George Washington Glasscock (April 11, 1810 – February 28, 1868) was an early settler, legislator, and businessman in Texas. He was born in

Hardin County, Kentucky Hardin County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Elizabethtown. The county was formed in 1792. Hardin County is part of the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area, as we ...

, near the same area where Abraham Lincoln was born. In 1830, he went to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and from there to

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, where in 1832 he was a partner of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

in flatboating on the

Sangamon River The Sangamon River is a principal tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 in central Illinois in the United Stat ...

. He also fought in the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

where he was a Lieutenant and Abraham Lincoln was a private under his command. They were mustered into service by then Lt. Robert Anderson of later fame as Major Robert Anderson in command of Fort Sumter at start of Civil War. Lincoln became a surveyor for Sangamon County and Glasscock was a surveyor in Texas but it is not known if the two learned their surveyor skills together. George's sister stayed in Illinois and married a friend of Lincoln's law partner, Herndon. His sister's husband is quoted as saying he had received a letter from George in 1865 and that he stated Lincoln had pardoned him. In September 1834, he moved to Texas and settled first at Zavala, where he was in business with Thomas Byers Huling and Henry W. Millard. Glasscock was with James Chesshire's company in the Grass Fight and

Siege of Béxar The siege of Béxar (or Béjar) was an early campaign of the Texas Revolution in which a volunteer Texian army defeated Mexican forces at San Antonio de Béxar (now San Antonio, Texas). Texians had become disillusioned with the Mexican governme ...

. He was a surveyor and many land titles in Central Texas especially near the San Gabriel Rivers were surveyed by him. In a letter to his brother in 1838 he tells him he should come to the San Gabriel area as "the land is cheap and the Indians has not killd me yet". In 1840, he moved to

Bastrop County, Texas Bastrop County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in Central Texas and its county seat is Bastrop. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,216. Bastrop County is included in the Austin–Round Rock, Texas, metropolitan ...

and four years later to

Travis County Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is na ...

. In 1846, he moved yet again to the Williamson County area, where Glasscock helped to organize the county and donated 172 acres (3.9 km²) for the county seat,

Georgetown, Texas Georgetown is a city in Texas and the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 67,176 at the 2020 census. It is 30 miles (48 km) north of Austin. Founded in 1875 from four existing colleges, the oldest of ...

, which was subsequently named for him. In 1853, he returned to Travis County. He represented Travis and Williamson counties in the Tenth and

Eleventh Texas Legislature The Eleventh Texas Legislature met from August 6, 1866, to November 13, 1866, in its regular session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1865. Sessions *11th Regular session: Aug ...

s and was one of the managers of the State Lunatic Asylum during the gubernatorial administrations of

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

, Edward Clark, Francis R. Lubbock and

Pendleton Murrah Pendleton Murrah (1824/1826August 4, 1865) was the tenth Governor of Texas. His term in office coincided with the American Civil War. Career Murrah's birth date and birth location vary from source to source. Some have him born in 1824; others ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, he served with the 33rd Texas Cavalry of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. As a result of his interest in wheat growing, Glasscock built the first flour

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

in what was then western Texas. He was an early member of Austin's First Baptist Church and was a Mason. He continued to live in Austin until his death on 28 February 1868. He died when he was thrown from a mule on his land near Webberville. He is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in downtown Austin, TX. His son, George Washington Glasscock, Jr., was a State Senator in the Nineteenth, Twentieth and

Twenty-first Texas Legislature The Twenty-first Texas Legislature met from January 8 to April 6, 1889, in regular session. All members of the House of Representatives and a portion of the members of the Senate were elected in the 1888 General Election. Sessions * 20th Regular ...

s. Glasscock County and Georgetown in Texas are both named in his honor.

Notes

References

* . Accessed May 26, 2005.
Entry for George W. Glasscock
from th
''Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas''
published 1880, hosted by th
Portal to Texas History.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glasscock, George Washington 1810 births 1868 deaths Members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Hardin County, Kentucky People from Travis County, Texas Glasscock County, Texas 19th-century American politicians People from Jasper County, Texas