Who is Jane Long?
Jane Long, The Mother of Texas, was a true Texas Pioneer Patriot whose spirit and strength inspires and empowers Bolivar Peninsula, Texas
today.
While living alone in Bolivar Peninsula in 1821, Jane
endured Indian attacks, famine, fever, child birth and the coldest winter the Americans had ever seen in Texas. For the rest of her life, she helped to shape Texas, first, into a republic then the great State that it is.
Jane Long's spirit and strength became a hallmark for the current inhabitants of Bolivar Peninsula. The community follows in her footsteps with their strength and determination to redevelop their cherished homes.
The previous description was part of the resolution presented at the Commissioners' Court of Galveston County, Texas on August 25th, 2010
JANE LONG 1798-1880
Orphaned at the age of fourteen and widowed at twenty-four, Jane Wilkinson Long led a longand hard life, but her independent and determined character earned for her the title “Mother of Texas.”
She was born Jane Wilkinson on July 23, 1798 in Charles County, Maryland. Her father died when she was less than one year old. In 1811, she moved with her mother to Mississippi Territory.When her mother died the following year, Jane went to live with her older sister near Natchez.
In early 1815, Jane met James Long, a physician who had come to Natchez following hisparticipation at the Battle of New Orleans. By May of that year, they were married and by Novemberof the following year, the couple had their first child.
By 1820, Jane had joined her husband at Bolivar Point, a peninsula opposite Galveston Island,where they established an outpost in effort to help free Texas from Spanish rule. When James Longleft Bolivar on an excursion in September 1o821, Jane was expecting another child. She stayedbehind and vowed to remain at the fort until his return. The plan failed, however, when James was captured and later was “accidently “ killed in Mexico City.
Unaware of her husbandʼs fate, Jane steadfastly remained at Bolivar Point through the winterof 1821-1822. The few other inhabitants left the fort as supplies ran out. Along with a 12 year oldservant girl, Kian, and her six-year old daughter Ann, Jane stubbornly survived on dwindling suppliesof corn meal, salted fish, and oysters scavenged from the bay. Jean Lafitte had abandoned his hold on Galveston in 1820, which left only Karankawa Indians on the barrier island.These Indians wereconsidered extremely dangerous.
As Jane later reported, the trio kept nearby Indians at a safe distance by a ruse designed to givethe illusion that the fort was still protected by soldiers. At least twice, the Karankawa Indianslaunched an attack on their home on the peninsula. Jane and her girls manned a small cannon left bythe militia. Kian dressed in old soldiersʼ uniforms to fool the Indians, and Jane fashioned a flag fromher red flannel petticoat to fly above the abandoned fort. On December 21, in an ice-covered tent,Jane gave birth to her second daughter, Mary James Long.
Janeʼs ordeal ended the following March when a friend of her husband persuaded her to leaveBolivar Point. By 1832, Long opened a successful Hotel in Brazoria, then a primary port for arrivingimmigrants. The hotel soon became a focal point for social and political activities in Texas. In 1835 when Stephen Austin returned from 18 months imprisonment in Mexico, a dinner and ball was held at her hotel in his honor.
Throughout her long and active life in Texas, Jane became the object of many admirers and some would-be suitors. These included no less notable Texans than Ben Milam, William Travis, Sam Houston, Mirabeau Lamar, and Stephen Austin. She rejected all offers of matrimony, however, and died a widow of James Long on December 30, 1880.
Jane Long is buried at Richmond, Texas. On here gravestone is inscribed “ Mrs. Jane H. Long, The Mother of Texas.”