Lester, James Seaton (1799–1879)

James Seaton Lester, early settler, legislator, and official, was born in Virginia on April 21, 1799. He was admitted to the bar in 1831 and moved to Mina, Texas in 1834. In 1835 he represented the Mina or Bastrop District at the Consultation and was a member of a committee appointed to plan organization of the provisional government. Lester was recruiting agent at Bastrop for the army to attack Bexar in 1835 and later fought in the battle of San Jacinto. He served as senator from Bastrop and Gonzales in the First and Second congresses, as representative from Fayette County in the Third Congress, and as senator from Fayette, Bastrop, and Gonzales in the Fourth and Fifth congresses. He was one of the first trustees of Baylor University, chief justice of Fayette County, 1844–48, and a member of the Texas Veterans Association. He lived at Winchester until his death in December 1879 and was buried at La Grange.