Logan Vandeveer - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Logan Vandeveer, early Texas Ranger

Texas Ranger Division

The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...

, soldier, pioneer; ranger, cattleman, and civic leader, was born in Casey county, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

about 1815. He was the son of William and Emily (Shackleford) Vandeveer. He came to Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

in 1833, joining Stephen F. Austin

Stephen F. Austin

Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...

's Little Colony at Mina in present day Bastrop County.

Military career

He enlisted in Capt. Jesse Billingsley's company on February 28, 1836. Vandeveer, a private, was badly wounded in the battle of San Jacinto and was discharged at Mina on June 1, 1836. His name is inscribed at the San Jacinto Monument

San Jacinto Monument

The San Jacinto Monument is a high column located on the Houston Ship Channel in unincorporated Harris County, Texas near the city of La Porte. The monument is topped with a 220-ton star that commemorates the site of the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution...

Ranger, Husband, and Entrepreneur

Logan Vandeveer married Lucinda Mays of Alabama in 1838 or 1839. After his discharge from the army, Vandeveer entered the Texas Rangers and fought Indians throughout the Bastrop area. Receiving tracts of land in what is now Burnet County for his service in the Texas Revolution

Texas Revolution

The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was an armed conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836...

, he also purchased additional land in the area. In 1849 he secured a contract from the United States government to supply meat and foodstuffs to Fort Croghan

Fort Croghan

*For the 1842 Iowa fort of the same name, see Council Bluffs, Iowa.Fort Croghan was the third of the first four forts established by the United States government to protect settlers from hostile Indians along the Texas frontier. From its establishment in 1849 until its decommission in 1853, Fort...

and later Fort Mason, fifty miles farther west. The Vandeveers had seven children and are found on the 1850 Census for Travis County with their four surviving daughters. Lucinda died soon after this.

Civic Accomplishments

Vandeveer was a leader in presenting the petition to the legislature in 1852 to establish Burnet County and was instrumental in having the town of Burnet named the county seat. He was appointed postmaster at Burnet Texas by Samuel D. Hubbard, US Postmaster General, August, 1852. In 1853 he opened the first Burnet school, known as the Collegiate School, hiring as teacher William H. Dixon, an Oxford University graduate. A number of subjects, including French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

, geography

Geography

Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

, history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

, mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, and elocution

Elocution

Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone.-History:In Western classical rhetoric, elocution was one of the five core disciplines of pronunciation, which was the art of delivering speeches. Orators were trained not only on proper diction, but on the proper...

were taught in the one room school pictured at right.

In 1854 Vandeveer and an associate built the first substantial building in the town; a two story stone building for use as a mercantile building and Masonic Lodge meeting place. It is still in use today for that purpose. A rock house was also built for his family and his father, William, and was located East of Hamilton Creek. His daughter later lived there and the home was continuously occupied for many years. It has since been restored and moved to the grounds of Fort Croghan

Fort Croghan

Death

In the summer of 1855, following a severe drought, Vandeveer, his brother Zachary, and three other men took a large herd of cattle to Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. Vandeveer developed yellow fever

Yellow fever

Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....

and died on September 2, 1855, in Plaquemines Parish, where he is buried. His brother Zachary also died of Yellow Fever two days later. His death left a void in the civic leadership of his home state. He had maintained friendly relations with the Comanche Indians in Central Texas. Many depredations occurred afterwards that continued until their final extermination. A section of Burnet

Burnet

- Living things:* Plants in the genus Sanguisorba* Moths in the genus Zygaena * Salad Burnet or Burnet, European borage salad* Burnet Saxifrage, a plant used as a herb- People with surname Burnet:...

known as the Vandeveer addition and a street bear his name.

Military career

Ranger, Husband, and Entrepreneur

Civic Accomplishments

Death

Further reading