HISTORIAN, DAUGHTERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.
The following sketch of Mrs. Briscoe by Kate B. Shaifer was published in The Gulf Messenger (Houston) for February-March, 1898:
“In the town of St. Genevieve, Missouri, August 17, 1819, Mary Jane, third child of John R. and Jane Birdsall Harris, was born.
“John R. Harris and wife had moved from East Cayuga, New York, and were descended from two of the oldest pioneer families of the colonists; the former from the historic Harris family of Pennsylvania, and the latter from Nathan Birdsall, who settled on Long Island 1657.
.....“There were [then] few white settlers in St. Genevieve, and they were mostly French, but within a few rods of Mr. Harris' home, about 500 friedly Indians were encamped, and his young child created much interest among the squaws, and was called by them “the little white papoose”, who was probably the first white babe they had ever seen.
“Among the few residents from the eastern states, was Moses Austin, from Virginia, and an acquaintance and friendship soon sprang up between the families of Austin and Harris, which resulted in their removal to Texas. Moses Austin was then considering a scheme for the colonization of Texas which scheme impressed J. R. Harris so favorably, that he determined to embark in the enterprise.
“Not wishing to leave his family unprotected in Missouri, Mr. Harris determined to have them return to New York, while he with Austin, explored the resources of Texas. Accordingly he provided a good team for the long overland journey to Cayuga, and accompanied them as Vincennes. Here he bade them goodbye, and thenceforth throughout the long trip, the whole responsibility rested upon the wife [who was accompanied by a young brother and a sister in law].
“After parting with his family at Vincennes.....Mr. Harris went to New Orleans and thence to Texas, where he selected his location; and in 1824 received from the Mexican government a grant of 4,425 acres of land which he located at the junction of Buffalo and Bray's bayous, and in 1826 laid out a town and called it Harrisburg; but remembering the hardships experienced by his family in Missouri, and realizing the still greater trials of colonists in Texas, he would not consent that they should join him until he could at least assure them of a comfortable home.
“The country abounded in fine timber, and with an eye to business, Mr. Harris erected a steam saw-mill, equipped it with machinery and went to New Orleans to procure belting for same. He took passage on a schooner called The Rights of Man, owned by himself and brother, which plied between these two places; but scarcely had he reached his destination, when he was seized with yellow fever and died August 21, 1829.
“Feeling that she could do nothing until her sons arrived at an age to be helpful, the widow, Mrs. Jane Harris, and her children, remained with her father in New York till in 1833, when in company with her eldest son, De Witt Clinton Harris, she made the journey to Texas. Arriving at Harrisburg, she found the mill doing a flourishing business, managed by one of [her] husband's brothers, and a number of families . . . already settled in the town. Mrs. Harris opened a farm and soon made a comfortable home, but even then the rebellion of the colonists against Mexico was impending, and soon there were occurrences that imperiled personal safety.
“In June 1835, De Witt Clinton Harris, having gone to Anahuac to purchase goods of Mr. Andrew Briscoe, was arrested and thrown into prison for refusing to apply to the customhouse officials for a permit to remove the goods.
“From this time there was no longer any feeling of security, and events moved rapidly along, culminating in the war for independence, which the early settlers of Texas fought. Conspicuous among those who took an active part, were members of Mrs. Harris' own household and intimate friends.
“All who are familiar with Texas history will remember how the inhabitants of Harrisburg fled to Galveston Island; of the sacking and burning of the village by Santa Anna, and how, after the Texan victory at San Jacinto, the refugees returned to their desolate homes.
“However, matters did not remain in this state for a great length of time. The same sterling qualities and brave, adventurous spirit that brought the pioneers into Texas, now stood them in good stead. Tents were spread until houses could be built, and all manner of trials cheerfully borne—thus bridging the time . . . [until] a crop could be raised and prosperity resume its reign.
.....“[Meanwhile the] `little white papoose', [now] grown to young womanhood in her grandfather's home on the Seneca river, was anxiously awaiting a summons to join the mother and brothers in far away Texas.....At last the summons from her mother came, and in October 1836, Mary Jane, in company with her grandfather and several other relatives left New York for Texas. She tells [in her reminiscences] of the many friends who gathered to see them start on their long journey, for in those days there was no rapid transit to Texas, and these relations and friends knew that it was separation for years, if not for all time.....[Again] she tells.....of the drive of 80 miles by stage to Buffalo, from which they took passage on a lake steamer for Cleveland, Ohio, but a dreadful gale overtook them, and after buffeting with the wind and waves, they at last put in to the Canada shore, where they tied up for two night and a day; also of how she and a young Quakeress nursed and tended the sick passengers, of whom there were many, and of how, after the third day, they got back to Buffalo, where the vessel had to undergo repairs.
