Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham, now there's a name that carries some weight in Parker County, and the road into Weatherford knows it well. Born on the Fourth of July, 1846, to James and Louisa Lanham down in South Carolina.

You might say the fireworks were always in him. By 1861, still just a teenager, he had joined the Confederate Army; the Third South Carolina Infantry. And whatever notions a young man carries into war, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in 1864 had a way of answering them.

He came out of that fight wounded. Some men are finished by that kind of thing. Lanham was not.

Come 1866, he wed Sarah Meng, and the two of them started building a life. North Texas called, and they followed. By 1868 they had landed in Weatherford, and that's where the man went to work on the law.

He became a lawyer, and it didn't take long before Parker County and the surrounding territory had reason to take notice. His name got tied to the Warren Wagontrain Raid cases, where he served as district attorney; the kind of cases that carve a reputation out of hard stone. From there, the path ran straight to Washington.

Five terms as U.S. Congressman, 1882 to 1903. Five terms.

That is a long run at the wheel. And then, in 1902, Samuel Lanham began the first of two terms as Governor of Texas. Two terms.

The boy from South Carolina, once wounded in Virginia, was now the man running the whole state. He retired back to Weatherford in 1907, came home, the way certain men always do. He even served as a University of Texas regent before the end.

He died in 1908. The Fourth of July birthday, the wartime wound, the courtroom fire, the long years in Congress, the Governor's chair; and then, quiet, back to Weatherford. Not a bad accounting for one life on this road.

What the marker says

S.W.T. Lanham was born on July 4, 1846 to James and Louisa (Tucker) Lanham in South Carolina. He joined the Confederate Army in 1861, serving in the Third South Carolina Infantry, and was wounded at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, 1864. He wed Sarah Meng in 1866, and they moved to north Texas, relocating in 1868 to Weatherford, where he became a lawyer. He gained notoriety as a district attorney in the Warren Wagontrain Raid cases, and he served five terms as U.S. Congressman between 1882 and 1903. He began his first of two terms as Governor in 1902. Lanham retired to Weatherford in 1907 and served as a University of Texas regent. He died in 1908. (2006)