Historical Marker
John Byler Mallard, Judge
Palestine, Anderson County · Texas
Erected 1965
Susan Scott Mallard compiled Palestine's first census in 1848, which counted 148 white residents and 31 enslaved people. Her husband, Judge John B. Mallard, had moved from Mississippi in 1845, lived first at Old Fort Houston and moved to Palestine in February 1846, when it became the county seat. There he bought ten acres known as the Mallard Block. A historical note on the house he built in 1848 says it was built with slave labor and stands on its original cedar log foundation. He was the second chief justice of Anderson County.
What the plaque says
John Byler Mallard, Judge Born 1820 in Alabama. An honor graduate, University of Tennessee Law School. Married in 1844 Miss Susan Scott, Tippah County, Mississippi. In 1845 settled in Republic of Texas. Built one of first homes in Palestine, 1848. First lawyer in Palestine, formed partnership with Judges Wm. Alexander and John H. Reagan, later state and national leader. Was a member of the Fifth Texas Legislature. Died in 1854. Recorded, 1965 Incise in base: Erected by Miss Ruth R. Eppner
Where it stands
31.76361, -95.62300 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — 3.5 miA round trip of about 25 miles of track between the Palestine and Rusk depots through the Piney Woods, on a line built by prison labor and reopened as a tourist railroad in 1976.
More markers nearby
- Judge William Alexander — steps away
- Captain William Kimbro — steps away
- Timothy Stephen Smith — 0.2 mi
- Palestine Salt Works C. S. A. — 0.2 mi