Robert B. Longbotham was born in Sunderland, England, came to America as a carpenter's apprentice on a ship, married Lucy Haggard in Alabama in 1820, and came to Texas in 1832. He obtained a land grant from Mexico in 1835, fought in the Texas Revolution in 1836 and in the Indian Wars in 1839, and located here in 1848. The township was named for him until the post office was renamed Wortham in 1874, and his descendants were prominent in Texas. Longbotham Lodge No. 428, A.F & A.M. was named in his honor.