From the Handbook of Texas

Name______Period______Jane Long the “Mother of Texas” (From the Handbook of Texas)

JANE HERBERT WILKINSON LONG (1798-1880). Jane Long was called the "Mother of Texas," even during her lifetime, because of the birth of her child on Bolivar Peninsula (near Galveston Island) on December 21, 1821. Jane was born on July 23, 1798, in Maryland and in 1811 her mother moved the family to Washington, in the Mississippi Territory. After the death of her mother around 1813, Jane moved to Natchez, Louisiana where she met James Long when he was returning from New Orleans. The couple married on May 14, 1815 and for the next four years lived in Natchez while James practiced medicine and became a merchant.

When James Long left for Nacogdoches in June 1819 to begin filibusting in Texas, Jane and their daughter, Ann Herbert, remained because Jane was pregnant. Twelve days after the birth of daughter Rebecca on June 16, Jane left to join her husband with her two children. Within two months she had to flee with the other American families towards the Sabine when Spanish troops from San Antonio approached Nacogdoches. James Long was returning to Nacogdoches from a visit to Galveston Island and managed to meet Jane near the Sabine River.

In March of 1820, James returned to Texas with 300 men and took Jane to Bolivar Peninsula near Galveston Bay where James had built a small mud and wood fort named Fort Las Casas. Jane Long was not the only woman at Fort Las Casas on the peninsula. Several families lived in small tents surrounding the military post. She even claimed to have dined with Jean Laffite on Galveston Island. James left with his soldiers to try and capture the Presidio La Bahía in September of 1821. Instead of returning within a month as he had promised, James Long was captured and taken to Mexico City where he was killed on April 8, 1822.

Unaware of her husband's fate, Jane remained at Bolivar Point through the winter of 1821-1822. The few other inhabitants left the fort as supplies ran out. Jane stubbornly survived on dwindling supplies of corn meal, salted fish and oysters scavenged from the bay. She kept nearby Indians at a safe distance by tricking them by giving the illusion that the fort was still protected by soldiers. On December 21 in an ice covered tent, Jane gave birth to Mary James Long who was supposedly the first American born in Texas. By mid-summer she moved farther up the San Jacinto River (near modern Houston) where she finally received word that James Long had been killed.

She returned heartbroken to Alexandria, Louisiana in September 1823. Jane Long returned to Texas in 1824 when she received title to land from empresario Stephen F. Austin. She lived in Austin’s capital San Felipe until in 1830, when she took Ann to school in Mississippi. Ann married Edward Winston, a native of Virginia. The newlyweds and Jane made a pilgrimage back to Texas, where they arrived in May. Jane bought a boarding house (hotel) in Brazoria in 1832, which she operated for five years.

In 1837 Jane, age thirty-nine, moved to Fort Bend County near modern Houston. There Jane opened another boarding house and also developed a plantation. She bought and sold land, raised cattle, and grew cotton with the help of slaves. She died on December 30, 1880 at the age of 82. Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1) Why was Jane Long called the “Mother of Texas”?

2) Why do you think Jane remained at Point Bolivar even after everyone else left?

3) Jane stayed in Texas even after her husband had died. Why do you think she returned back to Texas?

4) Write a letter as Jane Long to a friend describing her situation at Fort Las Casas on Point Bolivar in the winter of 1821-1822. Jane met other filibusters that surrounded her husband and shared his same passion for being a filibuster. Remember that she does not know that James has been captured or what will happen to her in the future. Imagine you are her and her exact situation.