W. T. G. Weaver

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker on W. T. G.

Weaver tells it, the way I'd share it around a fire on a long Texas night. William Thomas Green Weaver. That's a name that carries some weight, and it ought to.

Born April 25, 1832, this man packed more into one life than most folks manage in two. He came to Texas from Illinois in 1840, just a boy, traveling with his father and three siblings. Texas had a way of getting hold of people young, and it held on to Weaver for the rest of his days.

As a young adult he taught school for a time, which tells you something about a man, that he was willing to stand up in front of a room and make sense of the world for others. But teaching wasn't where he was headed. He studied law, and in 1856 he was admitted to the bar.

He came to this city to practice, and by 1860 he was elected district attorney for the 20th Judicial District. That's a fast climb by any reckoning. Then the war came, as it came for so many, and Weaver served in the Confederate army.

When it was over, he came back and resumed his law practice in north central Texas, steady as ever. But here is where the story takes a turn that stops you. In 1875, Weaver stood as a delegate to the Texas Constitutional Convention.

And on that floor, in that room full of Texas men deciding the shape of Texas law, W. T. G.

Weaver stood up and advocated giving women the right to vote. In 1875. Let that settle.

And if all of that weren't enough for one man to carry, he was also a noted romantic poet whose verse was published and read throughout the state of Texas. A district attorney, a convention delegate, a voice for women's suffrage, and a poet. October 18, 1876, he was gone.

But the marker stands, placed in 2001, and the words on it make clear that Cooke County remembers the man who argued for justice in the courtroom, for equality on the convention floor, and for beauty on the printed page.

What the marker says

(April 25, 1832 - October 18, 1876) William Thomas Green Weaver came to Texas from Illinois in 1840 with his father and three siblings. As a young adult, he taught school for a time, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1856. He came to this city to practice law and in 1860 was elected district attorney for the 20th Judicial District. After serving in the Confederate army, he resumed his law practice in north central Texas. As a delegate to the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1875, Weaver advocated giving women the right to vote. Outside the legal field, Weaver was a noted romantic poet who had his verse published and read throughout the state of Texas. (2001)