Glasscock, George W.

Born: 1810-04-11 Hardin County, Kentucky

Died: 1868-02-28 Austin, Texas

Flourished: Sangamon County, Illinois

Glasscock set out for the West in 1830, living briefly in St. Louis, Missouri, before settling in Springfield, Illinois. He fought in two of Abraham Lincoln's companies in the Black Hawk War. He had tried to operate a store in Springfield but his time in the militia forced him to close his business and try flatboating. When this business also failed, Glasscock returned to St. Louis and decided to set out for Texas. In Zavella, he once again established a store and married Cynthia C. Knight in 1837. Glasscock began supplementing his income as a surveyor in the western part of the state. Following the outbreak of the Texas Revolution, Glasscock joined the rebels, including service at the Alamo. In 1840, he moved to what became Bastrop County, where he lived for four years before relocating to Travis County. He moved again in 1848 to Williamson County, where he owned a sizable amount of land. Glasscock farmed wheat and established the first flouring mill in western Texas. As a prominent member of the community, he became the namesake of the county seat, Georgetown (he also owned the land donated for its construction). Glasscock returned to Travis County in 1850, where he spent the rest of his life. He served in the Texas legislature twice, acted as a manager of the Lunatic Asylum, and sat as president of the Air-line Railroad Company.

Gravestone, Oakwood Cemetery, Austin, TX; Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas (New York: Southern, 1880), 145-46; Muster Roll of Captain Elijah Iles’ Company of Mounted Volunteers; Muster Roll of Captain Jacob M. Early’s Company of Mounted Volunteers.