General Ashbel Smith, C.S.A.

The plaque says little of Smith the physician, whom the Handbook says has been called the father of Texas medicine. In Houston he set up the first hospital, a military one, and chaired the first Board of Medical Censors, created in December 1837. During Galveston's 1839 yellow fever epidemic he treated the sick and published reports in the Galveston News, then wrote the first treatise on the disease in Texas. In 1853 he chaired the committee that drafted the Texas Medical Association's constitution and bylaws, and he served as its president in 1881 and 1882.

What the plaque says

General Ashbel Smith, C.S.A. (1805-1886) Born in Connecticut. Graduated at 19 from Yale. Studied medicine in France, where friends were Revolutionary War hero Lafayette and inventor Samuel F. B. Morse. As a North Carolina doctor he later took interest in politics and government. Came to Texas 1837. Was made Surgeon-General of army. As headright (settler's land bounty) and pay for army service, obtained in 1839 Comanche County tract on South Leon River, near this site. Was sent to England and France, 1842, as Texas charge d'affaires. In cabinet of President Anson Jones, was last Secretary of State of Republic of Texas. Served in U.S. Army in Mexican War. As member of Texas Legislature, 1855-1857, worked in behalf of schools and railroads. Won Civil War citations for bravery. Commanded 2nd Texas Infantry. Built defenses and helped to save Texas coast from Federal invasion. In 1865, at the end of the war, served as one of commissioners empowered to negotiate peace terms for Texas. Was elected to Legislature in 1865 and in 1877. Serving as first chairman of Board of Regents of University of Texas, set ideals of scholarship. (1965)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Dublin Bottling Works — 20 mi
  The Erath County plant that bottled Dr Pepper with cane sugar from 1891 until a 2012 settlement ended its Dr Pepper license, and that still makes its own sodas the same way.
• Lake Brownwood State Park — 25 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

• Fleming Oak — steps away
• Robert Thomas Hill — steps away
• Old Cora Courthouse — steps away
• Indian Raid in Comanche — steps away