DUANE
Duane's take
The marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along — here's the story of Thomas Pratt, straight from the official record out of Lampasas County. Thomas Pratt was born in 1807, and by the time Texas was fighting for its republic, he was already in the thick of it. He served as Captain of the 1st Regiment in T.
J. Green's Brigade in 1836 — the Army of the Republic of Texas, no less. That's the kind of credential that echoes down through history.
Then the Civil War came around, 1861 to 1865, and Pratt wasn't sittin' it out. He served in the Texas Militia, Confederate Army, doing what the era called of him. Between those great storms of history, and after, the man was a farmer and a rancher — land in Coleman County, land in Lampasas County.
He knew this ground. His wife Susan — born around 1795 — had roots that ran even deeper into Texas soil. She was a member of the very first Anglo colony in Texas.
Let that settle for a moment. The first one. Now, Thomas Pratt died in 1878, same year as Susan, and here's where the story lands with some real weight.
When he drew up his will, he didn't just pass his holdings on to the usual places. He left funds specifically to provide meat — not money, not property, but meat — for, in his own words, the quote poor and reputable widows unquote of his community. A soldier, a rancher, a man of his time — and at the end of it all, he made sure somebody was eatin'.
That's the kind of detail that sticks.
What the marker says
Thomas Pratt (1807-1878). Veteran of Army of Republic of Texas, he was Captain of 1st Regt., T. J. Green's Brigade, in 1836. In Civil War (1861-65), served in Texas Militia, Confederate Army. In private life, was farmer and rancher. Owned land in Coleman and Lampasas counties. His wife Susan (1795?-1878) was a member of first Anglo colony in Texas. A kindly man, Pratt left funds in his will to provide meat for "poor and reputable widows".