Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson (1820–1879) was an early Euro-American settler in

Robertson's Colony Robertson's Colony was an empresario colonization effort during the Mexican Texas period. It is named after Sterling C. Robertson, but had previously been known by other names. It has also been referred to as the Nashville Colony, after the Ten ...

in Texas. His father was the colony's founder

Sterling C. Robertson Sterling Clack Robertson (1785–1842) was an empresario from Tennessee, during Mexican Texas. He introduced 600 families into Robertson's Colony. Robertson was also an elected delegate to the Washington-on-the-Brazos convention, signing both the ...

. Brought to Texas to learn Spanish, he translated for both Robertson's Colony and later the

Texas General Land Office The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is a state agency of the U.S. state of Texas, responsible for managing lands and mineral rights properties that are owned by the state. The GLO also manages and contributes to the state's Permanent School F ...

. He practiced law in Milam County. Robertson was a postmaster for the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

and the leader of a volunteer group who aided

Alexander Somervell Alexander Somervell (1796 – 1854) was a Texian soldier, and leader of the Somervell Expedition. He had previously participated in the Battle of San Jacinto The Battle of San Jacinto (), fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day La Porte ...

in border disputes. By 1844, he had been promoted to colonel in the Republic of Texas militia. Robertson was one of the delegates who signed the Texas Order of Secession in 1861 and served as aide-de-camp to General Henry McCulloch. The Col. Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson Plantation in Salado is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places listings in Bell County, Texas This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bell County, Texas. This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Bell County, Texas. There are f ...

Early life and family background

Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson was born in

Giles County, Tennessee Giles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borde ...

, on August 23, 1820. Robertson was from a family of accomplished individuals. He was the son of Frances King and

empresario An empresario () was a person who had been granted the right to settle on land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for settling the eastern areas of Coahuila y Tejas in the early nineteenth century. Since ''empresarios'' attract ...

Sterling Clack Robertson, the founder of Robertson's Colony in Texas. Empresario Robertson never married, but he acknowledged his son with King. Young Elijah's grandfather was Captain Elijah Robertson, who left

Brunswick County, Virginia Brunswick County is a United States county located on the southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Brunswick County was created in 1720 from parts of Prince George, Surry and Isle of Wight counties. The county was named for the forme ...

, in the 18th century to join family members and other early Euro-American settlers in Tennessee. His great-uncle, Captain Elijah's brother James Robertson, was known as the Father of Tennessee. Robertson's great-granddaughter was author

Liz Carpenter Mary Elizabeth Sutherland Carpenter (September 1, 1920 – March 20, 2010) was a writer, feminist, reporter, media advisor, speechwriter, political humorist, and public relations expert. As the first woman executive assistant to Vice President ...

, who was a press spokesperson for both President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

and later for Ladybird Johnson.

Texas

In 1832, his father brought Robertson from Tennessee and placed him in the Mission School of St. Mary to study the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

. Robertson boarded in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

with John William Smith, who would later become the final messenger sent out by

William Barrett Travis William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

at the

Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a siege of the Alamo, 13-day siege, Mexico, Mexican troops under president of Mexico, President Antonio L� ...

. Robertson was born as Sterling Clack Robertson, the same name as his father. The priests at the Mission School added "Elijah". In 1833, Smith alerted Robertson's father that Robertson had quit attending school; Robertson's father subsequently put him to work translating Robertson's Colony deeds into Spanish. In return for his services, Robertson received in Milam County. In 1835, Robertson formed his own rangers company to deal with Indian depredations. Young Robertson joined the ranger company. (They did not become known as the " Texas Rangers" until future years, but this group was one of the forerunners.Sutherland (2006) p. 130

College in Tennessee

In April 1837, Robertson sent young Robertson to school at

Jackson College Jackson College is a public college in Jackson County, Michigan. Originally established as Jackson Junior College in 1928, Jackson County electors voted to reincorporate the institution as a community college district under the "Public Act 188 ...

Maury County, Tennessee Maury County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Middle Tennessee region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 100,974. Its county seat is Columbia. Maury County is part of the Nashville-Davidson– Murfreesb ...

