Details for Gideon Lincecum

Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5477008363

Data

Marker Number 8363
Atlas Number 5477008363
Marker Title Gideon Lincecum
Index Entry Lincecum, Gideon
Address FM 390
City Burton
County Washington
UTM Zone 14
UTM Easting 737655
UTM Northing 3347448
Subject Codes scientific topics; botany; medicine; pioneers
Marker Year 1993
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark No
Marker Location FM 390, NW side, 270 feet SW of Longpoint Rd. There is also a 1997 subject marker titled Gideon Lincecum (Atlas entry 5477012283) on private property nearby.
Private Property No
Marker Condition In Situ
Marker Size 27" x 42"
Marker Text (1793 - 1874) As a boy Gideon Lincecum moved with his father to various frontier sites in his native Georgia and in Mississippi. It was during this time that he developed insights about natural habitats and cultivated an understanding of Indian culture which later characterized his various scientific and social achievements. He participated in the War of 1812, and in 1814 married Sarah Bryan. After settling near here in 1848 the self-taught Lincecum opened a medical practice. He gained a reputation for rejecting commonly-used contemporary medicines and dispensing herbal remedies instead. As a naturalist Lincecum recorded detailed observations of a variety of flora and fauna in Texas and achieved international recognition for a long-term study of an agricultural ant common to the state. He conducted scientific research in numerous fields and for many years maintained records of the weather in Washington County for the Smithsonian Institution. Except for a 5-year stay in Mexico during Reconstruction Lincecum lived and worked in Washington County where he completed his autobiography. Initially buried in nearby Mt. Zion Cemetery, his remains were later removed and reinterred in the Stephen F. Austin lot in the State Cemetery in Austin in 1936. (1993)

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