My Texas Revolution Project: Mary Austin Holley

By: London Edwards

Early Life

• Date of Birth: October 30,1784• Place of Birth: New Haven, Connecticut• Siblings: She was the cousin of Stephen F. Austin.• Parents: Elijah and Esther (Phelps) Austin • Childhood Information: Mary's childhood was a happy one. She

treasured memories of attending Trinity Episcopal Church. According to her biographer, Rebecca Lee, "She cheerfully believed that the Austin’s and the Phelps’ and all other good people would go to heaven when they died." She held to this belief throughout her life.

• Education: Her uncle made sure she went to good schools, took music and dancing lessons and developed talents in writing and art.

• Physical Characteristics: She is beautiful, classy, educated, sincere, considerate, sweet, nice, grateful, determined, and sensible.

Adulthood

• Husband: Rev. Horace Holley in 1805. • Children: She had a daughter named Harriette and a son

named Horace. • Career: She was an advocate of Texas independence and

statehood. She wrote the first history of Texas in English. Her diaries and sketches are valuable resources for students of early Texas.

• Religious beliefs: Although she became a Unitarian as an adult, all her life she occasionally enjoyed worship at an Episcopal Church.

Role during the Texas revolution:

• Writer Mary Austin Holley introduced English-speaking readers of the 1830s and '40s to Texas. She wrote about her trips to Texas in her books. Her books were called, A Discourse on the Genius and Character of the Reverend Horace Holley (1828), Texas: Observations, Historical, Geographical, and Descriptive, in a Series of Letters Written during a Visit to Austin's Colony, and with a View to a Permanent Settlement in That Country in the Autumn of 1831.

Final Years

• When did this person die: August 2, 1846

• Where did this person die:  was buried in the Donatien Augustine tomb in the St. Louis Cemetery at New Orleans.

• How did this person die: Mary died of yellow fever.

Why was she important to Texas:

• The books she wrote told people about Texas. They told people the characteristics of Texas and the journeys she had in Texas. They showed people how Texans lived under Mexican laws.

Work Cited Page

• http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho32

• http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0886850.html

• http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/maryaustinholley.html