Thomas Ingles Smith

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it — my job's just to make sure you hear every word. Now, some men drift through history quiet as smoke. Thomas Ingles Smith was not one of those men.

He came into the world in 1800, born in Virginia, and before he was old enough to shave he was already soldiering — serving in the War of 1812 in a company commanded by his own father, General Bird B. Smith. You might say the family business was standing between trouble and the people who needed protecting.

By late 1836, Smith had made his way to Texas — fresh republic, brand new and still a little wobbly on its feet — and he wasted no time. He enlisted in the Republic of Texas army under General Felix Huston. That was the beginning of a long, tangled relationship between Thomas Ingles Smith and this young nation he'd chosen.

September of 1842. The Battle of the Salado. Smith was there, and he came out of it wounded.

Some men, after a wound like that, step back from the frontier. Smith was apparently not one of those men either. Because just a few months later — December of that same year — President Sam Houston himself hand-picked Smith for one of the stranger assignments in Texas history.

Houston sent a small group of Rangers under the joint command of Smith and Eli Chandler to do something that sounds simple on paper: move the archives of the Republic. Move the records. Haul the paperwork to Washington-on-the-Brazos.

Now. Here's where it gets interesting. The citizens of Austin had some thoughts about that plan.

Strong thoughts. They showed up in what you might call a show of force, and they prevented that move entirely. The whole episode passed into the record books as the Archive War.

Smith and Chandler rode in. The citizens of Austin said no. And the archives stayed put.

By 1843, Smith had settled himself along Chambers Creek, over in what is now Ellis County. A year later he was riding as a Texas Ranger and Indian Scout. By 1845 he was commanding the Robertson County Rangers along the frontier.

The man was constantly in motion, constantly on the edge of things. And then came the moment that perhaps meant more than any of it. As commissioner to negotiate with the Indians, Thomas Ingles Smith signed the last treaty made by the Republic of Texas.

The last one. Whatever you make of that history, he was the man holding the pen. In 1846, a fort was established — one of a line of fortifications stretching from the Colorado River all the way to the Red River.

They called it Fort Smith. Named for Thomas I. Smith.

He wasn't done yet. Along with two partners, he gave land for the townsite of Corsicana. And in 1848 he served on the commission to locate the seat of Navarro County — the very county where that marker stands today.

March of 1848. Thomas Ingles Smith died in Austin. He'd been born in Virginia in 1800, soldiered as a boy, come to Texas at the tail end of its revolution, bled at the Salado, tangled with the citizens of Austin over a wagon full of records, patrolled the frontier, negotiated the final treaty of the Republic, given land so a town could exist, and helped decide where a county would plant its flag.

He never stopped moving until March of 1848. And then he stopped all at once. That's the kind of life that gets a marker.

What the marker says

(1800-1848) Thomas Ingles Smith was born in 1800 in Virginia and was a soldier in the War of 1812 in a company commanded by his father, General Bird B. Smith. Smith arrived in Texas late in 1836, and soon enlisted in the Republic of Texas army under Gen Felix Huston. He was wounded in the Battle of the Salado in September 1842. In December of that year President Sam Houston sent a small group of Rangers under the command of Smith and Eli Chandler to move the archives of the Republic to Washington-on-the-Brazos. The citizens of Austin, in a show of force, prevented the move in what became known as the Archive War. By 1843 Smith was living along Chambers Creek in present Ellis County, and in 1844 was a Texas Ranger and Indian Scout. He commanded the Robertson County Rangers along the frontier in 1845. As commissioner to negotiate with the Indians, he signed the last treaty made by the Republic of Texas. Fort Smith, one of a line of fortifications from the Colorado to Red River, was established in 1846 and named for Thomas I. Smith. Along with two partners, he gave land for the townsite of Corsicana, and was a member of the commission to locate the Navarro County seat in 1848. He died in Austin in March 1848. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986