DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. Now, some men leave a mark on a place. Samuel Augustus Maverick left a mark on the English language itself — and that's a different kind of legacy altogether.
He came out of South Carolina, this man, and showed up in San Antonio in 1835. That timing was not accidental and it was not quiet. Within months of arriving, he was serving as guide for Ben Milam and other leaders in the first attack on San Antonio by the Texas Army, December of 1835.
First attack. He hadn't even unpacked, and he was already in the thick of it. The following year, 1836, Maverick rode to Washington-on-Brazos as a delegate from Bexar, and he put his name on the Texas Declaration of Independence.
That signature is still there. And he kept going. He rode with Captain Jack Hays' Minute Men, helping make San Antonio safe from Comanche Indian attacks.
He joined Hays' expedition that opened the California road and helped claim the Rio Grande as Texas' western boundary. The man covered ground. But 1842 — now that year had some sharp edges.
General Adrian Woll captured San Antonio, and Maverick ended up a prisoner-of-war at Perote, Mexico. Seven months behind those walls. And here's the part that ought to stop you cold: while he was still sitting in that prison at Perote, the voters of Bexar elected him as their representative to the 7th Congress of the Republic.
He won office in chains. They sent him to Congress and he couldn't even leave the building he was in. He served twice as Mayor of San Antonio.
He was Chief Justice of Bexar County during the Civil War. In 1861, he sat on the committee that accepted the surrender of U.S. troops and forts in Texas — and they managed it without bloodshed, which is no small thing to say about 1861. After the war, he served in the Texas House and the Senate.
Along the way, he married Mary Ann Adams of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Together they became the parents of nine children. Now.
About those cattle. Maverick had a famous practice — famous, the marker says, and it earned that word — of letting his cattle run about unbranded. Just loose, unmarked, out there in the Texas landscape doing as they pleased.
And from that practice, the English language acquired a word. Maverick. Meaning an independent person.
Meaning an unbranded animal. One man's habit became a word the whole world uses. Maverick County carries his name.
So does the town there. Some men sign a declaration and call it enough. Samuel Augustus Maverick signed the declaration, guided the attack, rode with Hays, got captured, got elected from prison, served his county through a war, and then — almost as a footnote — changed the dictionary.
Not bad for a man from South Carolina who showed up in San Antonio in 1835 and apparently never slowed down.
What the marker says
A native of South Carolina; came to San Antonio in 1835; was guide for Ben Milam and other leaders in first attack on San Antonio by Texas Army, Dec. 1835. As Bexar delegate, Maverick signed Texas Declaration of Independence at Washington-on-Brazos, 1836. With Capt. Jack Hays' "Minute Men," he helped make San Antonio safe from Comanche Indian attacks; also joined Hays' expedition which opened California road and claimed Rio Grande as Texas' western boundary. Twice Mayor of San Antonio; he was prisoner-of-war in Perote, Mex., for 7 months after Gen. Adrian Woll's capture of San Antonio in 1842. Was elected as Bexar representative to 7th Congress of Republic (1842) while still a prisoner at Perote. Member of committee which accepted surrender of U.S. troops and forts in Texas without bloodshed in Civil War, 1861. Was Chief Justice of Bexar County during War; served in Texas House, Senate afterwards. He married Mary Ann Adams of Tuscaloosa, Ala. They became parents of 9 children. His famous practice of letting his cattle run about unbranded gave English language the word "maverick," meaning an independent person, as well as unbranded animal. Texas' Maverick County and town were named in his honor. (1967)