Robert McAlpin Williamson (1804? – December 22, 1859) was a

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice, state lawmaker and Texas Ranger.

Williamson County, Texas Williamson County (sometimes abbreviated as "Wilco") is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 609,017. Its county seat is Georgetown. The county is named for Robert McAlpin Williamson (1804?–1859), ...

is named for him. He is the first white person documented playing the banjo.

Early life

Williamson was born in

Wilkes County, Georgia Wilkes County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,593. The county seat is the city of Washington. Referred to as "Washington-Wilkes", the county seat and co ...

to a prestigious family. His mother died shortly after and he was raised by his paternal grandmother, Sarah Gilliam, in

Milledgeville, Georgia Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon and bordered on the east by the Oconee River. The rapid current of the river here made this an attractive location to buil ...

. At the age of fifteen, he contracted tuberculous

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

that caused his right leg to permanently stiffen at a 90 degree angle. In order to walk, a wooden leg had to be fastened to his knee. Because of this, he later acquired the nickname "Three-Legged-Willie". He passed the bar at the approximate age of nineteen before practicing one year of law in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Life in Texas

Williamson came to

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

's colony (

San Felipe de Austin San Felipe ( ), also known as San Felipe de Austin, is a town in Austin County, Texas, United States. The town was the social, economic, and political center of the early Stephen F. Austin colony. The population was 747 at the 2010 census. History ...

) in June 1827. He became acquainted with both

and

William B. Travis William Barret "Buck" Travis (August 1, 1809 – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army. He died at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution. Tr ...

during this time. He co-founded the newspaper '' The Cotton Plant'' in 1829 and became the first

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

for San Felipe shortly after. He later went on to edit the newspapers '' The Texas Gazette'' and '' The Mexican Citizen''. He was made the first Major of all the Rangers on November 28, in the Texas Rangers in 1835 and went on to participate in the Texas Revolution fighting in the

Battle of Gonzales The Battle of Gonzales was the first military engagement of the Texas Revolution. It was fought near Gonzales, Texas, on October 2, 1835, between rebellious Texian settlers and a detachment of Mexican army soldiers. In 1831, Mexican authoriti ...

and the

Battle of San Jacinto The Battle of San Jacinto ( es, Batalla de San Jacinto), fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day La Porte and Pasadena, Texas, was the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Samuel Houston, the Texan Army engaged ...

in William H. Smith's 2nd REG. "J"

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

Political activity

* 1833 – Delegate to

Convention of 1833 The Convention of 1833 (April 1–13, 1833), a political gathering of settlers of Mexican Texas, was a successor to the Convention of 1832, whose requests had not been addressed by the Mexican government. Despite the political uncertainty succeedin ...

* 1835 – Delegate to

Consultation (Texas) The Consultation, also known as the Texian Government, served as the provisional government of Mexican Texas from October 1835 to March 1836 during the Texas Revolution. Tensions rose in Texas during early 1835 as throughout Mexico federalists ...

* 1837 to 1840 – Justice of Texas Republic

* 1840 to 1843 – Texas Republic House of Representatives * 1843 to 1844 – Texas Republic Senate * 1843 to 1844 – Texas Republic House of Representatives * 1846 to 1848 –

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

* 1849 – Unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Representative from Texas, * 1851 – Unsuccessfully ran for Lieutenant Governor of Texas

Death and burial

Williamson died in

Wharton County, Texas Wharton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 41,570. Its county seat is Wharton. The county was named for brothers William Harris Wharton and John Austin Wharton. Wharton County ...

on December 22, 1859 after a long illness. He is buried in the

Texas State Cemetery The Texas State Cemetery (TSC) is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, the capital of the U.S. state of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revolutionary general and vice-president of the Republic of ...

References

External links

*
Robert McAlpin Williamson at the Tarlton Law Library
–

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...