John Marie Durst (1797–1851) was born on the frontier in Arkansas, and was an early American settler, military veteran, and politician in Louisiana and Texas. As a youth, he learned the mercantile trade from his godfather Peter Samuel Davenport in Texas, where he also became fluent in several languages. French, Spanish and various Native American languages were spoken in this region in addition to English, reflecting its different colonial history. At the age of 18, Durst fought in the Battle of New Orleans with a Louisiana militia. He was a legislative representative under Coahuila y Tejas, during which he became involved in a land speculation controversy. Durst became a large land holder, due in part to an inheritance from Davenport. Because he rode in 1835 to warn settlers of Mexican troop movements, when Texas was seeking independence, he is sometimes called the Paul Revere of Texas. Durst also served with the Republic of Texas militia under Major General Thomas J. Rusk in actions against the Kickapoo and Cherokee peoples in the region. He founded the settlement of Mount Sterling, Texas in Nacogdoches County after the Republic of Texas gained independence. Early life John Marie Durst was born in Arkansas Post on February 4, 1797. He was one of eight children, four boys and four girls, born to Jacob and Anna Agnes (Schesser) Durst. His brother Isaac was also given the first name of John, which was a custom among many ethnic Germans. His father Jacob was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia in 1754 as the first generation in North America. Jacob's father Abraham Derst had spelled the family name with an "e". Paternal grandfather Abraham Derst was born in Worms-Pfeddersheim, Germany in 1725, and was the immigrant ancestor to Virginia. Abraham's own father, Abraham Jacob Derst, was born and died in Germany. When John Marie was two years old, his mother died. In 1803 the widower Jacob Durst moved the entire family to Natchitoches, Louisiana. That year the region and much more former French territory west of the Mississippi River was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. Move to Texas In 1806, Jacob Durst moved to Nacogdoches, Texas, then part of Spanish Mexico, with son John Marie and two of his older brothers. After Jacob died in 1814, local merchant Peter Samuel Davenport, known to friends as Samuel, became Durst's godfather and legal guardian. His two older