Site of Home of Captain George T. Todd

After the war Todd was elected district attorney of the Eighth Judicial District and was removed as an "impediment to Reconstruction." The Handbook lists him among the defense lawyers in the Stockade Case, the trial over the killing of George Webster Smith, and as a prosecutor in the 1878 Rothschild trial. He served in the Texas House in 1881-82. He backed James Stephen Hogg at the 1892 Democratic convention, then joined the People's party and lost races for the Court of Criminal Appeals (1898, 1900) and attorney general (1904). He published a regiment history in 1909.

What the plaque says

Site of Home of Captain George T. Todd (1839-1913) Born in Virginia. Came to Texas 1843. During Civil War, served in famous Hood's Texas Brigade. At Chickamauga, took command after Gen. Hood was shot. In 1864-1865, fought west of the Mississippi with Lane's Partisan Rangers. After war, was in the Texas Legislature and on University of Texas Board of Regents. As district attorney, prosecuted Cincinnati jewelry salesman Abe Rothchild for the 1877 roadside murder of "Diamond Bessie" Moore. Covering 7 years, this famous trial put in conflict some of the nation's best lawyers and set numerous legal precedents. (1965)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Excelsior House Hotel — 0.3 mi
  A brick-and-timber hotel at 211 West Austin that began as a river captain's boarding house in 1858 and was revived by a garden club in 1959, and still takes guests with rosewood furniture.
• Jefferson Historical Museum — 0.3 mi
  A four-floor museum in Jefferson's 1888-90 federal post office and courthouse, with rooms for African-American history, Jewish heritage, the Caddo and Diamond Bessie, bought by the historical society in 1965 for $8,100.
• Caddo Lake State Park — 11 mi
  A Civilian Conservation Corps park on the Texas shore of Caddo Lake, where the Caddo told of a lake made by wind-driven water and visitors now paddle Big Cypress Bayou past moss-hung bald cypress.
• Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge — 12 mi
  Wetlands and woods on part of a former ammunition plant, now a refuge for wood ducks, prothonotary warblers and alligator snapping turtles, with four easy trails and a free visitor center on a Ramsar lake.

More markers nearby

• First Baptist Church of Jefferson — steps away
• The Brooks House — steps away
• First National Bank of Jefferson — 0.2 mi
• Immaculate Conception Catholic Church — 0.2 mi