Men of Vision

Men of Vision. Boonville. , Eli Seale 1793-1857 , Elias (Eli) Seale was born in North Carolina in 1793. He served as a fifer in the War of 18 12 in Mississippi, and in 1835 moved with his three brothers and his family from Alabama to Texas. He received his Mexican land grant in modern Limestone County but settled in safer Robertson County. That year he was recruited by Silas Parker into the first official Texas Rangers unit, becoming among the first eleven Texas Rangers. When his captain, Eli Hillhouse, was killed in an Indian fight, the company elected Seale its new captain., With the outbreak of the revolution, Seale joined the Texas Army, serving under Captains Burnett and Lynch and fighting under Colonel Burleson at the Battle of San Jacinto. Meanwhile, his family joined the Runaway Scrape to Alabama. After the war, Seale went to retrieve his family but while in Alabama was recruited to fight the Creek Indians. Returning with his family to the new Republic of Texas, he settled in Brazos County. Seale served in several more Texas Ranger expeditions in pursuit of Indian raiders. Though he never held a rank higher than captain, Seale was known affectionately as "Major Seale.", With his wife, Susannah Davis Seale (1799-1847), Seale had 10 children: Elizabeth Yarborough, Christopher Columbus, Joseph Arnold, Littleton Green, Thomas B., John Davis, Augustus Franklin, Bradford Thomas, Mary Jane, and William Henry. Many of these became active citizens of Brazos and Robertson counties and raised large families of their own. In 1841, the Texas Congress appointed Seale and four other settlers, including Mordecai Boon Sr., nephew of Daniel Boone, to establish a seat for newly created Brazos County. Seale served as the foreman of the county's first grand jury. Beginning in 1848, he served several years as the county tax collector and assessor. Eli Seale died May 2, 1857. He is buried on the land he settled between Sand Creek and Big Cedar Creek, near modern Kurten. -- Text courtesy of Avrel Seale; Photo courtesy of Dr. Jim A. Boyd, great-great-great-grandson of Eli Seale. , - Text courtesy of Avrel Seale, Photo courtesy of Dr. Jim A. Boyd, great-great-great grandson of El Seale. , Caption , Library of Congress, Mathew Brady, photographer, circa 1846-1850 , Sam Houston 1793-1863 , Sam Houston was born on March 2, 1793 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. In 1807, the Houston family moved to Eastern Tennessee near Maryville. As a young man, Houston left home to live with the Cherokee Indians. After three years, he returned and taught school. In 1813, Houston joined the United States Army as a private, but soon rose to the rank of Third Lieutenant. During the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, under the command of Andrew Jackson, he distinguished himself as a hero, although severely wounded, by leading the final assault to defeat the Creeks., Andrew Jackson recognized Sam Houston's potential, became a mentor to him, and encouraged him to enter politics. Houston, an attorney, served two terms as a United States Congressman from Tennessee. He returned from Washington and was elected Governor. In 1829, following a brief marriage to Eliza Allen, Houston left Tennessee for the Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, where he spent the next three years. In 1832, President Jackson asked Houston to travel to Texas to report on Indian relations. In December of that year, he crossed the Red River to begin a new life and career in Texas., The settlers in Mexican Texas became increasingly concerned with the oppressive government in Mexico City. Houston joined other representatives on March 2, 1836, at Washington on the Brazos to sign a Declaration of Independence. Houston was named Commander of the Army of Texas. On April 21, 1836, the Texas Army defeated the Mexican Army under General and President of Mexico Antonio López de Santa Anna at San Jacinto., Sam Houston served two terms as President of the Republic of Texas. Following annexation in 1845, Houston served thirteen years as United States Senator. Returning to Texas, he was elected Governor of Texas, the only man to serve as governor of two states. In March of 1861, Sam Houston left the office of governor because he would not pledge his allegiance to the Confederacy, honoring his commitment to the Union and the United States Constitution. Sam Houston returned to Huntsville, Texas, and died on July 26, 1863., Sam Houston often visited Boonville and made speeches during his travels around Texas. , - Text courtesy of Mac Woodward, Director, Sam Houston Museum, Huntsville, Texas; Photo courtesy Library of Congress: Mathew Brady, photographer circa 1848-1850. , Caption , Arvel Seale and Carnegie History Center, Bryan, Texas , Hiram Hanover 1808-1884 , Hiram (Squire) Hanover, teacher, legislator, surveyor, son of a sea captain, and soldier, was born on July 8, 1808, in Pittston, Maine. His parents saw that Hiram received a fine education at Waterville College (now Colby College), during the years of 1833-1834., Deciding not to be a sea captain like his father, Hiram sought his fortune in the west. He settled briefly in Kentucky, continuing his education by studying law, higher mathematics, Greek, Latin, and surveying. Subsequently, he travelled to New Orleans, where he took passage on a steamer for Texas, arriving at Sabine Pass in 1838. He eventually reached the Brazos Valley where he taught school in the first schoolhouse in Brazos County built in 1832., When Navasota County was established in 1841, Hanover was appointed tax assessor, and when the name of the county was changed to Brazos in 1842, he was elected its first tax assessor, serving until 1844. He was also its first resident attorney. In addition, he surveyed the town of Boonville and was appointed its first postmaster on July 1, 1842, until his election to the House of Representatives, Seventh Congress of the Republic of Texas, 1842-43. In 1843, Hanover joined the Jacob Snively expedition to the Red River. After his return, he built an academy near Wheelock where he taught Greek, Latin, higher mathematics, surveying, philosophy, and other courses. In 1845, he assisted in drafting the constitution of the Alpha Lambda Society, the first literary society in Brazos County, which met every other Saturday night to debate, present papers, and discuss issues of the time., Hanover married Sarah Ann Sparks in 1848. As surveyor for Robertson County, he worked on the International and Great Northern railroad. By 1852 Hanover and his family were living in Centerville, where he constructed and operated a lumber mill., In 1862, at the age of fifty-four, he volunteered as a private in the Confederate Army, Company I, 21st Texas Cavalry. Hanover was a Mason and a Congregationalist. He and Sarah Ann had one son and two daughters. Sarah Ann died in 1857. Hiram did not marry again until after his return from the war, when he married Amanda Warren. They had one daughter and two sons, both sons died young, Hiram Hanover died of pneumonia on April 17, 1884. , - Condensed from Texas History Online , Caption , David Hanover, Tyler, Texas