Celebrate Texas Independence at "Independence Eve"

March 1

 

The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Lorzeno de Zavala

Lorzeno de Zavala was the 47 year old Harrisburg representative. De Zavala was extremely active in Mexican politics before moving to Texas. Early in his life in Mexico, he founded and edited several newspapers in which he expressed the democratic ideas that were to mark his political career. He was imprisoned in 1814 for his  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, James B. Woods

James B. Woods was the 31 year old either Liberty or Harrisburg representative, records are conflicting. Woods was born in Kentucky in 1802. He moved to Texas in 1830. In 1834, he became the alcalde of the Liberty District. He also represented Liberty at the Consultation of 1835. After the Convention, he served in the  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Claiborne West

Claiborne West was the 36 year old Jefferson representative. West moved from Louisiana to Texas in 1831. He served as a member of the subcommittee for safety and vigilance for the district of Cow Bayou during the Convention of 1832. Upon the formation of the General Council, he was elected to represent the Jefferson Municipality.  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Edwin Waller

Edwin Waller was the 35 year old Brazoria representative. Waller moved to Texas from Missouri in 1831 and owned/operated the Sabine, a vessel used to transport cotton from Velasco to New Orleans. In 1832 he was wounded in the battle of Velasco. At the Convention, he served on the committee that framed the Constitution. Afterward,  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, John Turner

John Turner was the 34 year old San Patricio representative. Turner studied law and taught school before moving to Texas in 1829. Once he became a part of the San Patricio area, he wrote letters on the colonists to Capt. Philip Dimmitt, Col. James Fannin and the General Council. He was appointed as a second  Read more


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  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Charles Stanfield Taylor

Charles Stanfield Taylor was the 28 year old Nacogdoches representative. Taylor moved to Texas in 1828 after emigrating from England that same year. He opened up a mercantile business in Nacogdoches. While in Nacogdoches, he participated in the battle of Nacogdoches and represented it in the Convention of 1832. In 1835, he was appointed land  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, James Gibson Swisher

James Gibson Swisher was the 41 year old Washington representative. Before coming to Texas, Swisher worked as a land surveyor in Tennessee. He also participated in the War of 1812 and in the two battles of New Orleans. He and his family settled in Robertson’s colony in 1834 and then Chriesman Settlement, what became Washington  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Charles Bellinger Stewart

Charles Bellinger Stewart was the 30 year old Austin representative. Stewart worked as a druggiest in Georgia and South Carolina, a trader in Cuba and a coffee merchant in New Orleans before moving to Texas in 1830 and opening up an apothecary shop in Brazoria. While living in Brazoria, he fought in the battle of  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Elijah Stapp

Elijah Stapp was the 53 year old Jackson representative. Stapp became interested in Texas when he encountered empresario Green DeWitt, who write a letter to Stephen F. Austin on Stapp’s behalf in 1826. After investigating the new land, he moved his wife and children from Missouri to settle in the colony in 1830. He quickly  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, George Washington Smyth

George Washington Smyth was the 33 year old Jasper representative. Smyth moved to Texas in 1828 against the wish of his parents. By 1830, he secured an appointment as a surveyor for Bevil’s Settlement. In 1834, he became surveyor for George A. Nixon, who had been recently named commissioner of the Zavala, Vehlein and Burnet  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, William Bennett Scates

William Bennett Scates was the 34 year old Jefferson representative. Scates lived in Virginia, Kentucky and Louisiana before arriving in Texas in 1831. He almost immediately got involved in fight for the Republic. He participated in the battle of Velasco and the siege of Bexar. During the Convention, Scates sat on the committee to devise  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Thomas Jefferson Rusk

Thomas Jefferson Rusk was the 32 year old from Nacogdoches. Rusk started out as a lawyer in Georgia around 1825. He made sizable mining investments in the gold region of Georgia but in 1834, the managers of the company that he invested in had embezzled all the funds and fled to Texas. He pursed them  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Jose Francisco Ruiz

Jose Francisco Ruiz was the 54 year old Bexar representative. Ruiz, along with his nephew Navarro, were the only delegates born in Texas. In 1803, he was appointed San Antonio schoolmaster. The house that held the school was removed from its original location in Military Plaza in 1943 and reconstructed at the Witte Museum. Ruiz  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Sterling Clack Robertson

Sterling Clack Robertson was the 50 year old Milam representative. Robertson served as deputy quartermaster general under William Carroll in the battle of New Orleans from Nov. 1814 to May 1815. By 1816, he owned a plantation in Tennessee. He was one of seventy stockholders of the Texas Association in 1822 that asked for permission  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, John S. Roberts

