DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. William S. Stilwell came a long way to find his place in Texas history — born in New York, in 1809, a man who'd crossed enough distance, in miles and in circumstance, to end up standing on a battlefield at San Jacinto.
He wasn't a general, wasn't a commander that day — he was a private, serving in Captain Isaac N. Moreland's company of Artillery. One of the men in the ranks who held the line when it mattered.
Now, something about what he did at San Jacinto must have caught somebody's attention, because on December 26th, 1836 — a date that sounds almost like a gift — William S. Stilwell was appointed captain. Captain.
He'd made it. The Texian army had seen what he was worth and said so officially. You might think that's where the story opens up, where the road gets wide and the future starts looking bright.
But here's the thing about this particular story. It doesn't open up. It closes.
September 12th, 1837. Houston, Texas. The word used was suddenly.
Captain William S. Stilwell died suddenly in that city, and the people who knew him, or knew of him, thought the world deserved to hear about it — so they reached out through the Texas Telegraph newspaper with a notice that is spare and dignified and quietly heartbreaking. It reads: 'Died in this city, on the 12th inst., suddenly, Captain William S.
Stilwell, late of the Texian army. The New Orleans and New York papers are requested to notice this.' The New Orleans and New York papers are requested to notice this. That line does something to you if you sit with it.
Someone wanted New York to know — the place where he was born — that this man had lived, and served, and mattered. Private to captain. San Jacinto to Houston. 1809 to 1837.
Requested to notice this. I'd say we owe him that much, at least.
What the marker says
A private in Captain Isaac N. Moreland's company of Artillery at San Jacinto. Appointed captain, December 26, 1836. Born in New York 1809; died in Houston September 12, 1837 "Died in this city, on the 12th inst., suddenly, Captain William S. Stilwell, late of the Texian army. The New Orleans and New York papers are requested to notice this." Texas Telegraph