by Martha Rogers
I first learned of Jane Long when I studied Texas History in elementary school. Her story always fascinated me because she did so much on her own and made a success of her life even when tragedy struck her with the loss of two baby girls and her husband.
Although she was
not born in Texas, Jane Wilkinson Long became known as the “Mother of Texas.”
Her story is one of courage, resilience, and tenacity in the face of tragedy and
makes the honor well-deserved.
Born on July 23, 1798
in Charles County, Maryland, her childhood was one of tragedy. Her father died
when Jane was less than a year old. Her mother stayed there with Jane until
1811 when they moved to Mississippi Territory where Jane’s older sister lived. When
her mother died in 1812, Jane went to live with her sister.
In early 1815 she met
a physician, James Long, who had come to Natchez to practice medicine. They
married in May, 1815 just a month or so before Jane’s seventeenth birthday. In
November of 1816, their first child, Ann, was born.
In 1819, after the
birth of her daughter Rebecca, she set out to follow her husband to Texas where
he hoped to help Texas win freedom from Spanish rule. She fell ill on the way
and stopped in Louisiana where she left her daughters in safety so she could
join her husband in Nacogdoches, Texas. Before they could return to Louisiana
to claim their daughters, Rebecca died.
In 1820 the young
family moved to Bolivar Point near Galveston, Texas. There they established an
outpost in an effort to help free Texas from Spanish rule. In 1821, James left
on an excursion to Mexico. Jane was expecting another child, so she stayed
behind and vowed to remain there until James returned.
James was captured and killed in Mexico City,
but Jane did not know this. Throughout 1821 and 1822, she stayed even as others
left and supplies ran out. She, a twelve year old servant Kian, and her six
year old daughter Anne survived on dwindling supplies of corn meal, salted fish
and oysters from the bay. Her ingenuity in keeping the fort safe by giving the
illusion of it still being occupied by soldiers protected her and her child
from Indians in the area. On a freezing December night, alone with only her
daughter and the servant girl, Jane gave birth to her daughter, Mary James
Long. They were finally rescued a few months later in March.
Jane settled in Fort
Bend County, but then Mary died at the age of two. Undaunted, Jane stayed and
was offered a land grant by Stephen F. Austin as a part of Austin’s colony. In
1832 she purchased an inn in Brazoria. With the help of Ann and Kian, she
turned the inn into a place where prominent leaders of the Texas Revolution met
to discuss politics. In 1835 she honored Stephen Austin with a dinner and ball
after his release from eighteen months in a Mexican prison. Five years later
she opened another inn and developed her land grant into a very prosperous
plantation. By 1861 she owned more than 2,000 acres.

Many books have been written about her and you will find schools all over Texas named in her honor. Houston has a Jane Long Middle School that opened
in 1957.

She is buried in Richmond, Texas in Fort Bend County with this simple headstone.

What an amazing woman!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Jane Long before, but I loved her story. She's the epitome of surviving and thriving. We could learn a lesson these days from her tenacity.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, Vickie. A good reason to have strong heroines in our 19th century stories set in Texas, Oklahoma or Kansas.
ReplyDeleteI am so upset. I had a long comment to you, then when I submitted it to you, it made me sign in(usually doesn't) but then it deleted it. No sense in that. Anyway will just say now that I enjoyed your post.
ReplyDeleteMaxie > mac262(at)me(dot)com <
Maxie, I understand. That's happened to me numerous times in the past few months. Thanks for letting me know. Glad you enjoyed reading about Jane.
DeleteThank you for sharing this most interesting post. Jane Long was quite a lady!
ReplyDeleteJane Long did a lot for Texas. Never heard of her before but then, I'm not from Texas. sm wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteawsome! i needed facts on her for school
ReplyDelete