Wade, John Marshall (1815–1879)
John Marshall Wade, soldier, newspaperman, and surveyor, was born in New York in 1815. While in the Creek Indian nation under circumstances that are not known, he met Sam Houston, who advised him to travel to Nacogdoches, Texas, where he arrived in October 1835. Wade joined Thomas J. Rusk's company, bound for Bexar, but became ill on the way and was left at San Felipe. While recovering from his illness he went to Montgomery, where he remained until after the Texas Declaration of Independence. On March 12, 1836, he joined Capt. Joseph L. Bennett's company, afterwards commanded by Capt. William Ward. Wade and four others were detailed to man the "Twin Sisters." After the battle of San Jacinto he rejoined Ware's company and was discharged on June 12, 1836. On July 4, 1836, he was elected captain of a company stationed at Victoria. A printer by profession, Wade worked on the Telegraph and Texas Register at Columbia and Houston. He was also deputy surveyor of Montgomery County. In 1845 he began publishing the Montgomery Patriot, which was afterwards moved to Huntsville. In 1850, he married Louisa Virginia Tinsley in Walker County. The couple had five children. He returned to Montgomery County in 1854 and served again as deputy surveyor until after 1870, when he left office during the administration of Governor Edmund J. Davis. Wade died in Travis County on October 9, 1879, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
