Horatio Chriesman

Before he surveyed for Austin, Horatio Chriesman took a hard road to Texas. In 1821 the Virginia-born surveyor chartered the schooner Only Son to carry himself and the Kincheloe family, but his wife Mary died at New Madrid, Missouri, before the party started. He reached the Colorado River on June 19, 1822, one of the Old Three Hundred, and married Augusta Hope in 1825. Elected alcalde of San Felipe in 1832, he signed the call for that year's convention. He died in Burleson County on November 1, 1878.

What the plaque says

Horatio Chriesman Colonial statesman, Methodist lay leader, pioneer in Burleson County. Came to Texas in 1822 from Kentucky. Had office of surveyor, Austin's Colony, 1823-1836; was a military officer in Indian conflicts and also army of Gen. Sam Houston during Texas War for independence; in 1837 served on commission to choose site of Capital, Texas Republic. Married first Mary Kincheloe; after her death, Augusta Hope. He had eleven children. Recorded 1969.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 21 mi
  Cameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.
• Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway — 23 mi
  Two park units on an 11,000-acre lake between Austin and College Station, joined by a thirteen-mile trailway for hikers, cyclists and riders with primitive camps along the way.
• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 24 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.
• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 31 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.

More markers nearby

• Town of Chriesman — 0.6 mi
• Alexander Thomson, Jr. — 0.6 mi
• St. Matthew Missionary Baptist Church — 5.2 mi
• Burleson County C.S.A. — 6.4 mi