DUANE
Duane's take
The marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, if you were to plant yourself in Texas in the early 1830s, you'd find the Hornsby name already carved deep into this land. Reuben Hornsby had a son — Josephus — born March 15, 1822.
And by 1832, young Josephus was right here, settled on this ground, when settled meant something altogether different than it does today. By 1837, he'd signed on as a Bastrop Ranger. That tells you something about the man.
You didn't take that commission for comfort. Then came 1839 — the Flores Fight. Then 1840, and the Battle of Plum Creek.
Same year, a Brush Fight. Back-to-back. The marker doesn't slow down and neither did Josephus Hornsby.
Then 1842 rolls around and it hands him two campaigns — the Vasquez Campaign and the Woll Campaign — before that same year delivers what might be the line people remember most. In Austin, in 1842, Josephus led the fight against Indians — and from that fight, he rescued two men: William Bell and Alexander Coleman. He went in and he brought them out.
Josephus Hornsby died October 21, 1862. His wife, Eliza Ann Lane, born February 14, 1830, outlived him and died September 6, 1892. The State of Texas erected this marker in 1936 — a long time after those fights, but some names earn the wait.
Son of Reuben Hornsby. Settler. Ranger.
The kind of man who rode toward the trouble instead of away from it.
What the marker says
To Josephus Hornsby Mar. 15, 1822 Oct. 21, 1862 Son of Reuben Hornsby; settled here, 1832; Bastrop Ranger, 1837 In Flores Fight, 1839 Battle of Plum Creek, 1840 Brush Fight, 1840; Vasquez and Woll Campaigns, 1842; led fight against Indians from whom he rescued William Bell and Alexander Coleman in Austin, 1842 His wife Eliza Ann Lane Feb. 14, 1830 Sept. 6, 1892 Erected by the State of Texas 1936