“[They] could not brook this delay, so took passage on another boat and made a safe run to Cleveland; thence [they traveled] by canal to Portsmouth, from there to Cincinnati, and so on, by slow transits and many changes, [until] they reached New Orleans on the first day of November.....
“After a week spent in this city, [they] embarked on the Julius Cæsar, crossing the Gulf of Mexico to Quintana, at the mouth of the Brazos. There were but a few houses at this point—roughly built—the most comfortable one being a two-story boarding house, and there they stayed a few days, meeting and being introduced to many men who had lately made their names famous in heroic action. One story is told of how the young girl from New York State watched through the wide crack in the partition wall, the notorious Monroe Edwards, as he sat at table eating; of how his entire meal seemed to consist of sweet potatoes, and of the huge proportions assumed by the pile of skins at the side of his plate; of his rich and gaudy attire, his flashing diamonds, and his gaily caparisoned horse.
“The next stage of the journey was . . . on board the Yellow-stone to Brazoria, where two weeks were spent at the boarding house of Mrs. Jane Long, whose romantic history was listened to with unflagging interest by all.
“The first congress of the Republic of Texas was in session at Columbia, only a few miles distant, and General Sam Houston, the President, with other distinguished men, were frequent guests at Mrs. Long's.....
“The final stage of the trip to Harrisburg was made on horse-back, the distance being about 50 miles, and nearly every foot being covered by water—Mrs. Harris standing in her doorway, saw them from afar, and impatiently waited to welcome them—and such a welcome after years of separation, hardships and dangers!.....
“A mutual affection sprang up between Miss Harris and Captain Briscoe and on August 17, 1837, her eighteenth birthday, they were married by Mr. Isaac Batterson, a Justice of the Peace.
“Shortly after his marriage, Captain Briscoe received an appointment from President Houston as Chief Justice of Harris county, and this necessitated his living in the city of Houston, in view of which he purchased a two-story house in process of building on Main street (the first one ever built there), one block from the Capitol. At the expiration of his term of office, Mr. Briscoe returned to Harrisburg, built a brick house and engaged in the cattle business. Here in the pursuit of a healthful and lucrative business, he and his wife enjoyed, for ten years, that full measure of happiness that comes to congenially mated people. Many hours were passed in intellectual pursuits, reading together their favorite authors, and when desiring a change, the young wife being fond of horse-back exercise, . . . would accompany her husband on excursions to the prairies, when attending to his cattle interests. In his trips over the unsettled country to look after land that had come to them through purchase, or as grants from government, they often penetrated regions into which savage Indians made incursions every few weeks.....
“Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Briscoe, one of which died in infancy. When the eldest arrived at an age to require school advantages, his father decided to remove to New Orleans and engage in a banking business, and so, in the spring of 1849, the move was made, but scarcely had the enterprise begun when its head and founder was taken sick and died on the 4th day of October. General Parmenas Briscoe being present at the deathbed of his son, closed up the business and took the young widow and her children to his plantation home in Claiborne county, Mississippi, and the remains of Captain Andrew Briscoe were laid to rest in the old family burying ground.
“Here Mrs. Briscoe remained for three years, at the end of which time, St. Paul's college having been established at Anderson, Texas, the family removed to that place; but this college enterprise failed in 1856, and the family then went to Galveston and remained until 1859, when at the earnest solicitation of Mrs. Harris, they returned to Harrisburg and shared with her the old family homestead in which Mrs. Briscoe had been married, and which had been built on the site of the original home burnt by the Mexicans.
“Mrs. Briscoe lost her mother in 1869, but she, with her family, continued to live in the old home. Her second son, Andrew Birdsall, was married to Anna F. Paine on the 28th of February, 1871, and her daughter, Jessie Wade, became the wife of Milton G. Howe, September 17, 1873. In 1874 Mrs. Briscoe moved to Houston, where she has resided ever since. On September 13, 1881, her youngest daughter, Adele Lubbock was married to Michael Looscan. Her oldest son, Parmenas, has never married, and has always made his mother's pleasure his first care.
