George A. Lamb

George A. Lamb was born on October 3, 1814, in Laurens District, South Carolina. Orphaned at an early age, he later moved to Georgia, Crawford County, and at the age of twenty started out on horseback for Texas. In Arkansas he encountered an ox-wagon caravan and joined them. The caravan was made up of the families of Richard Bankhead, Jimmie Spillers, Ben Roberson, and William Winters.¹

After reaching Texas, Lamb, a single man, made his home with the Bankhead family. Shortly after their arrival, Richard Bankhead died from exposure, leaving Sarah Nobles Bankhead a widow with five small children. On June 27, 1835, Lamb and the widow Bankhead were married. He proved “a capable father to the orphan children and a devoted husband to his wife.”¹

San Jacinto

In March 1836, Lamb and a group of sixteen other volunteers organized to go to the aid of General Houston. They chose William Ware as Captain, Job Collard as First Lieutenant, George A. Lamb as Second Lieutenant, Albert Gallatin as First Sergeant, and William Winters as Second Sergeant. They went immediately to General Houston and participated in the arduous campaign culminating at the Battle of San Jacinto.¹

On April 21, 1836, George A. Lamb was killed at San Jacinto, falling in the first charge of the Texans. He was twenty-one years old. His death left Sarah widowed for the second time.¹

Land Grants

For his service, the Lamb heirs received land grants: Donation Certificate No. 625 for 640 acres, issued November 26, 1838, for participating in the Battle of San Jacinto; and Bounty Certificate No. 464 for 320 acres, issued October 4, 1838, for services in the Army of the Republic from March 1 to April 21, 1836. On July 31, 1844, Governor Albert C. Horton donated six hundred and forty acres to the Lamb heirs in consideration of his service.¹

Relatives

A brother of George Lamb, Isaac Kinion Lamb, lived in Lampasas, Texas, in 1876. Sisters Hester Ann Lamb and Rhoda Campbell lived in Monroe County, Georgia. Another sister, Azeneth Cunningham, lived in Upton County, Georgia. Lamb County, Texas, was named for George A. Lamb.¹

Legacy

Though George Lamb’s only child, Susan (born November 10, 1836, a few months after his death), married Richard Marion Bankhead, his stepchildren carried forward his memory. Mary Frances Bankhead (“Frankie”), Sarah’s youngest daughter, married John McAdams Jr. in 1849 — another veteran who had served with Houston’s army. Through Frankie, the Bankhead-McAdams line extends to Margaret Annaliza McAdams, Ethel Arrine Thompson, Margaret Morris Craig, and eventually to the Ledbetter family.