Kerrville Texas History

In1856, Kerr County was authorized by a new legislative act that the new county be named in honor of “James Kerr, the first American settler on the Guadalupe River.”  But Kerr County could have been logically named Brown County for the first settler of Kerr County, Joshua Brown (1816-1874).

Kerr County could have been named Brown County or any other countless variations that could have been proposed by early settlers of many different nationalities.  But by a common consent for the areas pioneers and through the efforts of a respectful friend, the new county formed from a large chunk of Bexar County, was named Kerr.

The name Kerr honors soldier, statesman and surveyor, Major James Kerr, born in Kentucky on September 21, 1790. Josh Brown was a close friend of the Kerr’s and a settler of Gonzales, a settlement that Kerr had founded.

While Kerr was a young child he and his father Rev. James Kerr moved to Missouri. Kerr was a young soldier who fought in the War of 1812, under Captain Nathan Boone, and became a Lieutenant.  At the culmination of the war Kerr returned to Missouri, where he was elected Sheriff of St. Charles County. Kerr eventually settled in Texas and it is believed that he never stepped foot in the county that bears his name.