Thomas Ransdell Brite was born in 1824 in Callaway County, Missouri. His family moved to Bastrop County when he was 16. In 1842, when Mexican armies invaded Texas, Thomas volunteered to serve in the Vasquez, Woll and Somervell campaigns in the conflict. In the Mexican War in 1846, Brite served in Captain McCulloch’s Company of Mounted Volunteers. By 1849, Brite had settled in Caldwell County with his wife and children, and later moved in 1854 to what became Atascosa County. In 1855, Thomas joined the Texas Rangers to fight against Native American raids. He later became Atascosa County’s first elected tax assessor-collector and then county treasurer. He died in 1859 and was buried in Brite Cemetery.