The Fearless Fifty-Nine, David Thomas

David Thomas was the 35 year old Refugio representative. Thomas come to Texas in 1835 from Tennessee. Upon arriving here, he joined the U.S. Independent Volunteer Cavalry company organized at Nacogdoches. He was commissioned first lieutenant for a volunteer Matamoros expedition in January 1836. At the Convention, he was elected ad interim attorney general of the republic. He also became the acting secretary of war after Rusk left to join Houston’s army. He served both positions simultaneously. Around April 1836, Thomas was mortally wounded by getting accidently shot while aboard the steamship Cayuga en route from Lynch’s Ferry to Galveston. The ship held the interim government as they escaped Santa Anna’s advance on Harrisburg. There are several stories about where and when he actually died from the gun shot. Some say he died aboard the ship, died at San Jacinto or died at Vice President Lorenzo de Zavala’s home. It is unsure where he is buried but in 1932, the state of Texas erected a monument in his memory in the Zavala cemetery where he is supposedly buried.