DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and it's worth every word. Now, some men leave a paper trail a mile long. Samuel Wolfenberger was not that kind of man.
But what the marker gives us is lean and it is loaded. He was born in Virginia, 1804. By 1831 he had made his way to Texas — and friend, Texas in 1831 was not the Texas you drove into on the interstate.
This was a place that would test a man before breakfast and test him again at sundown. Wolfenberger passed the test. More than once.
He fought under Lieutenant W. J. Russell at Velasco.
Let that sit a moment — Velasco. Then he participated in the storming and capture of Bexar. The storming and the capture.
Not a bystander. Not a man watching from a safe distance. He was in it.
And still he wasn't done. In 1836, he served with Colonel Robert M. Coleman's Rangers.
Three engagements, three moments where history hung in the balance, and Samuel Wolfenberger's name belongs in each one. He died in 1860. His wife Caroline, born 1806, outlived him and died in 1873.
The marker doesn't editorialize. It doesn't have to. Sometimes the plainest list of facts is the most powerful story in the room — and Samuel Wolfenberger's list is something else.
What the marker says
Born in Virginia 1804; came to Texas 1831. Died 1860. Fought under Lt. W. J. Russell at Velasco. Participated in the storming and capture of Bexar. Served with Colonel Robert M. Coleman's Rangers in 1836. His wife, Caroline, born 1806. Died 1873. Erected by the State of Texas 1956