Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long (July 23, 1798 – December 30, 1880) was a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

pioneer. She owned boarding houses and a plantation in Texas. She is best known as the "Mother of Texas."

Biography

Early life

Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long was born on July 23, 1798 in

Charles County, Maryland Charles County is a county in Southern Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert (1637–1715), third Baron Baltimore. Charles County is part of the Was ...

. She was a niece of General James Wilkinson; her father was James' eldest brother, William Mackall Wilkinson (c.1751-1799). About 1811, her family moved from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

to the small town of

Washington, Mississippi Washington is an unincorporated community in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Located along the lower Mississippi, east of Natchez, it was the second and longest-serving capital of the Mississippi Territory. History This area along t ...

, the capital of the Mississippi Territory.

Adult life

She moved to Texas with her husband in the 1820s. In 1822, her husband died after being captured by Spanish/Mexican forces and she became a widow.

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

gave Jane grants of land in Fort Bend and Waller counties; but instead of

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

, she opened a boarding house in

San Felipe, Texas San Felipe ( ), also known as San Felipe de Austin, is a town in Austin County, Texas, United States. The town was the social, economic, and political center of the early Stephen F. Austin colony. The population was 747 at the 2010 census. Histo ...

. She sold part of her land in Fort Bend County, on which the town of Richmond was built. She later moved to Richmond, where she opened a boarding house and started a plantation nearby.

Personal life

She was married to James Long, a doctor and a native of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, in Natchez, Mississippi. On December 21, 1821, at Bolivar Point near present-day

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...

, Jane gave birth to her third child, Mary James Long. She gave birth with her only slave, Kian, helping. Together the two fought starvation for weeks, hunting their own game, fishing and gathering oysters, until in early 1822, they headed out. It is often claimed that Mary was the first child born to an English-speaking woman in

, even though census records from 1807 to 1826 list several children born to Anglo-American mothers in Texas before 1821. Because of this, she became known as the "Mother of Texas." Sam Houston, in a gubernatorial speech, later gave this title to Margaret Theresa Wright for Wright's heroic support of Texas troops during the Texas Revolution. Her sister, Barbara Mackall Wilkinson, married Alexander Calvit, a sugar planter.Mary Austin Holley, ''Mary Austin Holley: The Texas Diary, 1835-1838'', Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1965, p. 11

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Death

She died on December 30, 1880, in

Fort Bend County, Texas Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...

Legacy

A number of schools within Texas have been named after the "Mother of Texas." Among them are the following: *Jane Long Elementary School located in Freeport in the

Brazosport Independent School District Brazosport Independent School District is a school district based in Clute, Texas ( USA) in Greater Houston. The district serves the cities, towns, and villages of Clute, Freeport, Jones Creek, Lake Jackson, Oyster Creek, Quintana, Richwood, ...

*Jane Long Elementary School located in Richmond, in the

Lamar Consolidated Independent School District Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, also Lamar Consolidated ISD, Lamar CISD or LCISD, is a public school district in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Metropolitan Area. Lamar CISD includes almo ...

*Jane Long Intermediate School located in Bryan, in the

Bryan Independent School District Bryan Independent School District is a public school district based in Bryan, Texas ( USA). It also serves rural areas in northern Brazos County, and a small portion of Robertson County. Within Brazos County it includes Bryan, Kurten, Lake ...

* Jane Long Middle School located in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

in the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

*Long Early Learning Center located in Abilene, in the

Abilene Independent School District Abilene Independent School District is a public school district based in Abilene, Texas ( USA). The district serves the cities of Abilene and Impact in northeastern Taylor County as well as the portion of Abilene that lies in southeastern Jo ...

*A marker in Fort Bend County, Texas was erected in her honor in 1936. *Jane W Long Elementary located in Harlingen, in the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District *Jane Long Elementary School located in Midland, Texas in the Midland Independent School District

References

External links

Jane Long historic materials from the Fort Bend Museum
hosted by the Portal to Texas History *
Jane Long and Kian
(audio) {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Jane Herbert Wilkinson 1798 births 1880 deaths People from Charles County, Maryland People from Richmond, Texas People of Mexican Texas People from Houston Old Three Hundred People from Washington, Mississippi