DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about William Demetris Lacey. Now, some men just seem to land in the right place at exactly the right moment in history — and then vanish before the story gets fully told. William Demetris Lacey was one of those men.
Born in Virginia in 1808, he grew up in Kentucky, and by 1831 he had made his way to what is now Columbus, Texas — back when Texas wasn't Texas yet, back when it was still part of Mexico. He set himself up right here on this very site: a tanyard and a saddle shop. Practical man.
A man who worked with his hands and built something from nothing. In 1832 he married Sarah Ann Bright — Sally, they called her — and it looked like the makings of a good, quiet life. But quiet was not exactly in the cards.
See, Lacey had a way of getting elected to things. Public office, again and again, even while Texas still answered to Mexico City. And then came 1836.
He was selected to attend the Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos — that gathering where men put their names on a document that would either make them founders or make them targets. William Demetris Lacey signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Let that settle in for a second.
Then he went and served in the Texas army. And when it was over, when the fighting had passed, he came back to Columbus — back to Sally, back to their life. Only to find their home in ruins.
Gone. Just like that. The life he'd built on this site, ash and silence.
So the family packed up and moved on, this time to land along the Tres Palacios River in Matagorda County — land Lacey had received for his war service. They tried again. They always tried again.
Then in 1848, the family went back to Kentucky. And that's where William Demetris Lacey died, and that's where he is buried today. A Virginia boy who grew up in Kentucky, built a life in Texas, helped birth a nation, and then slipped quietly back to where he came from.
The tanyard's long gone. But the ground remembers.
What the marker says
Virginia native William Demetris Lacey (1808-1848) grew up in Kentucky and in 1831 settled in what is now Columbus. He established a tanyard and saddle shop on this site and married Sarah Ann "Sally" Bright in 1832. Elected to several public offices while Texas was still a part of Mexico, Lacey was selected to attend the convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos, where he signed the Texas declaration of independence. After serving in the Texas army, he returned to Columbus with his family, only to discover their home in ruins. The family settled along the Tres Palacios River in Matagorda County on land Lacey received for his war service. They returned to Kentucky in 1848, where he died and is buried. (2001)