George Washington Littlefield was born June 21,1842 on a plantation near Como, Panola County, Mississippi. At eight years of age, his family moved to Gonzales, Texas.
     He enlisted in the Confederate Army as a second sergeant under Captain Isham G. Jones, 8th Texas Cavalry, Terry's Texas Rangers. He was later promoted to Captain. On December 26, 1863 a shell fragment struck his cartridge box on his left hip and was serverly wounded. He was promoted to Major as he lay on the ground. He was not expected to live and was unconscious for almost three weeks, being kept alive by morphine and brandy. His body servant, Nathan Stokes, nursed him back to health. After healing well enough to ride, he and Nathan returned to Gonzales.
      He started civilian life as a farmer but began driving cattle to market in Kansas. He made huge sums of money and began buying ranches; the LIT, the LFD, and the Plum Creek near Kyle, Texas. He moved to Austin and organized the American National Bank and built the Littlefield Building at 6th and Congress, which boasted the first elevator in Austin.
     Littlefield was a member of the University of Texas Board of Regents and the single largest donor to the University. He donated the Littlefield Collection for Southern History and on the south mall he erected statues of his heroes; Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Albert Sydney Johnston, John H. Reagan and Gov. James S. Hogg. He died November 10, 1920. The University suspended classes for the day in observance of his funeral.
      He is buried in the family plot in Oakwood Cemetery, Austin with his wife; Alice Payne, a nurse of Mrs. Littlefield's; and his devoted servant, Nathan Stokes. His headstone reads: Major George W. Littlefield CSA 1842-1920, "A Great Man Has Fallen"