Gen. James Willie

James Willie was born in Washington, Georgia, in January 1823 and was orphaned young. He came to the Independence area in the early 1840s to join his uncle, Dr. Asa Hoxey. He was elected to the first Texas Legislature in 1846 and opened a law practice at Brenham in 1847 with his brother Asa H. Willie. In 1856 he became attorney general, and Governor Pease also named him, with John W. Harris and O. C. Hartley, to revise the state's civil and criminal laws. He fell ill in Confederate service in 1863 and died at Houston.

What the plaque says

Gen. James Willie Born in Georgia Jan. 5, 1822; died in Houston, Texas 1863; Attorney General of Texas 1856-7; officer in the Confederate army.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 0.8 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site — 12 mi
  The townsite on the Brazos where delegates met in a cold, unfinished hall in March 1836 to declare Texas independent, with Independence Hall rebuilt and Anson Jones's Barrington farm worked as in 1850.
• Star of the Republic Museum — 12 mi
  A star-shaped museum of the Republic of Texas years, 1836 to 1846, built at Washington-on-the-Brazos after a Brenham campaign and opened on March 1, 1970.
• Navasota — 17 mi
  A railroad and cotton town where the La Bahia Road crossed the Navasota River, scarred by an 1865 explosion and yellow fever, and the home ground of the songster Mance Lipscomb.

More markers nearby

• Moses Austin Bryan — steps away
• Old Independence Cemetery — steps away
• Home of Dr. Asa Hoxey — 0.7 mi
• Columns of a Building of Old Baylor University — 0.8 mi