William Jones E. Heard

Before Chappell Hill, William Heard planted on the Colorado. The Handbook of Texas says he came to Texas in 1830 with an Alabama colony, raised sugar and cotton at Egypt in what is now Wharton County, and in 1840 held 1,200 acres and seventeen enslaved people in Colorado County. At San Jacinto his company stood in the middle of the Texan line and captured the Mexican cannon. In 1842 he raised twenty volunteers to hold Victoria against Woll's army. He moved to a plantation at Chappell Hill in 1866.

What the plaque says

William Jones E. Heard Born in Tennessee in 1803; died at Chappell Hill August 8, 1874; captain of Company F, 1st Regiment of Texas; volunteer at San Jacinto. Erected by the State of Texas

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 13 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.
• Star of the Republic Museum — 13 mi
  A star-shaped museum of the Republic of Texas years, 1836 to 1846, built at Washington-on-the-Brazos after a Brenham campaign and opened on March 1, 1970.
• Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site — 13 mi
  The townsite on the Brazos where delegates met in a cold, unfinished hall in March 1836 to declare Texas independent, with Independence Hall rebuilt and Anson Jones's Barrington farm worked as in 1850.
• Navasota — 19 mi
  A railroad and cotton town where the La Bahia Road crossed the Navasota River, scarred by an 1865 explosion and yellow fever, and the home ground of the songster Mance Lipscomb.

More markers nearby

• Cedar Creek Community — steps away
• Site of Chappell Hill College — 1.0 mi
• Site of Soule University for Boys — 1.3 mi
• Chappell Hill — 1.3 mi