Edward H. Tarrant

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| image = Edward H. Tarrant.jpg

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| state_legislature = Third Texas

| district =

| term_start = November 5, 1849

| term_end = November 3, 1851

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| prior_term =

| state_legislature2 = Fourth Texas

| district2 =

| term_start2 = November 3, 1851

| term_end2 = November 7, 1853

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| birth_date = {{Birth year|1796}}

| birth_place = Bamberg County, South Carolina, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1858|08|02|1796}}

| death_place = Parker County, Texas, U.S.

| restingplace = Pioneer Rest Cemetery

| restingplacecoordinates = {{Coord|32.76487|-97.329434|region:US-TX|display=inline|name=Pioneer Rest Cemetery}}

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| spouse = Mary Danforth

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| occupation = Military officer, farmer, politician

| profession = Brigadier-general

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| allegiance = {{flagu|United States|1851|size=23px}}
{{flagcountry|Republic of Texas|1836|size=23px}}

| branch = {{unbulleted list|Kentucky militia|Tennessee militia|4th Brigade of N.E. Texas (militia)}}

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| battles = {{unbulleted list|Battle of New Orleans (War of 1812)|Texas-Indian wars|Battle of Village Creek}}

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Edward H. Tarrant (1796 – August 2, 1858) was an American politician and general. He served in the Texas House of Representatives during both periods. Tarrant County, whose county seat is Fort Worth, was named after him.{{cite web |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fta11 |title=Tarrant, Edward H. |date=June 15, 2010 |website=TSHA Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}{{Cite web |url=http://txusd1812.com/geht/ancestors/gen-edward-h-tarrant/|title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-03-05 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140305110956/http://txusd1812.com/geht/ancestors/gen-edward-h-tarrant/|archive-date=2014-03-05 |url-status=dead}}

Early life and education

Edward was a young veteran of the War of 1812, taking part in the Battle of New Orleans (1814–15) at the age of 19, probably as a private in the Kentucky state militia. Having moved to Tennessee, he was elected a colonel of the Tennessee state militia, in the frontier environment. By 1827, Tarrant had become a sheriff of Henry County, Tennessee, but he moved to Texas by the early 1830s and established a ranch in Red River County. He became one of the most prosperous landowners, and he owned slaves.{{cite web |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fta11 |title=Tarrant, Edward H. |date=June 15, 2010 |website=TSHA Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}

Career

In September 1837, Tarrant was elected to represent Red River County in the House of Representatives of the Second Texan Congress; but after a few months, he resigned to serve the republic by directing ranger activities against the Indians in 1838. In 1838–39, he served as chief justice in Red River County and was elected Brigadier-general of a northeast Texas militia unit called the Fourth Brigade. Tarrant's Indian-fighting career culminated in the battle of Village Creek, east of present-day Fort Worth, in May 1841.

In 1843, Tarrant, along with George W. Terrell, negotiated the Treaty of Bird's Fort with nine tribes of Native Americans.{{cite web|last1=Nance|first1=Joseph Milton|title=Republic of Texas|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mzr02|website=Handbook of Texas|publisher=Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)|access-date=26 August 2017}}

Tarrant served two terms in the state House of Representatives, between 1849 and 1853. In April 1851, he married Mary Danforth, a 19 year old at the time.{{Cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Robert L. |last2=Jones |first2=Pauline H. |date=1966 |title=Edward H. Tarrant |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30240930 |journal=The Southwestern Historical Quarterly |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=300–323 |jstor=30240930 |issn=0038-478X}} The couple resided on Chambers Creek near Italy, Ellis County, Texas.

As fighting Indians had become his specialty, in 1857, Tarrant moved part of his household to Fort Belknap in present-day Young County. He led a "go-to" fighting force to protect settlers in that locale from frequent Indian uprisings.

Later life and death

In 1857, Tarrant began moving part of his household to Fort Belknap. On one of his journeys, General Tarrant fell ill and died on August 2, 1858, at the home of William Fondren, which is 10 miles from Weatherford, Texas, in Parker County.{{cite web |url=http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/5367001937 |title=Fondren Cemetery - Fondren ~ Marker Number: 1937 |date=1979 |website=Texas Historic Sites Atlas |publisher=Texas Historical Commission}} He was initially interred in the William Fondren family cemetery. On January 28, 1859, Tarrant's remains were moved to a grave on his Chambers Creek family farm in Ellis County, Texas.{{cite web |url=http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/7139008705 |title=Fort Farm Cemetery - Ellis ~ Cemetery ID: EL-C087 |website=Texas Historic Sites Atlas |publisher=Texas Historical Commission}}{{cite web |url=http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/5139007154 |title=Site of the Plantation of Edward H. Tarrant - Forreston ~ Marker Number: 7154 |date=1936 |website=Texas Historic Sites Atlas |publisher=Texas Historical Commission}} Tarrant's final resting place, effective March 3, 1928, is Pioneers Rest cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas, the seat of his namesake county.

His widow later married James Emerson Hawkins, settler of Midlothian, Texas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.midlothian.tx.us/206/Founding-Families|title=Founding Families {{!}} Midlothian, TX - Official Website|website=www.midlothian.tx.us|access-date=2019-04-12}}