ERWIN, SAMUEL AUGUSTUS (1789-1854). Samuel Augustus Erwin, early settler, was born in Virginia in 1789. He lived in Tennessee during his adult years before his arrival in Texas and was reportedly a friend of David Crockett. Crockett had once camped near the site of present Honey Grove and may have recommended the location to Erwin, who moved with his wife, Sallie (Crisp), and three children to the area that is now Fannin County in the late 1830s. They were the first permanent settlers in the east central part of the county. Following the arrival of additional settlers, Erwin helped found the community of Honey Grove in 1842. When the townsite was surveyed about 1850 and awarded a post office, Erwin was appointed the first postmaster. During his life in Honey Grove, he also worked as a surveyor and as a justice of the peace. He died in 1854.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Floy Crandall Hodge, A History of Fannin County (Hereford, Texas: Pioneer, 1966).
