Henry Larkin Chapman (1812-1887)

    Born July 20, 1812 to Henry and Lavinia Mobley Chapman, Henry came to Texas in 1834. He settled in what is now Nacogdoches County and practiced law. During the Texas Revolution, he signed up with the Texas militia as a volunteer on March 8, 1836 and assigned to Captain L. Smith's Company as a private. Smith's company was stationed near Harrisburg on April 8 when they were ordered by David Thomas, the ad interim secretary of war, to report to the commander-in-chief of the army. They reached General Sam Houston on April 12, and nine days later, fought at the Battle of San Jacinto as a part of Captain Hayden Arnold's Company. On June 27, he re-enlisted for another three months under Captain William Rufus C. Hays. Once he was discharged, he returned home to his practice and later served as the Justice of the Peace for Nacogdoches County from 1841 to 1843. Chapman died in Nacogdoches County on September 12, 1887 and was buried in Fairview Cemetery.


Fairview Church Cemetery
Nacogdoches

COORDINATES

31° 34.462, -094° 35.197

May Esther Peterson (1880-1952)

    May Esther Peterson Thompson, opera star, was born on October 7, 1880, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She was one of nine children of a Methodist minister. She began singing at the age of four in church meetings and later joined her sister Clara, an accomplished organist, to give recitals and concerts. She began her formal training at the Chicago Conservatory of Music and then traveled to Europe, where she raised money for her voice studies by teaching English and singing concerts. After spending two years in Florence, she went to Germany, where she was reduced to eating bread and water and was near starvation after a companion absconded with her funds. Nevertheless, she managed to secure the tutelage of a singing master in Berlin and gave a command performance before Kaiser Wilhelm II. Weakened by a severe illness, she was advised to seek a milder climate, and thus set her sights on the Opéra Comique in Paris.

    After her arrival there in 1913, she studied under tenor Jean de Reszke, for whom she worked as an accompanist. When World War I broke out, she returned to the United States to pursue a career in opera. After a six-week tour through her home state, in which she gave twenty-six concerts, she went back to Paris and was offered the lead in Manon at the Opéra Comique. She performed the role in rented costumes and makeup borrowed from Mary Garden. When the United States entered the war in 1917, Peterson visited and performed at various army camps. In 1918 she signed a six-year contract with the Metropolitan Opera of New York, where she sang with Enrico Caruso and John McCormack. Among her favorite roles were Micaela in Carmen and Mimi in La Bohème. Her golden voice and personality soon won her international fame as the "Golden Girl" of opera. Even then, she continued giving benefit concerts for the Methodist Church during the off-season.

    She made several records under the Vocalion label and was one of the first American artists to sing on radio. In 1921 Emil Myers arranged to have May Peterson appear in concert at the First Methodist Church in Amarillo. The local civic committee selected attorney Ernest O. Thompson to be her escort. A romance ensued, and the two were married on June 9, 1924, in Bronxville, New York. Afterward they returned to Amarillo to a glittering reception held in the ballroom of the Amarillo Hotel, which Thompson had built and owned. May Thompson retired from the opera after her marriage, but she continued doing concert tours for several years. In 1925 she sang in the first musical festival to be staged at the Amarillo Municipal Auditorium, and she regularly assisted with local musical programs. In 1932, after Thompson was appointed to the Railroad Commission, the couple moved to Austin, where Mrs. Thompson became a leading figure in musical circles. The Thompsons had no children. On October 1, 1952, May Thompson suffered a cerebral hemorrhage at their summerhouse in Estes Park, Colorado, and lapsed into a coma. She was flown back to Austin, where she died in Seton Infirmary on October 8 without regaining consciousness. Source

Republic Hill
Texas State Cemetery
Austin

COORDINATES

30° 15.908, -097° 43.624

Isom Palmer (?-1874)

    Isom Palmer, whose name has various spellings (Isam, Isham), was born to Martin and Sarah (Hardwick) Parmer in Ohio. In 1825, the Palmer (Parmer) family moved to Texas, settling near Nacogdoches the next year, and participated in the 1826 Fredonian Rebellion. During both the Siege of Bexar and the Grass Fight in late 1835, Palmer fought under Capt. John M. Bradley. In March 1836 he served as sergeant-at-arms at the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos, the temporary capital. He wed Laura E. Dougherty and moved to Brazos County in the early 1870s. Source

Block 3

Bryan City Cemetery
Bryan

COORDINATES

30° 41.042, -096° 22.025

Joseph Lindley (1793-1874)

    Joseph Lindley, son of Simon and Anna (Stanley) Lindley, was born on January 7, 1793, in Orange County, North Carolina. Early in 1808 he moved with his family to Christian County, Kentucky, and afterward to what is now Bond County, Illinois. Late in 1811, when Lindley was eighteen years old, conflicts with Indians motivated settlers to build a fort near Greenville. During the War of 1812 the family lived in the fort, but after four years of Indian attacks and military protection, they moved to Edwardsville, Illinois. Lindley fought in the War of 1812 as a United States Ranger. He married Nancy Ann Hicks on June 17, 1817, in Bond County, Illinois, and they moved to Humphreys County, Tennessee. Ten years later they arrived in Texas with four children. Lindley was unable to get clear title to his 2,592 acres of land because he was involved in the Fredonian Rebellion at Nacogdoches. He received title to 4,428 acres in Montgomery County on April 6, 1835. 

    He participated in the siege of Bexar in 1835, signed the letter of endorsement required by the Mexicans for the entry into Texas of Alamo defender Jonathan Lindley, and fought at the battle of San Jacinto. Mirabeau B. Lamar, president of the Republic of Texas, appointed Lindley an Indian agent with a charge to keep the peace. He was an elected civil officer for Montgomery County in 1839 and laid out the first road from Austin to the "springs at the headwaters of the San Marcos" (Aquarena Springs), so that a military post could be established there in 1840. He was appointed by the Congress of the Republic of Texas to survey a road from Washington to the Sabine in 1844. About 1846 the Lindleys moved to Limestone County, where they settled four miles north of the site of present-day Mexia. Lindley was elected county commissioner in 1854 and served one term. On January 20, 1874, he died. He was buried in Limestone County and later reinterred at the State Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 26, 1986, during the Texas Sesquicentennial. Source

Note: The spelling of his name on his stone is incorrect. Although some early records exist where his surname was spelled Lindly, even by Joseph himself on one occasion, it is actually Lindley.

Republic Hill
Texas State Cemetery
Austin

COORDINATES

30° 15.933, -097° 43.645