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Headstone Text
FRONT: STERLING CLACK ROBERTSON BORN IN NASHVILLE, TENN. OCTOBER 2,
1785 DIED NEAR NASHVILLE, MILIAM COUNTY, TEXAS MARCH 4, 1842 VIRTUTIS
GLORIA MERCES ERECTED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS BACK: PARTICIPATED IN THE
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS JANUARY 8, 1815, WITH THE RANK OF MAJOR AN
EMPRESARIO OF NOTE IN TEXAS SIGNER OF THE TEXAS DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE COMMANDED A COMPANY IN 1836 AND WAS DETAILED BY GENERAL
HOUSTON AS A GUARD AT HARRISBURG, APRIL 21 SENATOR IN THE 1ST AND 2ND
CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC |
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Basic Information: |
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Name: |
Sterling Clack Robertson |
Location:
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Section:Republic Hill, Section 1
Row:K Number:23 |
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Reason for Eligibility: |
Veteran, War of 1812; Veteran, Republic of Texas; Signer,Texas
Declaration of Independence; Texas Ranger; Member, Republic of Texas
Senate |
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Birth Date: |
October 2, 1785 |
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Died: |
March 4, 1842 |
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Buried: |
Reinterred December 29, 1935 |
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Biography: |
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ROBERTSON,
STERLING CLACK (1785^1842). Sterling Clack Robertson, the
empresario of Robertson's colony in Texas, was born on October 2,
1785, in Nashville, Tennessee, a son of Elijah and Sarah (Maclin)
Robertson. He was given a liberal education under the direction of
Judge John McNairy. From November 13, 1814, to May 13, 1815, he
served as deputy quartermaster general under Maj. Gen. William
Carroll, who went down to fight the British in the battle of New
Orleans. After the battle Robertson purchased supplies and
equipment for the sick and wounded on their return to Nashville
over the Natchez Trace. By 1816 he was living in Giles County,
Tennessee, where he owned a plantation. He had two sons: James
Maclin Robertson with Rachael Smith, and Elijah Sterling Clack
Robertson with Frances King. On March 2, 1822, he was one of the
seventy stockholders of the Texas Association who signed a
memorial to the Mexican government, asking for permission to
settle in Texas. On November 21, 1825, he was one of thirty-two
members of Dr. Felix Robertson's party that set out from
Nashville, Tennessee, bound for Texas, to explore and survey
Robert Leftwich's Grant. Robertson remained in Texas until August
1826, when he returned to Tennessee, filled with enthusiasm for
the colonization of Texas. He toured Tennessee and Kentucky in an
attempt to recruit settlers. In the spring of 1830 he signed a
subcontract with the Texas Association to introduce 200 families,
and on May 9, 1830, he took in Alexander Thomson as his partner.
They brought families to Texas, but they were prevented from
settling in the colony because of the Law of April 6, 1830. In
1831 that area was transferred to Stephen F. Austin and Samuel May
Williams, but Robertson obtained a contract in his own name in
1834 and served as empresario of Robertson's colony in 1834 and
1835. On January 17, 1836, he became captain of a company of Texas
Rangers. Then he was elected as a delegate from the Municipality
of Milam to the convention at Washington on the Brazos (March
1^17, 1836), where he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. He was stationed at
Harrisburg to guard army equipment during the battle of San
Jacinto. Robertson served as senator from the District of Milam in
the First and Second congresses of the Republic of Texas (October
3, 1836^May 24, 1838), after which he retired to his home in
Robertson County, where he became the earliest known breeder of
Arabian horses in Texas. He died there on March 4, 1842. His
remains were removed to Austin and reinterred in the State
Cemetery on December 29, 1935. Robertson was responsible for
settling more than 600 families in Texas. BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. W.
Baker, History of Robertson County, Texas (Franklin, Texas:
Robertson County Historical Survey Committee, 1970). Malcolm D.
McLean, comp. and ed., Papers Concerning Robertson's Colony in
Texas (19 vols., Arlington: University of Texas at Arlington
Press, 1974^93). Texas House of Representatives, Biographical
Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832^1845
(Austin: Book Exchange, 1941). Malcolm D. McLean" |
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