Jonathan Anderson

The Handbook of Texas follows Anderson from his birth in Warren County, Kentucky, on February 11, 1798, through Indiana and the Red River valley to the Ayish Bayou country in 1819. It lists him among participants in the Fredonian Rebellion, and by 1824 he lived near Patroon in what is now Shelby County. He married Hannah English Payne in 1826, and the couple had at least seven children. Anderson moved to Panola County in 1849, a year after the 100 acres he gave for Carthage, and he died there in 1890.

What the plaque says

Jonathan Anderson Kentucky native Jonathan "Old Shelby" Anderson, a grandson of American Revolution veteran Bailey Anderson, settled in this area when Texas was part of Mexico. He served in the Texas Revolution and fought at the Battle of San Jacinto. In 1848 he donated 100 acres here for the formation of Carthage, the new seat of government for Panola County, which was organized two years earlier from Shelby County. He later served as sheriff and tax assessor-collector. This park, the site of the former Carthage courthouse square, was named for Anderson in 1956. (1980)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tex Ritter Museum and Texas Country Music Hall of Fame — 0.3 mi
  Carthage's country music museum, with Tex Ritter's boots, guitars and saddles in a room styled like a movie theater, and exhibits on other Texas stars, Jim Reeves among them.

More markers nearby

• Margie Neal — steps away
• Carthage Book Club — steps away
• The Panola Watchman — steps away
• Central Baptist Church — steps away