Samuel Paschall

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight. Samuel Paschall. Born in Tennessee in 1815, and somewhere along the way this man found himself standing on a piece of ground in Texas that history would never let go of.

He served as a Private in Captain Amasa Turner's company at the Battle of San Jacinto. Think about that for a moment. San Jacinto.

The kind of place where everything is on the line and the man next to you is all you've got. And Samuel Paschall was there. His service in the Army of Texas ran from February 13, 1836 all the way through June 30, 1837.

He didn't just show up for the famous part, the one that gets told and retold around every campfire from here to the Panhandle. He stayed. He served the full stretch, start to finish.

When it was done, when Texas had become something it hadn't been before, Samuel Paschall went on living his life. He had a wife, Bridget O'Reilly. He had years ahead of him.

And on June 6, 1874, he died. A Private from Tennessee who'd made it to the field at San Jacinto and kept his boots on through the long work after. The State of Texas erected this marker in 1957, making sure his name stays in the telling.

Now you've heard it too.

What the marker says

Born in Tennessee in 1815. Private in Captain Amasa Turner's company at the Battle of San Jacinto. Served in the Army of Texas from February 13, 1836 to June 30, 1837. Died June 6, 1874. Wife, Bridget O'Reilly. Erected by the State of Texas 1957