred. Wounded. There is a difference, and Evetts seemed to understand it better than most.

After that, the man did what capable men in early Texas tended to do: he spread out. He lived in Austin County. He lived in Coryell County.

And along the way he received land grants — not in one county, not in two, but in five. Austin, Coryell, Washington, Williamson, and Wise counties all have his name written somewhere in their records. Five counties worth of Texas earth with a claim on Samuel Evetts, or Samuel Evitts, depending on which document you happen to find, because his name has been spelled both ways over the years.

The man himself, apparently, was not particular about the spelling. He had other things to attend to. By 1870, the State of Texas had seen fit to grant him a pension for his Republic of Texas military service.

That wound at Bexar, all those years later, still counted for something. And he kept movin'. By 1880, Evetts had settled into Wise County, which is right where you find yourself now.

He died here in 1884, at the age of seventy-four. Thrice married. Father of eleven.

Five counties. Three marriages. Eleven children.

A pension. A wound from the Siege of Bexar. And a name that couldn't even settle on a single spelling.

Some men don't so much live a life as they accumulate one. Samuel G. Evetts accumulated quite a lot.

What the marker says

A native of Tennessee, Samuel G. Evetts came to Texas in the 1830s. In December 1835 he was wounded at the Siege of Bexar. He later lived in Austin and Coryell counties and received land grants in those counties as well as in the counties of Washington, Williamson, and Wise. In 1870 he was granted a pension from the State of Texas for his Republic of Texas military service. By 1880 Evetts had moved to Wise County, where he died in 1884 at the age of 74. His name has also been spelled Evitts over the years. Thrice married, he was the father of eleven.