DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker on Wyly Martin tells it, straight from the Texas Historical Commission's own inscription. Now, some men live one life. Wyly Martin lived about six of them, back to back, and barely stopped to breathe between any of them.
He was born in Georgia, 1776 — the same year a whole nation was declaring itself into existence. Whether that's coincidence or destiny, the marker doesn't say. But it does say that by 1813, young Wyly Martin was out on the frontier scouting under General William Henry Harrison.
That's the kind of job that separates the bold from everybody else. And then — just to keep things interesting — he turned around and served under General Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. Two legendary generals, one man's record.
Make of that what you will. After all that, a lesser soul might have settled somewhere quiet. Wyly Martin settled in Texas.
Which, in the early days, amounted to the same thing as choosing the most complicated situation available. He became alcalde of San Felipe de Austin — one of the key administrative positions in that fledgling colony. Then a delegate to the conventions of Texas in 1832 and 1833.
Then a member of the Consultation in 1835, when Texans were hashing out the very shape of their future. And then came 1836. On March 7th, Wyly Martin took command of a company in the Army of Texas.
He held that captaincy through May 15th — those were not quiet months in Texas, not by a long measure. After the smoke cleared, Fort Bend County made him their chief justice, a post he held from 1838 to 1841. Wyly Martin died April 2, 1842.
The State of Texas saw fit to remember him in 1936, and honestly, a man who scouted for Harrison, soldiered under Jackson, governed, deliberated, and captained his way through the birth of a republic — well, he earned the rememberin'.
What the marker says
Scout under Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, 1813; served under Gen. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812; alcalde, San Felipe de Austin; delegate to the conventions of texas, 1832-33; member of the Consultation, 1835; captain of a company in the Army of Texas, March 7 to May 15, 1836; chief justice of Fort Bend County, 1838-41; born in Georgia, 1776; died April 2, 1842. Erected by the State of Texas 1936