Austin Family Bible
This bible belonged to Maria Brown Austin, wife of Moses Austin and mother of Stephen F. Austin. Although she never came to Texas, Maria Austin was instrumental in its colonization and eventual independence.
On June 8, 1821, as her husband lay dying, she wrote to her eldest son Stephen about his father’s illness and his recent trip to the Spanish colony of Tejas, where he had been granted permission to settle 300 American families.
“He called me to his bed side,” she wrote, “and with much distress and difficulty of speech, begged me to tell you to take his place.”
Despite his initial reluctance, Austin obeyed his father’s dying wish and traveled to San Antonio that August to confirm the grant, now with the Mexican government. The colony he founded was the first and largest Anglo-American settlement in Texas, and Austin served as its figurehead and leader until his death in December 1836.
Learn more about the Austin family and his colony at the San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site.