Malcijah Benjamin Highsmith

Malcijah B. Highsmith
Born	May 17, 1827
Died	May 4, 1893 (aged 65)
Place of birth	Old Caney (now Brazoria County, Texas)
Place of death	Bastrop, Texas, US
Allegiance	Republic of Texas United States Confederate States
Rank	Fourth sergeant (USA) Captain (CSA)
Wars	Texas Revolution Mexican–American War Texas–Indian wars American Civil War

Malcijah Benjamin ("Kige") Highsmith (1827–1893) was a Texian veteran of the Revolution, an American veteran of the Mexican War, and a Confederate veteran of the Civil War. He was also a noted Freemason.

Life

He took part in the Runaway Scrape during the Texas Revolution while still a boy, and served under his father, Samuel Highsmith, in the Mexican War. In February 1850 he was commissioned 2nd lieutenant, Texas Rangers, under Captain John S. Ford, and was involved in several fights with Comanches. He returned to his farm in 1852, and by 1860 he reportedly had $2,000 in real estate and other assets. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he was elected captain of Company D, 12th Texas Cavalry Regiment. He died in Bastrop in 1893.

Sources

• Cutrer, Thomas W. (October 30, 2019). "Highsmith, Malcijah Benjamin (1827–1893)". Handbook of Texas (online ed.). Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/highsmith-malcijah-benjamin. 

Further reading

• Bailey, Anne J. (1989). Between the Enemy and Texas: Parsons's Texas Cavalry in the Civil War. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press. pp. 212–13, 217. ISBN 9780875655147. https://books.google.com/books?id=kIAkZkwsTwIC. 
• Ford, John S. (1990). Oates, Stephen B.. ed. Rip Ford's Texas (2nd paperback ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 149, 165–6, 170. https://archive.org/details/ripfordstexas0000ford/page/148/mode/2up?view=theater. 
• Jenkins, John Holland (2003). Jenkins, John H., III. ed. Recollections of Early Texas (5th paperback ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 232, 255. ISBN 9780292770379. https://books.google.com/books?id=qJwKiBORxp4C. 

External links

• "PGM Malcijah B. Highsmith I.O.O.F. Grand Master of Texas in 1873 Texas Ranger From: Bastrop, Texas". https://ioof-grand-lodge-texas-pgm.weebly.com/-m-b-highsmith.html.