John Socrates Darling

(Dr. Gazley’s Neighbor To The South)

JOHN SOCRATES DARLING

SOCRATES DARLING

SOCRATES

DARLING

True Texas hero that he was, Socrates Darling answered to all of the above descriptors at some point in his interesting and inspiring lifetime; and his efforts made permanent contributions to the Texas we know, enjoy, and take for granted today. Unfortunately, some accomplishments of our ancestors never got included in the public school history books in use today, and with the passage of time, many important historical details have faded from memory. The following remembrance is one in a series to attempt to address this historical lapse in recognition.

The year was 1806, just 205 years ago, and Texas didn’t yet exist; when on April 24th a boy named Socrates Darling was born in Boston, Massachusetts, a place about 1900 ox-cart miles from the heart of what would later become Texas.

Boston, and the new Spanish/Mexican/Texian frontier, were both undergoing change at the time. Bostonians had witnessed free blacks building their first church home, The African Meeting House, for the First African Baptist Church in America, on a tiny patch of land on the North slope of Beacon Hill on Joy Street. Meanwhile, in the southwest, opportunity was beckoning new settlers to follow in the footsteps of Stephen F. Austin and other pioneers where free land grants were possible and new lives could be started.

Socrates, in his mid-twenties, had just endured the loss of his first wife, Miss Woodward, to an early and unexpected death, leaving him not only widowed, but childless as well. Finding his attachment to the Boston area lessened, and having heard of the challenges and opportunities that existed in the new frontier, Socrates set out for Texas. After a typical long and arduous journey of the times, he arrived in Bastrop County, alone, in December of 1834.

Within a year, Socrates had joined the newly formed Texas Army in its effort to free the people of Texas, Mexican and Anglo alike, who had grown tired of the oppression and corruption of the Mexican government. He initially served under General Stephen F. Austin and Captain R. Goheen at the Storming and Capture of Bexar, and later, he served under the Command of Sam Houston in Captain James Gillespie’s Company at the Battle of San Jacinto.

After the Texas War For Independence had successfully ended, Socrates Darling restarted his frontier life in Bastrop County Texas on land which in part abutted upon that of Stephen F. Austin and also abutted upon land belonging to another Bastrop County notable war veteran, Dr .Thomas Jefferson Gazley. As a result of his military involvement in the War for Independence, Socrates received title to a league of land in Austin’s fifth colony. Also, he received a Headright Certificate for a League and a Labor of land from the Fayette County Board of Land Commissioners. Additionally, he was issued a Donation Certificate for 640 acres of Bastrop/Fayette County land.

In addition to agricultural and real estate pursuits of the time, on January 25, 1840, Socrates was elected to the position of Coroner of Fayette County; a position which he held for many years, and which shared responsibilities with the County Sheriff and later with the Justice Court. During months in 1843 and again in 1846 he served as Acting Sheriff of Fayette County. For holding a Coroner’s inquest, he was paid five dollars; and, for being acting Sheriff he was paid four dollars a month. Since there were no jails at that time, when necessary, he was paid fifty cents per day to house and feed jail prisoners on his own property.

Among his other land transactions was an act of philanthrophy and benevolence which was supportive of higher education and religion when he donated 320 acres of his Bastrop County land to the President and Trustees of Baylor University in 1852, while it was located at Washington before moving to Waco. By this act, he demonstrated his vision into the future needs of a developing Texas, and provided his personal endowment to aid in their fulfillment.

About twenty years after his first wife’s death, Socrates met, and on February 9, 1854, married Ms. Louraine Jones-Lester. Louraine was born June 10, 1810, near Lebanon, Tennessee, and she was the widow of David Lester, whose brother was a San Jacinto veteran. The union produced four children: James, Albert, Daniel, and Josephine.

On April 6, 1870, at age 64, John Socrates Darling died from pneumonia. Two months later, on June 8, 1870, at age 60, his wife, Louraine, also passed away. They rest side by side in the Hallmark Cemetery at Jeddo, Texas, nine miles North of Waelder.

The Fayette County Courthouse in La Grange Texas, displays a flagpole pedestal acknowledging Socrates’ service as Coroner; and, his grave marker installed by the State of Texas in 1962 reads:

'John Socrates Darling - Born April 24, 1806; came to Texas in 1835. A soldier

in the Texas War for Independence before and during the Siege of Bexar, 1835,

and participated in the Battle of San Jacinto, 1836. Died April 6, 1870. His wife,

Louraine Darling, born June 10, 1810; died June 8, 1870.'

“I thank you Mr. Darling for all that you have done for 
Smithville, Bastrop County, Texas, and Texans." 

David L. Herrington

2011