William E. Collard

Duane's take

Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. William E. Collard.

Born in Montgomery County, Texas, in April of 1839. Died in Austin on April 15, 1902. And between those two dates, friends, a man built a life worth carving in stone.

He came up in Texas when Texas was still finding its footing, and when the war came, he answered. He served in the Confederacy, with the 10th and then the 15th Texas Infantry. A lot of men who came home from that couldn't find solid ground afterward.

Collard found it in the law. Robertson County elected him District Judge in 1880, and that right there tells you something about the kind of man a community trusts to sit in judgment. But he wasn't done.

In 1887 he took a seat on the Civil Appeals Court, and he held that seat, steady and deliberate as a courthouse on a hill, all the way until 1902. The same year he died. He was still serving when Austin claimed him for the last time, on April the 15th.

The State of Texas saw fit to mark his resting place in 1936, a headstone that carries his name and those two plain years: 1839 and 1902. Sometimes the whole weight of a life fits between two numbers, if the life was lived right.

What the marker says

Born in Montgomery County, Texas April, 1839 Died in Austin April 15, 1902 Served in the Confederacy 10th and 15th Texas Infantry Elected District Judge in Robertson County, 1880 On Civil Appeals Court 1887 - 1902 The State of Texas 1936 [Back of headstone] William E. Collard 1839 - 1902