George Louis Crocket

George Louis Crocket (1861-1936) was born in San Augustine, Texas, the youngest of five children. He attended the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, an Episcopalian liberal arts college. After graduation Crocket became the deacon in charge of San Augustine's Christ Church Episcopal, then rector from 1888 until 1921. He also did mission work throughout East Texas, including establishing St. Cyprian's in Lufkin. A lifelong member of Redland Masonic Lodge #3 in San Augustine, he helped found the town's first American Red Cross chapter and Boy Scout troop. In 1926 he moved to Nacogdoches to become the full-time rector of Christ Episcopal Church across from Washington Square. There he served as president of the East Texas Historical Association, established the Nacogdoches Historical Society, chaired the local George Washington Bi-Centennial celebration, and led local efforts to celebrate the Texas Centennial. In 1932 he became Professor Emeritus in the History Department at Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College. A talented artist, his wooden carvings still adorn area churches and homes, and his watercolors and pencil drawings faithfully recorded the region's buildings and countryside. As a writer, he is credited with over one hundred poems, and his book Two Centuries in East Texas, published in 1932, is still regarded as the most thorough history of the local area. Through his religious, scholarly, and civic endeavors, he touched the lives of many East Texans.

San Augustine, Texas · United States