William Tom

Tom fought at Horseshoe Bend and New Orleans in the War of 1812. He brought his family to Austin's colony in February 1835 and homesteaded at Washington-on-the-Brazos. Joining the volunteer army at Gonzales that October, he fought at Concepcion and in the Grass Fight, was with Ben Milam in the siege of Bexar and stayed in San Antonio under James C. Neill until February 11, 1836, getting home in time to help with the evacuation in the Runaway Scrape. He later commanded a ranger company on the Sabinal River and in 1846 was elected sheriff of Guadalupe County.

What the plaque says

William Tom Who served under General Jackson in the Creek War, 1813 Soldier in the Army of Texas, 1835 Born in Maury County, Tennessee January 12, 1792 Died in Guadalupe County, Texas February 15, 1871 His wife Kissiah Hines Tom Born October 15, 1805 Died July 13, 1862 Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas State Cemetery — steps away
  A hill east of the Capitol that began with one general's grave in 1851 and now holds Stephen F. Austin, governors, Barbara Jordan and more than 2,000 Confederate veterans and widows.
• French Legation State Historic Site — 0.3 mi
  A raised pine house built in 1840 and 1841 for France's envoy to the Republic of Texas, who left Austin in a rage over a neighbor's pigs before it was finished.
• George Washington Carver Museum — 0.4 mi
  East Austin's museum of Black history and culture, grown from a segregated branch library moved across town in 1933, with a permanent exhibit on Juneteenth at its core.
• Texas State Capitol — 1.0 mi
  Austin's fourth statehouse, a Renaissance Revival capitol of 1888 that stands 311 feet to its Goddess of Liberty and was restored after the 1983 fire.

More markers nearby

• Hardin R. Runnels — steps away
• Frances & Benjamin McCulloch — steps away
• Robert Rankin — steps away
• Daniel Shipman — steps away