Ira Westover

Ira J. Westover ( – March 27, 1836) was an American military officer. He served in the Texian Army and fought in the Texas Revolution. He was killed in the Goliad massacre.

Early life Westover was born , in Massachusetts. He was Protestant and a merchant. He was married to Rebecca Greenleaf Westover and had an adopted son, likely a nephew. His family travelled to Jeffersonville, Kentucky, where they then sailed the rivers to New Orleans in a flatboat. Between June 6 and 11, 1834, they were stranded on Padre Island without food or water after a shipwreck. They were found by Mexicans and were brought to San Patricio, Texas. In Texas, Westover was a merchant. He lived in the McMullen-McGloin Colony, followed by the Power and Hewetson Colony, then Refugio.

Military service In the Texas Revolution, Westover supported the Republic of Texas, serving as a militiaman and on the Refugio committee of safety and correspondence. He organized a group of sixteen men (including his adopted son and Thomas O'Connor) to fight alongside George Morse Collinsworth. The group was present at the Battle of Goliad and may have helped capture the Presidio La Bahía. Westover remained in Goliad after Collinsworth left, serving as the adjutant to Philip Dimmitt. He helped oversee Goliad for some time and was selected as a representative to the Consultation, though did not participate due to the Battle of Lipantitlán.