Smith, Thomas Ingles

(1800-1848) Thomas Ingles Smith was born in 1800 in Virginia and was a soldier in the War of 1812 in a company commanded by his father, General Bird B. Smith. Smith arrived in Texas late in 1836, and soon enlisted in the Republic of Texas army under Gen Felix Huston. He was wounded in the Battle of the Salado in September 1842. In December of that year President Sam Houston sent a small group of Rangers under the command of Smith and Eli Chandler to move the archives of the Republic to Washington-on-the-Brazos. The citizens of Austin, in a show of force, prevented the move in what became known as the Archive War. By 1843 Smith was living along Chambers Creek in present Ellis County, and in 1844 was a Texas Ranger and Indian Scout. He commanded the Robertson County Rangers along the frontier in 1845. As commissioner to negotiate with the Indians, he signed the last treaty made by the Republic of Texas. Fort Smith, one of a line of fortifications from the Colorado to Red River, was established in 1846 and named for Thomas I. Smith. Along with two partners, he gave land for the townsite of Corsicana, and was a member of the commission to locate the Navarro County seat in 1848. He died in Austin in March 1848. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

Smith, Thomas Ingles is a historical marker in Corsicana, Navarro County, dedicated in 1986. It is one of 128 historical markers documented in Navarro County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 218 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.0967, -96.4682 near Corsicana. The nearest cataloged historic site is Navarro County Courthouse (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Corsicana in 1860-1872, Jose Antonio Navarro, and Westminster Presbyterian Church.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5349011637. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.