Erastus Smith (1787 - 1837)

Born 19 Apr 1787 in Duchess County, New York

Descendants

Died 30 Nov 1837 at age 50 in Richmond, Fort Bend, Republic of Texas

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Erastus Smith is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Texian Army, Spy 1835-1837
SPY in Texas Revolution, achieved rank of Captain

Erastus Smith was a Texan.

Biography

Erastus Smith is Notable.

Texas Spy

'Erastus Deaf Smith is buried in the Episcopal Churchyard with a marker "Deaf Smith, the Texas Spy, Nov 30, 1837".

SMITH, ERASTUS [DEAF] was born in Duchess County, New York, on April 19, 1787, to parents Chilaib and Mary Smith. ^[1]The family moved to Natchez, Mississippi Territory when he was eleven or twelve years. He lost his hearing due to a childhood disease. ^[2] This did not stop this brave man.

Smith came to Texas in 1817, then came back to settle near San Antonio in 1821. He married a Mexican widow, Guadalupe (Ruiz) Durán, in 1822. Four children ( 3 daughters lived to become adults. Smith settled on a claim of James Kerr (surveyor for Green DeWitt's colony), located one mile west of the site of Gonzales in 1825. ^[1]This was the first in DeWitt's colony. When a Mexican sentry refused to allow him to enter San Antonio to visit his family, Smith joined Stephen F. Austin's army. ^[3]

On October 15, Austin received word from Charles B Stewart that Smith had learned that the troops of Gen. Martín Perfecto de Cos were "disaffected to the cause which they are serving." Stewart assured Austin that he knew Smith well and was trustworthy. After reporting to Richard R. Royall, president of the council at San Felipe, who found him to be "very importantly usefull," Smith and Austin's army and took part in the battle of Concepción on October 28, 1835. ^[1][2]His report of the Mexican supply train involved in the Grass Fight. During the siege of Bexar (Oct - Dec, 1835), Smith guided Col. Francis Johnson's men into the town. December 8, he was wounded on top of the Veramendi Palace (see VERAMENDI, JUAN MARTÍN DE) at almost the same moment that Benjamin R. Milam was killed at its door.^[2]

Smith remained working as a spy for the army despite his severe wounds. (Governor Henry Smith often referred to him as "well known to the army for his vigilance and meritorious acts " and " his services as a spy cannot well be dispensed with."^[2]

After regaining his health, Smith served as a messenger for William B. Travis, who considered him "`the Bravest of the Brave' in the cause of Texas." Smith carried William B. Travis's letter from the Alamo on February 15, 1836.

On March 13 Gen. Sam Houston dispatched Smith and Henry Karnes back to San Antonio to learn the status of the Alamo garrison. "If living," Houston reported to Thomas Jefferson Rusk, Smith would return with "the truth and all important news." Instead Smith returned with Susanna W. and Angelina E. Dickinson. ^[1][3]

Houston first assigned Smith to the cavalry, Later Sam Houston placed him in charge of recruits with the rank of captain. During the San Jacinto campaign he captured a Mexican courier bearing important dispatches to Antonio López de Santa Anna, and on April 21, 1836, Smith and Sam Houston requisitioned "one or more axes," with which Sam Houston ordered Smith to destroy Vince's Bridge. This was to prevent retreat of the Mexican army via that route.. ^[3]

Smith accomplished the mission and reported to Houston before the battle of San Jacinto.^[3]It was to Smith that Sam Houston entrusted Santa Anna's order to Gen. Vicente Filisola to evacuate Texas. ^[3][1]

After San Jacinto, General Rusk continued to send Smith out as a scout, and after having been absent from the army for the first two weeks of July he was incorrectly reported as captured by the Mexicans.^[1]During this period he was living in Columbia. On November 11, 1836, the Texas Congress granted Smith the property of Ramón Músquiz on the northeast corner of San Antonio's Military Plaza, as a reward for his military activities. ^[2]Nevertheless, Smith and his family remained in Columbia.

Smith resigned his commission in the army, then commanded a company of Texas Rangers. On February 17, 1837, these rangers defeated a band of Mexicans near Laredo. He resigned from ranger service and moved to Richmond, where he died at the home of Randal Jones on November 30, 1837. ^[2][1]

On hearing of his death, Sam Houston wrote to Anna Raguet (see IRION, ANNA W. R.), "My Friend Deaf Smith, and my stay in darkest hour, Is no more!!! A man, more brave, and honest never, lived. His soul is with God, but his fame and his family, must command the care of His Country!"^[2] A monument in Smith's honor, paid for by the Forty-first Legislature, was unveiled at his grave in Richmond on January 25, 1931. Erastus Deaf Smith is buried in the Episcopal Churchyard with a marker "Deaf Smith, the Texas Spy, Nov 30, 1837".^[1][3]

• Father: Chilaib Smith; mother: Mary Unknown
• Family moved to Natchez, Mississippi abt 1799
• Smith was the father-in-law of Hendrick Arnold, a free black who served in his spy company. ^[3]

Legacy

• Deaf Smith County, on the Texas panhandle was named in honor of this man who contributed his share to the Texas Revolution.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaf_Smith
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} Erastus Deaf Smith
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} http://www.sonsofdewittcolony.org//adp/history/bios/e_smith/e_smith.html

• Handbook of Texas Online, Thomas W. Cutrer, "Smith, Erastus [Deaf]," accessed July 24, 2016, . Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Modified on December 4, 2015. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
• findagrave.com
• Wikipedia, Deaf Smith
• Erastus Deaf Smith
• Dewitt history, Erastus Deaf Smith
• Erastus Deaf Smith