“At the breaking out of the civil war, Mrs. Briscoe, with true Southern patriotism, willingly gave her sons to the service of the Confederacy and her heart and home were always open to the sick and needy soldiers. She cherishes an ardent love for everything connected with the first years of her life in Texas; feels great pride in her father's and mother's association with its early history, and one of the happiest occasions of her advanced life is the annual reunion of the Texas Veteran Association.”
Mrs. Briscoe was one of the organizers of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas; a meeting for its formation being called at her home in Houston on November 6, 1891, she was elected First Vice President, a position which she held continuously up to the time of her death. She was ever keenly alive to the interests of the Society, and up to June 29, 1897, notwithstanding her advanced age, did as much active service as the younger members. On the eve of that day, upon the occasion of the closing exercises of the Academy of the Incarnate Word, a convent situated just opposite her own residence, acting for the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, she presented this school with lithograph portraits of Austin and Houston, and in a short address inculcated the necessity for a knowledge of the history of our own State, and a deep reverence for our heroic past. This was the last time she was able to serve the cause she loved so well, for, a few hours afterwards, she sustained a serious injury, by slipping, as she ascended the front steps of her residence; she never recovered the use of her lower limbs, and passed the remnant of her life in strict retirement.
By means of a rolling chair, and an elevator constructed by her eldest son for her use, she was enabled to move throughout her home, and thus participated in many of the meetings of the San Jacinto Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, which were often held in her parlor. Several times during her long confinement of nearly six years, through the kindness of their teacher, Miss Mary Roper, some of the classes from the High School would visit her, and rehearse their exercises, prepared for the celebration of Washington's birthday and the Texas Holidays. These occasions were red letter days in her life, and were highly prized by the boys and girls, who delighted in hearing her tell of having seen Lafayette in 1825, as well as of her acquaintance with Houston, Rusk, and others of the Texas revolution; their crowning pleasure, however, consisted in being accorded the privilege of reading Travis's autograph letter to Andrew Briscoe, written just at the beginning of the revolution.
A few years before Mrs. Briscoe's accident, she was elected first President of the Sheltering Arms, a home in Houston for aged women and for those of any age needing a temporary home while seeking employment. This institution, organized under the fostering care of Christ Church always held an important place in her thought. She was reared in the Protestant Episcopal Church and was confirmed by Right Reverend Bishop Freeman, in the early days of church organization in Texas.
As a descendant of revolutionary sires, she became affiliated with the first society of Daughters of the Revolution organized in Texas, with Mrs. French state regent at San Antonio. In her own home, the two chapters, Robert E. Lee, and Oran M. Roberts, of the United Daughters of the Confederacy endowed her with honorary membership.
As a charter member and first treasurer of the Ladies' Reading Club of Houston, the first club in the State to publish its constitution and by laws, and issue yearly reports, she was a pioneer club woman. Her historical sketches, character drawings, and reminiscences, were usually marked by a vein of quiet humor which made them most acceptable to the literary program of the Club.
These organizations were unfailing in delicate attentions to her during her years of invalidism, and when the end came, they vied with each other and with other living friends in sweet tribute to her memory. Mrs. Briscoe died at her home in Houston, Texas, March 8, 1903. The last sad rites of the church were beautifully blended with features strongly illustrative of her patriotic character. As the cadets of St. Andrew, clad in gray uniforms, and bearing the Texas flag escorted her body to Glenwood cemetery, and the closing phrases of the funeral ritual so beautifully prophetic of eternal life were spoken by Rev. H. D. Aves, her pastor, the sweet floral emblems strove to rob the grave of its gloom, and one seemed to hear the words, “Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints.”
Endowed with a strong character which impressed itself upon all who came into her life, charity for the faults of others, and patience under suffering were traits never absent from her personality. Her strong mother love consecrated the long years of her widowhood to the interests of her children, while by example and precept she also inculcated love of God and country.
How to cite:
Looscan, Adele B., "MRS. MARY JANE BRISCOE ", Volume 007, Number 1, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 65 - 71. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v007/n1/article_5.html
[Accessed Mon Nov 23 22:45:49 CST 2009]
