:for the 17th-century english colonist in massachusetts, see samuel maverick (colonist) (1602&ndash;1670). 200px|thumb samuel augustus maverick (july 23, 1803 â september 2, 1870) was a texas lawyer, politician, land baron and signer of the texas declaration of independence. his name is the source of the term "maverick," first cited in 1867, which means "independently minded." various accounts of the origins of the term held that maverick came to be considered independently minded by his fellow ranchers because he refused to brand his cattle.word origins & the biography of sam maverick part 3 in fact, maverick's failure to brand his cattle had little to do with independent mindedness, but reflected his lack of interest in ranching. unbranded cattle which were not part of the herd came to be labelled "mavericks". he is the grandfather of u.s. congressman maury maverick, who coined the term gobbledygook (1944). == early years == samuel augustus maverick was the oldest son of charleston businessman samuel maverick and his wife elizabeth anderson.marks (1989), p. 4. his maverick ancestors had arrived in the new world in 1624 before emigrating to barbados and later to charleston.marks (1989), p. 5. after his paternal grandfather died, in 1793 his grandmother, lydia, married american revolutionary war general robert anderson.marks (1989), p. 6. in october 1802, his father married anderson's daughter elizabeth,marks (1989), p. 9. and nine months later, on july 23, 1803 maverick was born at his family's summer home in pendleton district, south carolina. to his family, maverick was known as "gus". over the next four years the family lived in charleston, and his mother bore four more children, one, of whom, robert, lived less than a day. in september 1809, his sister ann caroline died of yellow fever. his father, having watched his ten&nbsp;siblings succumb to the same disease as children, moved his family permanently to pendleton. for the rest of his life, the elder samuel maverick would caution his children to always live in a healthful climate so that they would not succumb to the same disease. while in charleston, the elder samuel had operated a successful business importing goods from england, holland, germany, cuba, and france. after moving to pendleton he gradually withdrew from his charleston-based ventures and began to operate a small business in pendleton. in 1814, the maverick family expanded with the birth of another daughter, lydia. four&nbsp;years later, when maverick was fifteen, his mother died.marks (1989), p. 10. it is likely that maverick's early education took place at 
1803_births 1870_deaths Alamo_defenders American_ranchers Burials_at_San_Antonio_City_Cemetery_No._1 Members_of_the_Texas_House_of_Representatives People_from_Pendleton,_South_Carolina People_from_San_Antonio,_Texas People_of_the_Texas_Revolution Presidents_pro_tempore_of_the_Texas_Senate Texas_State_Senators Texas_lawyers Yale_University_alumni