Brookfield-Evans-Cremer House
Hostyn, Fayette County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Samuel bought the 1832 David Berry league, where this house stands, in 1835. Samuel died at the Alamo the following year. Musgrove Evans and Brookfield's son Francis served in the Texas Army at the Battle of San Jacinto. In 1838 The Republic of Texas Congress voted to buy this land and the adjoining Eblin league as a location for the new capital, to be named "Austin," but President Sam Houston vetoed the bill. Musgrove Evans later served as Auditor General of the Republic. Brookfield erected a two-story stone residence at this site. When Mexican troops seized San Antonio in 1842, Samuel Maverick's family fled the city and took refuge here. David Berry, the original landowner, and Francis Brookfield joined other local men to fight the Mexican invasion force. They were both killed in the Dawson Massacre, Sept. 18, 1842. William Brookfield's daughter Emma (1814-1877), later occupant of the house, married Evans' son Vincent. After he died, she married Julius Cremer (d. 1889). The J. C. Brown family, owners since 1893, rebuilt the structure after a fire in 1911 destroyed the second floor. (1977)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Fayette County homesite sits on land whose owners were swept up in Texas's fight for independence: Samuel Brookfield bought it in 1835 and died at the Alamo the next year, while his son Francis and Musgrove Evans fought at San Jacinto. In 1838 the Republic's Congress even voted to make this land the site of its capital, "Austin," before Sam Houston vetoed the bill. When Mexican troops seized San Antonio in 1842, the Maverick family took refuge here, and local men including Francis Brookfield died in the Dawson Massacre that September.
Why it matters
Few sites are so densely woven into the founding drama of the Texas Republic — the Alamo, San Jacinto, the capital's naming, and the border raids of 1842.
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Related people
- · Samuel Brookfield
- · Francis Brookfield
- · Musgrove Evans
- · David Berry
- · Samuel Maverick
- · Julius Cremer
- · Sam Houston
Related events
- · Battle of the Alamo
- · Battle of San Jacinto
- · Dawson Massacre
Themes & tags
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