DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at the T-C Ranch House in Refugio County has to say — and friend, this one's worth pulling over for. Thomas O'Connor arrived in Texas as an orphan lad from County Wexford, Ireland, coming over with his uncle, the empresario James Power. He was born in 1818, and by the time he was seventeen years old — no, wait, I'm not doing that math on you.
Let's just say he was young. Young enough that when December 20, 1835 came around and the men gathered at Goliad to sign their Declaration of Independence, Thomas O'Connor put his name on that document as a member of the command of Captain Phillip Dimmitt. A boy from Wexford, signing his name to Texas freedom.
Now hold onto that, because the story isn't close to done. Come April 21, 1836, Texas and Santa Anna's forces met at San Jacinto, and when the smoke cleared and Texas had won her independence outright, Thomas O'Connor would be remembered as the youngest Texian soldier in that battle. The youngest.
In 1838, he married Mary Fagan in San Fernando Church in San Antonio — Mary, born in 1817 — and he brought her out to his frontier land grant. They were starting something. In 1842, O'Connor built a log cabin on this very site.
That cabin became the family home, became the ranch headquarters, stood as the beating heart of this operation through seasons that would test any soul. It held that role until 1874, when the present structure rose up to replace it. And that house — the one still standing — was built with bricks made right here on the ranch, shaped from clay pulled from a bank along the margin of the San Antonio River, then fired in the ranch's own kiln.
This ground built the house that stands on this ground. The T-C Ranch's roots stretch back through the Colonial period and the Republic of Texas both. By 1934, extensive petroleum developments spread out from this same headquarters.
Five generations of O'Connor family have called this place home. Thomas O'Connor, born 1818, died 1887, came to Texas with nothing but an uncle's hand to hold — and what he built here outlasted him by generations, and it's still standing.
What the marker says
Home of Thomas O'Connor (1818-1887), a signer of the Goliad Declaration of Independence on December 20, 1835, as a member of the command of Capt. Phillip Dimmitt. O'Connor was later known as the youngest Texian soldier in the Battle of San Jacinto, wherein on April 21, 1836, Texas won her independence. An orphan in his native county Wexford, Ireland, O'Connor came as a lad to Texas with his uncle, the empresario James Power (1788-1852). In 1838 in San Fernando Church, San Antonio, he married Mary Fagan (1817-1843), and soon brought her to his frontier land grant. The original log cabin built by O'Connor on this site in 1842 served as the family home and ranch headquarters until 1874, when the present structure was erected. This house has foundation and chimneys of bricks made on the ranch of earth from a clay bank on the margin of the San Antonio River, and baked in the ranch kiln. This site has been headquarters since Colonial and Republic of Texas periods for the vast T-C ranching operations, and since 1934 for extensive petroleum developments. It has been home to five generations of the O'Connor family. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1972