James B. Woods

The 1838 race for the Texas Congress was a family contest, and the Handbook of Texas calls it controversial. Hugh B. Johnston, Woods's brother-in-law, won. During the campaign Woods was accused of intemperance and of supporting the infamous T. D. Yocum. The tax rolls of the same year list him with a half league of land, forty cattle, two horses and three enslaved people. The Handbook says he reportedly took his own life after killing a man in 1851.

What the plaque says

James B. Woods James B. Woods, the third representative of the Municipality of Liberty to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence, was born on January 21, 1802 in Kentucky. He arrived in Texas in 1830 and settled in the Atascosito Libertad area of Mexico (now Liberty, Texas). Woods was among the earliest lawyers to practice in the Liberty District and was known as a brilliant lawyer and speaker. On January 25, 1831, Woods was granted a half a league at this site. Due to his education, background and profession, Woods easily became involved in politics and, in 1834, was elected Alcalde (Mayor) of the Liberty District. He represented the District at the Consultations of 1835 and, in March 1836, was one of five delegates representing Liberty at the Washington-on-the-Brazos Convention. On March 11, 1836, 34-year-old James B. Woods was one of the men who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. In addition to his civic duties, Woods also served in the Texas Army, Franklin Hardin Company from July 7 to October 7, 1836. He then returned to Liberty and his family to resume his law practice. In 1838, Woods ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress against his brother-in-law, Hugh B. Johnston. That same year, he married Mary Ann White (b.1822), daughter of former Mayor Matthew G. White. James and Mary Ann had three children. In 1851, James Woods killed Alexander Buxton over an election quarrel, and was said to have been remorseful. Tradition states that he was killed or took his own life. He was buried in the White Family Cemetery, three miles southeast of Liberty, with members of his family and neighbors. (2013)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center — 4.0 mi
  A state archives and museum north of Liberty with an exhibit on Southeast Texas history and a campus of historic buildings, including an 1848 house and an 1898 church.
• San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site — 27 mi
  The 1,200 acres of coastal prairie and marsh where the Texas Revolution ended in eighteen minutes, and the 567-foot shaft of fossil-studded limestone that has stood over them since 1939.

More markers nearby

• Seven Courthouses of Liberty County — steps away
• Plaza Constitucional (Municipal Square) — steps away
• Captain William M. Logan — steps away
• Plaza Iglesia Parroquial (Parish Church Square) — steps away