. He remained enrolled there until May 1839.

Return to Texas

When Robertson returned to Texas, he served as chief clerk, later acting postmaster, in the

postal service. Robertson was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1840, he lost an election against Joseph P. Lynch for sheriff of Washington County. In 1841, he had a brief stint as assistant secretary of the Senate. In 1842, Robertson organized a company of volunteers from Gonzales County, joining

Edward Burleson Edward Murray Burleson (December 15, 1798 – December 26, 1851) was the third vice president of the Republic of Texas. After Texas was annexed to the United States, he served in the State Senate. Prior to his government service in Texas, he wa ...

Mission Concepcion Franciscan Friars established Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña (also Mission Concepción) in 1711 as Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hainais in East Texas. The mission was by the Domingo Ramón- ...

to oust Mexican general Ráfael Vásquez from the city. While there, Robertson learned of the March 4 death of his father Sterling C. Robertson. That same year, he became a captain in the Republic of Texas militia, becoming part of the Somervell Expedition. He was promoted to the rank of colonel by 1844.Sutherland (2006) p. 133 Robertson began working in a Cincinnati, Texas country store in 1845, earning $85.50 after ten months. In his spare time, he taught himself law by reading ''

Blackstone's Commentaries The ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' (commonly, but informally known as ''Blackstone's Commentaries'') are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarend ...

''. He was admitted to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

to practice law in Milam County. In 1848, Robertson was a translator of Spanish deeds in the

.Sutherland (2006) p. 136 Bell County elected him Chief Justice in 1858.

Salado

Robertson plantation

In 1853, Robertson moved to Salado with his second wife, Mary Elizabeth Dickey. He began the construction of the family plantation in 1854. The plantation included the main house, slave quarters, and a family cemetery. Mrs. Robertson's mother Sophia Dickey Lynch moved in with the couple, to escape her abusive husband Julius C. Lynch. (This was not the Joseph Penn Lynch to whom Robertson had lost an election in 1840.) Lynch followed her to the Robertson home to demand her return. Robertson defended his mother-in-law and killed Lynch. The jury impaneled for the subsequent trial returned a verdict of

justifiable homicide The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide). Generally, there is a burden to produce exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification. In most countries, ...

.Sutherland (2006) p. 142

Salado college

Salado College was begun on land donated by Robertson in 1859 to establish the school.

Secession Convention and Civil War

Robertson was a delegate to the Secession Convention in 1861 and signed the Texas Ordinance of Secession.Sutherland (2006) p. 141 In 1862, Robertson became aide-de-camp to General Henry Eustace McCulloch This was the only position he held during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, but he donated a large portion of his financial resources to the cause of the

Confederacy A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. On November 18, 1865, Robertson received a full pardon from President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

.Sutherland (2006) p. 147

Constitutional convention of 1875

Robertson was elected to the 1875 convention to draft the

Texas Constitution The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that establishes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of Texas and enumerates the basic rights of its citizens. The current document was adopted on February 15, 187 ...

Personal life

Robertson married his second cousin Eliza Hamer Robertson on July 29, 1846. She was the daughter of James Randolph Robertson, first cousin to empresario Sterling Clack Robertson. She died on March 25, 1852. On November 8, 1852, he married Mary Elizabeth Dickey. The couple had twelve children. One of their daughters was Eliza S. R. Johnson (1868–1926), known as "Birdie", wife of Texas State Senator Cone Johnson. A

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

active in women's rights issues, she served on the first board of regents for

Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a Public research university, public coeducational research university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, ...

. Robertson died at Salado on October 8, 1879. Mary Elizabeth died on December 11, 1882. Both are buried in the family cemetery on the plantation. Late in life, Robertson joined the Methodist Church.

Legacy

* Col. Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson Plantation, listed on the

* Statue of Robertson by artist Clay H. Dahlberg, Salado College Hill

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Elijah Sterling Clack 1820 births 1879 deaths People from Giles County, Tennessee People from Salado, Texas Army of the Republic of Texas officers People of the Texas Revolution People of Mexican Texas American emigrants to Mexico