Ben Milam

Benjamin Rush "Ben" Milam (October 20, 1788 – December 7, 1835) was a leading figure in the Texas Revolution. Milam County, Texas was named in his honor, as were the Ben Milam Hotel in Houston, Milam Street in Houston, and the Milam Building in San Antonio. The town of Milam, Texas was also named in his honor. He was born in Kentucky.

Milam was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, on October 20, 1788. He was the fifth of the six children of Moses Milam and his wife, Elizabeth Pattie Boyd.

Milam had little formal schooling. He enlisted as a private in the 8th Regiment of the Kentucky Militia, and eventually was commissioned a lieutenant. He served in the War of 1812.

In 1818, after learning of the trading opportunities with the Indians of the upper Red River, Milam traveled from Kentucky to Coahuila y Texas to trade with the Comanches. While there, he met David G. Burnet, who at the time was living with the Indians in an attempt to get over his tuberculosis. In New Orleans in 1819, Milam met José Félix Trespalacios and James Long, who intended to help Mexican revolutionaries fight for their independence from Spain. Milam decided to join the pair in their efforts for Mexican independence.

While Long traveled to La Bahía, Milam and Trespalacios traveled to Veracruz and Mexico City. Both parties met a hostile reception, and Milam and Trespalcios were imprisoned. While in prison, Long was mysteriously shot and killed by a guard, and Milam came to believe that the murder was plotted by Trespalcios. This incident drove Milam and some of his friends to plot to kill Trespalcios, and when that plot was discovered, Milam was again imprisoned. Milam and his friends were sent to Mexico City, where they were held until the fall of 1822, when Joel R. Poinsett, U.S. Commissioner of Observation to Mexico secured their freedom and, with the exception of Milam, all were returned to the United States on the sloop-of-war USS John Adams (1799).

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