George Whitfield Terrell (1803-1846)

    George Whitfield Terrell, early settler, jurist, and diplomat, was born in Nelson County, Kentucky, in 1803, the son of Col. James Terrell. As a youth he moved to Tennessee, where he was admitted to the bar in 1827 and in 1828 was appointed district attorney by Sam Houston, then governor of Tennessee. Terrell was Houston's attorney general when Houston resigned the governorship. He served in the Tennessee legislature from 1829 to 1836 and moved to Mississippi, where he met financial reverses that caused him to move to Texas in 1837. Mirabeau B. Lamar appointed him district attorney of San Augustine County in 1840; he later served as district judge. Terrell was secretary of state of the Republic of Texas under David G. Burnet for a short time in 1841 and in December 1841 was made attorney general of the republic by Sam Houston. From 1842 to 1844 Terrell was Indian commissioner and as such negotiated the Indian treaty at Bird's Fort on September 29, 1843. He was appointed chargé d'affaires to France, Great Britain, and Spain in December 1844 and continued in that capacity under President Anson Jones. Upon his return to Texas in 1845, Terrell was again made Indian commissioner. He was known as an opponent of annexation. He died on May 13, 1846. Source

Note: His stone is incorrect in stating that he came to Texas in 1840, as he actually arrived on December 20, 1839. It is also incorrect in that he served as Secretary of State in 1841. He was nominated and confirmed by the Senate for the position, but he declined it for personal reasons.

Section 4
Oakwood Cemetery
Austin

COORDINATES

30° 16.589, -097° 43.691

Theodore "Ted" Wilks (1915-1989)

    Born in Fulton, New York, November 13, 1915, Wilks was a right-handed pitcher over parts of ten seasons (1944-53) with the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians. For his career, he compiled a 59-30 record in 385 appearances, most as a relief pitcher, with an 3.26 earned run average and 403 strikeouts and was a member of two World Series championship teams (1944, 1946) with the Cardinals. As a 28-year-old rookie pitcher in 1944, he beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 on August 29, for his eleventh victory in a row. Wilks concluded the 1944 season with a 17-4 record and a 2.65 earned run average. 

    Following his impressive rookie season, Wilks encountered arm problems which limited his effectiveness. However, he became an important pitcher in the Cardinal bullpen in the post-World War II era. Upon his retirement in 1947, he had compiled a respectable career record of 33-11. Wilks died in Houston, Texas, August 21, 1989, at the age of 74.

Section 214
Forest Park East Cemetery
Webster

COORDINATES

29° 30.922, -095° 07.581

John H. Smith (1810-?)

    Born in Northfield, New Hampshire in 1810, John Smith arrived at Velasco, January 28, 1836 on the schooner Pennsylvania, having been recruited in New Orleans by Captain Amasa Turner for the army of Texas. He was a member of Captain Turner's Company B, 1st Regiment Regular Infantry at San Jacinto, but with the promotion of Captain Turner to lieutenant colonel, the men of his company were transferred to Company A, First Regiment of Regular Infantry. On June 21, he was commissioned first lieutenant and adjutant on the staff of Lieutenant Colonel Millard, and shortly afterward promoted to captain and put in command of Company A, stationed on Galveston Island. There are no records of where or when he died, only that he was laid to rest in the City Cemetery in Houston.

Note: Unmarked. Founders Memorial Park, originally founded in 1836 as Houston's first city cemetery, was rapidly filled due to a yellow fever epidemic and closed to further burials around 1840. The cemetery became neglected over a period of time, often vandalized and was heavily damaged by the 1900 hurricane. In 1936, despite a massive clean up effort, a century of neglect had taken its toll. The vast majority of grave markers were either destroyed or missing and poor record keeping prevented locating individual graves. Several cenotaphs were placed in random areas throughout the park in honor of the more high-profile citizens buried there, but a great number of graves go unmarked to this day. John H. Smith's is one of them.

Founders Memorial Park
Houston

COORDINATES

N/A

Joseph Henry Barnard (1804-1861)

    Joseph Henry Barnard, military surgeon and diarist, was born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, on April 21, 1804. He was a sailor for three years before graduating from Williams College in 1829. He practiced medicine in Canada until 1835, when he moved to Chicago. He left for Texas on December 14, 1835, and enlisted in the revolutionary army as a private with the Red Rovers. While surgeon to James W. Fannin, Jr.'s command, he was captured at Goliad, but his life was spared so that he might treat the wounded Mexicans at Goliad and San Antonio. In San Antonio he lived with José Ángel Navarro. Barnard's diary is one of the best sources of information covering this period. He served in the army in Galveston from June 10 to October 28, 1836. He moved to Fort Bend County in 1837, was county clerk in 1838-39, and represented the county in the House of the Eighth Congress, 1843-1844. He married Mrs. Nancy M. Danforth on July 30, 1841. Dr. Barnard moved to Goliad and lived there until 1860, when he went on a visit to Canada, where he died in 1861. Source

Republic Hill
Texas State Cemetery
Austin

COORDINATES

30° 15.935, -097° 43.644