Homesite (Point Pleasant) of William Scott
Baytown, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A native of Virginia, William Scott (1784-1837) was a planter, merchant, and stockraiser in his native state and in Kentucky, where he relocated about 1806. He and his family moved briefly to Louisiana in the early 1820s before coming to Texas with Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists in 1824. He received a headright grant of land at this site on the east bank of the San Jacinto River and named the home he built here Point Pleasant. A great supporter of Texas independence from Mexico, Scott served in 1835 as captain of the Lynchburg Volunteers, a local militia company. Point Pleasant was a stopping place for many revolutionary-era pioneers, including Lorenzo de Zavala, first vice-president of the Republic of texas; and Emily Austin Bryan Perry, sister of Stephen F. Austin. Married in Virginia to the former Mary Hanna, Scott was the father of five children. Following his death in 1837 and Mary's death in 1840, Point Pleasant was inherited by their daughter, Sarah Scott Williams. After her death in 1860 the property was sold out of the family. Point Pleasant is believed to have been destroyed by a hurricane sometime after the Civil War.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Virginia-born planter William Scott came to Texas in 1824 as one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists, taking a headright on the San Jacinto River and naming his home Point Pleasant. A backer of independence who captained the Lynchburg Volunteers in 1835, Scott made his house a waystation for revolutionary-era figures like Lorenzo de Zavala and Austin's sister, Emily Perry.
Why it matters
The homesite marks the earliest wave of Anglo-American colonization of Mexican Texas, the settlement that would soon fuel the drive for independence and the Republic.
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Related people
- · William Scott
- · Lorenzo de Zavala
- · Emily Austin Bryan Perry
- · Stephen F. Austin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Lynchburg Volunteers
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As Texian settlers broke with Mexico after Santa Anna scrapped the Constitution of 1824, Lynchburg farmer William Scott offered to arm anyone willing to fight for Texas independence. On September 15, 1835, the Lynchburg Volunteers organized at his Point Pleasant plantation and marched to join the Army of the People, taking part in the Grass Fight, the Battle of Concepción, and the siege of Béxar, with some men going on to San Jacinto.
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