Horatio Chriesman
| Horatio Chiesman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 13, 1797 Virginia, United States |
| Died |
November 1, 1878 (aged 81) Burleson County, Texas, United States |
| Occupation | Surveyor, captain, settler |
| Spouse(s) |
Mary Kincheloe Augusta Hope |
| Children | Eleven |
| Relatives | William Kincheloe (father-in-law) |
Horatio Chriesman (August 13, 1797 – November 1, 1878) was an American surveyor, politician in Mexican Texas and participant in the Texas Revolution.
Born in Virginia, he became a surveyor in Kentucky, Missouri and Texas.
Chriesman served as mayor of San Felipe, Texas, and later on the committee to find a capital for the Republic of Texas.
Two towns have been named in his honor in Texas.
Early life
Chriesman was born on August 13, 1797, in Virginia.[1]
Career
He served as a surveyor in Kentucky and Missouri.[1] In 1821, shortly after his wife died, he left Missouri for Texas with his father-in-law, William Kincheloe (1779–1835), aboard the schooner Only Son.[1] They arrived on the Colorado River on June 19, 1822.[1]
Chriesman became a member of the Old Three Hundred after Stephen F. Austin succeeded his father, Moses Austin, as empresario. Becoming the first to plot the headright Spanish grants on February 10, 1823,[2] he continued until Stephen F. Austin's death in 1836.[1][3]
He surveyed the Jack League, in what is now Fayette County, which was purchased in 1843 by the German immigration company Adelsverein as a slave plantation. It was named Nassau Plantation after the Duke of Nassau.[4][5]
Chriesman fought against Native Americans as captain of the colonial militia in 1824.[1] A few years later, in 1826–1827, he served in the Fredonian Rebellion, European settlers' first attempt to secede from Mexico.[1]
He was elected as mayor of San Felipe, Texas in 1832.[1] Later that year, he was an attendee of the Convention of 1832.[1]
In 1835, Chriesman lost the election as regidor of Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas.[1] A year later, he attended the Convention of 1836 in Washington-on-the-Brazos.[1]
In 1836, as he was moving East towards the Trinity River, he heard about the Battle of San Jacinto and decided to serve in the Texas Revolution.[1] As a result, he enlisted as captain in the 2nd company of the 141st Infantry Regiment.[1]
Serving on a committee to help choose the new Republic of Texas seat of government in 1837, Chriesman proposed a site near Washington-on-the-Brazos at what is now Gay Hill in Washington County. He was willing to donate four Labors of land (approximately 700 acres) for the capital of the Republic of Texas.[1][6] Austin was eventually chosen as the seat of government.[7]
In 1840, Chriesman was one of nine trustees who incorporated the Republic's first private institution of learning, the Union Academy in Washington-on-the-Brazos.[8]
He retired in Burleson County, Texas.[1]
Personal life
Chriesman married Mary Kincheloe in 1818.[1] She died in New Madrid, Missouri, in 1821.[1] In 1825, he married Augusta Hope.[9] He had eleven children.[1]
Death
He died on November 1, 1878 in Burleson County, Texas.[1]
Legacy
- The town of Chriesman, Texas, in Burleson County is named in his honor.[1][10]
- The ghost town of Gay Hill in Washington County, Texas, was known as "Chriesman Settlement" until it was renamed by the Republic of Texas in 1840.[11]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "Chriesman, Horatio". Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved June 15, 2014. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
- ↑ Weir, Merle. "Josiah Hughes Bell". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
- ↑ "A Guide to the Austin's Colony Records, 1823–1841". University of Texas TARO. Texas General Land Office. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
- ↑ King, Irene Marschall (1967). John O.Meusebach. University of Texas Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-292-73656-6.
- ↑ James C. Kearney (2010). Nassau Plantation: The Evolution of a Texas-German Slave Plantation. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press. p. 272.
- ↑ "Quarterly". The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association. Texas State Historical Association. X: 185–245. 1907. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
- ↑ Nance, Joseph Milton. "Republic of Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
- ↑ Christian, Carole E. "Union Academy". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
- ↑ "James Hope". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
- ↑ Odintz, Mark. "Chriesman, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
- ↑ Carole E. Christian, "Gay Hill, TX (Washington County)". Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved June 14, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.