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 July 30, 2008 | Milam County Courthouse Texas County Courthouse Project #27: Milam County (Cameron, Texas) A veteran of 1812, Benjamin Rush Milam had already seen his share of adventure in Texas and Mexico and had even fought for Mexico’s independence from Spain and served in the new government’s army as a colonel. Now, with Antonio López de Santa Anna in power and leading an army to Texas to squash the rebellion against his dictatorship, Ben Milam stood with a rag-tag company of soldiers and listened as the leaders decided to go into winter camp rather than try to take San Antonio. Thinking it would spell disaster for the revolution to turn around and wait to fight, Ben Milam stood up and asked his fellow men, “Who will go with old Ben Milam to San Antonio?” Milam and three hundred men reached San Antonio and, after a four day battle, the Mexican Army surrendered. Milam, however, did not live to witness the victory. He was shot through the head and died instantly at the beginning of the battle. He became the first martyr of the revolution and sealed his legacy as a Texas hero. Robertson’s Colony was renamed in Ben Milam’s honor by the Republic of Texas. In 1836, Milam County covered much of central Texas and included present day counties Bell, Bosque, Burleson, Coryell, Erath, Falls, Hamilton, Hood, Jones, McLennan, Robertson, Shackelford, Somervell, Stephens, and Williamson and parts of present day counties Brazos, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Comanche, Eastland, Haskell, Hill, Johnson, Lampasas, Lee, Limestone, Mills, Palo Pinto, Parker, Stonewall, Throckmorton, and Young. In all, Milam County consisted of one-sixth of the land in Texas. By 1850, Milam County had been reduced to an area just slightly larger than it is today. The town of Nashville, founded by Sterling Robertson who was from Nashville, Tennessee, served as the county seat and then for a short time Caldwell, now the seat of Burleson County, before Cameron was created in 1846. Cameron is named for Texas patriot Ewen Cameron. Cameron was a part of the ill-fated Mier Expedition in the winter of 1842, a group of soldiers who sought retaliation after Mexico sacked San Antonio twice after the Texas Revolution. Sam Houston, believing Texas was not prepared for another war with Mexico, allowed Alexander Somervell to raid Mexico but not do anything to provoke a larger fight. A fight was exactly what the men of the Mier Expedition were looking for and followed Captain William S. Fisher across the border on their own. After a battle where they inflicted 800 casualties to the Mexican Army, they were forced to surrender when they ran out of ammunition and water. Since they had elected to fight against orders of their commanders, Santa Anna did not consider the 179 men prisoners of war and so forced them to march to Mexico City. Ewen Cameron was elected captain of the company during the march after they had been separated from Fisher. He led an escape attempt, but all but three were recaptured. After the recapture Santa Anna ordered the 176 remaining to be put to death. Francisco Mexía pleaded with Santa Anna to reconsider. Santa Anna decided to show “mercy” by changing the order from death to decimation. He ordered every tenth man be shot. In what became known as the “Black Bean Episode”, the prisoners were forced to draw from a jar of 176 beans, 159 white and 17 black. White meant life, black meant death. Ewen Cameron actually drew a white bean, but was executed anyway for leading the escape attempt. The current courthouse has served Milam County since 1892. In 1938 the massive clock tower and statue was removed and the metal used for the war effort. In 2001 thanks to the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program, the clock tower and statue were replaced and the entire structure renovated. 
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