Colonel James E. McCord

McCord was born in South Carolina's Abbeville District on July 4, 1834, and learned surveying after his family settled at Henderson in 1853. In 1856 he led a party locating a new chain of frontier counties. He served in the ranger forces of 1860, and Gov. Francis Lubbock made him major of the Frontier Regiment on January 29, 1862. After the war he farmed in Rusk County and married Sarah Elizabeth Mooney in 1868. He moved to a ranch on Home Creek in 1876, dealt in real estate and in 1892 founded the Coleman National Bank.

What the plaque says

1834-1914 South Carolinian. Came to Texas 1853. Surveyor of lands in this region, including the site of Camp Colorado. Texas Ranger. Prominent secessionist. Member Texas State troops at start of Civil War. Lt. Colonel of Texas Frontier Regiment established 1862. Morale was low among these rugged frontiersmen who disliked the discipline and chain of command of army life. Indians had learned the system of regular patrols between posts and slipped through to plunder. Draft evaders and deserters, another threat to peace, were flocking to the frontier and stealing from the settlers. Some Coleman County families stayed near Camp Colorado for safety. In 1863 McCord was unanimously elected colonel in command of the regiment. He operated it as Ranger unit, abolished regular patrols in favor of unexpected scouting expeditions to surprise Indian raiding parties. With these changes, the regiment's effectiveness increased. In late 1863 a new frontier defense system was initiated. McCord's Regiment was taken into Confederate service as the 46th Texas Cavalry. With the immediate threat of Union invasion from Louisiana and Arkansas, part of the 46th with McCord leading was sent to East Texas defenses, remaining until war's close. Prominent county pioneer, businessman. Buried Coleman Cemetery. (1963)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Brownwood State Park — 23 mi
  A CCC park on a reservoir that filled in a single flood before its dam was done, with stone cabins, a hilltop dance pavilion and a grand staircase climbed by dancers arriving by boat.

More markers nearby

• Camp Colorado, C.S.A. — steps away
• Mrs. J. A. B. Miller Public Library Building — 1.1 mi
• Western Trail Marker — 1.1 mi
• Robert M. Coleman — 1.1 mi