Texas
patriot
Jesse Burnam (also spelled Burnham), born in Madison
County, Kentucky, was the youngest son of seven
children. In 1812, Jesse married Temperance Null Baker
in Shelbyville, Tennessee. Jesse was a private in the
Mounted Volunteers of Tennessee in the War of 1812,
serving from Sep. 1814 to Apr. 1815, including the
Battle of New Orleans. Jesse, Temperance and family
arrived in Texas in 1821, settling at Pecan Point (red
River County). By 1823, they were among Stephen F.
Austin’s “Old Three Hundred,” building a home,
fortified trading post and ferry service on the
Colorado River frontier. Austin commissioned Burnam as
a captain of militia in may 1824. Temperance died in
1833, leaving Jesse with nine children. He later
married Nancy Ross, who bore him seven more children.
Jesse was a delegate to the conventions of 1832 and
1833 and the consultation of 1835. He aided Col. James
W. Fannin in gathering volunteers and supplies during
the Texas revolution, and Gen. Sam Houston arrived at
Burnam’s crossing on march 17, 1836, ordering the
ferry, homestead and store burned ahead of the
advancing Mexican army. Jesse was
a
representative in the Republic of Texas’ provisional
government and its first congress.
Jesse
and
Nancy moved their family to Burnet County in 1855,
following two older sons who had settled here. Jesse’s
land was southeast of present-day Marble Falls on
Double Horn Creek, where he established one of the
first sheep raising operations in the area and a large
wheat farm. The historic Burnam homestead, now in the
family’s fifth generation, includes a log cabin,
two-story home, spring house, and family cemetery
where Jesse, Nancy and others are buried
