DUANE
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Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it along. Now if you ever find yourself rolling through Ellis County and you start to wonder who carved this part of Texas out of raw frontier, well, the marker's got a name for you. Edward H.
Tarrant. Born 1796, died 1858, and in between those two dates, he packed in more than most men manage in three lifetimes. He fought in the War of 1812; that's where his story starts, or at least where the marker picks it up.
Then he came west, the way a certain kind of man does, into country that didn't much care whether you survived it. Pioneer Indian fighter, the marker calls him. Commander of Texas frontier troops.
And then, maybe the part that surprises you most: statesman of vision. That phrase sits right there alongside the fighting and the frontier, because Edward H. Tarrant was more than one thing, and the marker wants you to know it.
By 1845, he'd built his plantation home right here in Ellis County. Set down roots the way a man does when he's decided the wandering is done. And he didn't stop at a house; nearby, he built the first mill in Ellis County.
First one. In the whole county. He lived on that ground, in that house, until August 2, 1858.
The day he died. The State of Texas saw fit to erect this marker in 1936, nearly eighty years after he was gone, because some stories, the land just won't let you forget. Edward H.
Tarrant: veteran, fighter, commander, statesman. He stood right here. And Ellis County remembers.
What the marker says
(1796-1858) Veteran of the War of 1812. Pioneer Indian fighter. Commander of Texas frontier troops. Statesman of vision. The house was built in 1845. Near by he built the first mill in Ellis County. Here he resided until his death, August 2, 1858. Erected by the State of Texas 1936