Enoch Brinson & Pecan Grove Plantation
La Porte, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Enoch and Eliza (Ballew) Brinson traveled to Texas in 1824 with her father, Page Ballew, and her sister and brother-in-law, Levicy (Ballew) and William Bloodgood. The extended family were among Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists. The Brinsons settled on their league of land on a site overlooking San Jacinto Bay in August 1824 and erected a small cabin in which to live until the main house was completed. In 1830 Brinson advertised a blacksmith shop. During the Texas Revolution Brinson went to Galveston with Colonel James Morgan to defend the island and build fortifications. Brinson could not join the Texian army because of a disability, but he provided supplies and labor for the revolutionary cause. After his wife Eliza died, Brinson became involved with her widowed sister, Delilah Ballew Shaw. The couple obtained a marriage license in 1837 and married in 1838. In 1850, Brinson's plantation supported more than 640 head of cattle, four horses and thirty improved acres and the family kept one slave. The plantation property included outbuildings, the blacksmith shop and a family cemetery. By 1860, Brinson's personal worth was estimated to be $25,000 and his land was valued at seven thousand dollars. Enoch Brinson died in 1861. Delilah Brinson took charge of the estate, including the plantation, where she already was accustomed to milking 30 to 40 cows a day in addition to other duties. Later, she divided the Brinson land between their son and daughter, deeding Pecan Grove to their son. Delilah Brinson died in 1870. The land was divided many times in the next century, eventually becoming an industrial site.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Enoch and Eliza Brinson came to Texas in 1824 among Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists, settling a league of land overlooking San Jacinto Bay. Enoch opened a blacksmith shop and, unable to serve as a soldier because of a disability, supplied labor and goods to the Texian cause during the Revolution. His plantation grew to hundreds of cattle and improved acreage worked in part by an enslaved person, and after his death in 1861 his widow Delilah ran the estate before dividing the land among their children.
Why it matters
The Brinsons trace the arc of Anglo colonization of Texas from Austin's first colony through revolution to the plantation economy that shaped the antebellum coast.
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Related people
- · Enoch Brinson
- · Eliza Brinson
- · Delilah Ballew Shaw
Related events
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
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