John S. Roberts was the 40 year old Nacogdoches representative. At sixteen, Roberts participated in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. He moved to Louisiana soon after and in 1826 became a deputy sheriff of Natchitoches. That same year he served as a major in the Fredonian Rebellion. From 1827 to  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, James Power

James Power was the 48 year old Refugio representative. Power emigrated from Ireland in 1809. He was a merchant for twelve years in New Orleans before moving to Mexico in 1821. There he formed a partnership with James Hewetson. They created the Power and Hewetson colony, a colony along the Texas Coast with 200 Catholic  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Robert Potter

Robert Potter was the 36 year old Nacogdoches representative. Potter was in the United States Navy, a lawyer in North Carolina, in the North Carolina House of Commons and a Jacksonian Democrat in the US House of Representatives before coming to Texas. He served six months in prison in 1831 for maiming his wife’s cousin  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Sydney O. Penington

Sydney O. Penington was the 27 year old Shelby representative. Penington moved to Texas in 1834 where he engaged in surveying in Shelby County. At the beginning of the war, he enrolled in a company of volunteers for the Texas Army and was soon elected second lieutenant. He was honorably discharged from the army in  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Martin Parmer

Martin Parmer was the 58 year old San Augustine representative. Before coming to Texas, Parmer was active in Missouri where he served a two-year term in the Missouri General Assembly, served as a delegate to the Missouri Constitutional Convention and did a one year term in the Missouri State Senate. He also served in the  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Jose Antonio Baldomero

Jose Antonio Baldomero Navarro was the 41 year old Bexar representative. Navarro, along with his uncle, Jose Francisco Ruiz, were the only two delegates actually born in Texas. His friendship with Stephen F. Austin is what spiked his interest in Texas colonization. He was elected to both the Coahuila and Texas state legislature and to  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Junius William Mottley

Junius William Mottley was the 24 year old Goliad representative. Mottley came to Texas sometime between 1833 and 1835. He attended the medical college of Transylvania University in Kentucky but the college has no record of him receiving his degree. However, upon coming to Texas, he soon became the appointed surgeon at Goliad. After he  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, John W. Moore

John W. Moore was the 39 year old Harrisburg representative. After moving to Texas in 1830, Moore was elected as the comisario of San Jacinto in 1831. He was with his close friend William B. Travis when a company of volunteers under Travis forced the capitulation of Antonio Tenorio at Anahuac fort. During the earlier  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, William Menefee

William Menefee was the 40 year old Colorado representative. Before coming to Texas in 1830, Menefee served as a lawyer and lived in Tennessee and Alabama. By 1840, he had 1,300 acres of land and owned fifty cattle, four horses and seven slaves. Right before the Convention, he was elected the first judge of Colorado  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Michel Branamour Menard

Michel Branamour Menard was the 31 year old Liberty representative. Menard joined the fur trade at 15 in Detroit. He was illiterate until he worked with his uncle, Pierre Menard, the former lieutenant governor of Illinois. He became a resident trader to a band of Shawnees and was chosen as chief and moved with them  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Collin McKinney

Collin McKinney was the 70 year old Pecan Point and vicinity representative. In his early years, McKinney had to support his family while his father fought in the Revolutionary War. While living in Tennessee, he managed the estates of Senator George W. Campbell from 1818 to 1821 and operated a trading post. McKinney and many  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Samuel Augustus Maverick

Samuel Augustus Maverick was the 29 year old Bexar representative. In his early years, Maverick attended Yale University and became a lawyer in South Carolina. Upon arriving in San Antonio in 1835, he was put under house arrest by Mexico. Once released, he guided a division in the attack on Bexar. He left Texas after  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Edwin Oswald LeGrand

Edwin Oswald LeGrand was the 33 year old San Augustine representative. LeGrand received a land grant from the Mexican government in 1835 upon moving to Texas. He is said to have served at the siege of Bexar but there is no officially record of him doing so. At the Convention, he was appointed to the  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, Albert Hamilton Latimer

Albert Hamilton Latimer was the 36 year old Pecan Point and vicinity representative. Latimer is said to have come to Texas in 1833 with a large caravan that included 11 of his brothers. He was not officially elected to the Convention but was one of the five delegates from Pecan Point. After the Convention, he  Read more


The Fearless Fifty-Nine, William Demetris Lacey

William Demetris Lacey was the 28 year old Colorado representative. Lacy was born in Amherst, Virginia, but spent most of his childhood at the Shaker religious community in South Union, Kentucky, where he eventually served as a tanner’s apprentice. In 1830, at the age of 21, he left Kentucky for Texas, settled near present-day Columbus  Read more