[William Young Lacy]

William Young Lacy, son of Martin and Dorothy (Dolly) Young Lacy, wa born on March 20, 1814 in Caldwell County, Ky. (His headstone reads that he was born in 1912) He attended college in Kentucky, but when his parents and other family members prepared to move to Texas, he was called home to accompany them. William lived in San Augustine, then moved with his family to Bean’s Saline in what is now southwest Smith County. He served in the Army of the Republic in East Texas and then became a surveyor, serving as deputy surveyor of East Texas by appointment from President Houston. After the war for Texas Independence was over, he was in the frontier service, engaged in warding off Indian attacks in the area. He took part in the one noted Indian battle of the area, the Kickapoo fight which occurred in northeast Anderson County. William’s father was a friend of Peter Elias Bean of Nacogdoches. William met and married Louisa, the daughter of Peter Bean in 1841. She died shortly after the marriage and in 1845 William married Ann Eliza Lindsay. Ann Eliza was a native of Guilford County, N.C.. She had been brought to Texas by her maternal grandmother, Priscilla Saunders Beeson, after the death of her parents. The Beeson’s were a prominent Quaker family from Guilford and Randolph Counties, N.C. The Lacy families remained at Fort Lacy until about 1860 when they moved to Palestine, where William Young was involved with farming and merchandising. He served as Mayor of Palestine from 1878 until 1880 and again from 1883 until 1885. Some say that he actually served three terms in office, but I was unable to verify this. William and Ann Eliza were the parents of nine sons, but only three lived to adulthood. One of them was William Martin, who also served one term as Mayor of Palestine which lasted from 1873-1874