EMBERSON, JOHN

EMBERSON, JOHN (1798–1860). John Emberson, early settler and soldier in the Texas Revolution, was born in Virginia on May 22, 1798. He left a frontier school to join Andrew Jackson's army during the War of 1812 and took part in the battle of New Orleans in 1815. Afterward he joined Allen Carter of Arkansas in a trip to what is now Lamar County, Texas, and returned to that area to trap in 1816. On March 1, 1820, Emberson married Carter's daughter Matilda and settled in Arkansas. In 1824 he moved with his wife, a daughter, and two sons to the Lamar County site in Texas. Two other children were born in Texas. Emberson married Mrs. Kiz Martin on May 9, 1850; on October 8, 1856, he married Sarah J. Summer. The Embersons lived temporarily near Emberson Lake, then settled on Emberson Prairie, and finally located permanently in what is now Grayson County. About 1836 Emberson mustered a volunteer ranger company from Red River and Fannin counties and served under Daniel Montague. Tax rolls in 1842 showed that Emberson had 2,277 acres, fifteen horses, and 100 cattle. He died at Pilot Point on December 18, 1860.