Site of the Home of John S. Roberts

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of John S. Roberts and the ground where he made his home. Now, some men show up in the historical record as a footnote.

A name on a list, maybe a date or two, and that's all she wrote. John S. Roberts is not that kind of man.

He was born in Virginia in 1796. Virginia — old, established, settled Virginia, about as far from the Texas frontier as you can get and still be speaking English. But in 1826, he came to Texas.

And once a man like that arrives on a piece of ground, things tend to happen around him. The struggle for Texas independence didn't unfold in one tidy moment, and Roberts was in the thick of it before most people even knew a storm was brewing. He was one of the leaders in the Battle of Nacogdoches.

Right here in this county. Then came the Consultation — that gathering of men who were trying to figure out what Texas was going to be — and Roberts was there as a delegate on November 3, 1835. But he wasn't the kind of delegate who just sat in a chair and listened to speeches.

Barely a month later, December 5 through 10, 1835, he was commanding the Nacogdoches Company in the storming of Bexar. Not watching it. Not advising on it.

Commanding men in it. And then — March 2, 1836. If you know your Texas history, you know that date.

Roberts put his name on the Declaration of Independence. He lived until 1871. Died as he had lived — a Texan.

The State of Texas marked this site in 1936, and standing here, it's hard not to feel the weight of what that ground witnessed. A Virginia boy who came west in 1826 and helped build a republic with his hands and his name.

What the marker says

1796-1871 A native of Virginia, came to Texas in 1826. An active participant in the struggle for Texas independence. One of the leaders in Battle of Nacogdoches. Delegate to Consultation, November 3, 1835. Commanded the Nacogdoches Company in storming of Bexar, December 5 to 10, 1835. Signer of Declaration of Independence, March 2, 1836. Marked by the State of Texas 1936