AUSTIN, STEPHEN F., JR. (1828-1837). Stephen F. Austin, Jr., son of Eliza Martha (Westall) and James E. Brown Austin, was born in 1828. After his father's death in August 1829, the child was taken into the home of his aunt, Mrs. Emily Margaret Austin Perry. His uncle, Stephen F. Austin, wrote the Perrys from Mexico concerning the child's schooling, and James F. Perry wrote in May 1835 that the boy was under the instruction of Thomas J. Pilgrim at Peach Point Plantation. On December 17, 1835, Stephen F. Austin wrote that he wanted to adopt the nephew who was named for him, but evidently he never actually did so. He wanted the child to learn Spanish and French in preparation for becoming a lawyer. The boy's mother balked at the idea of the adoption, and later she was involved in land disputes with the family. Stephen Austin's will directed that the major portion of his property be divided into two parts, one to Emily Perry and the other to his nephew. If the nephew died without issue, his portion would pass to Emily. Stephen F. Austin, Jr., died at the home of Col. W. G. Hill on February 2, 1837.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Eugene C. Barker, ed., The Austin Papers (3 vols., Washington: GPO, 1924-28). Marie Beth Jones, Peach Point Plantation: The First 150 Years (Waco: Texian Press, 1982). Telegraph and Texas Register, February 3, 1837. Alice Mitchell Wright, An Abstract of Biographical Data in the Texas Supreme Court Reports, 1857-1874 (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1937).