James Briton "Brit" Bailey
Bailey's Prairie, Brazoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1779-1833) Pioneer Texan noted for his courage, integrity, and eccentric behavior. Came to Texas in 1818 with wife and six children. He settled on what came to be "Bailey's Prairie". Joined Stephen F. Austin's colony, 1824. Bailey became a captain in the local militia. Fought in battles preceding 1836 Texas Revolution. At his request he was buried standing up, facing west, gun at side so no one could look down on him, even in death. Recorded - 1970
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
James Briton "Brit" Bailey came to Texas in 1818 with his wife and six children, settling the tallgrass expanse that still bears his name. He joined Stephen F. Austin's colony in 1824, served as a militia captain, and fought in the skirmishes that preceded the 1836 revolution. True to a fiercely proud reputation, he asked to be buried upright, facing west with his gun at his side, so that no one could ever look down on him.
Why it matters
Bailey embodies the stubborn, larger-than-life pioneers of Austin's colony who settled Mexican Texas a generation before it became a state.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · James Briton Bailey
- · Stephen F. Austin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Munson Cemetery
Bailey's Prairie, TX
In 1850 Mordello Stephen Munson — son of Henry William Munson, a member of Stephen F. Austin's colony — set aside this tract at his family's Ridgely Plantation on Bailey's Prairie as a burying ground for kin and friends. The little cemetery ties one of the founding colonial families of Anglo Texas to the coastal prairie they helped settle. It has stood as their resting place for well over a century.
"Brit" Bailey Plantation
Bailey's Prairie, TX
James Briton Bailey staked this prairie in 1818 as an individual claim, later joining Stephen F. Austin's colony among the first Anglo settlers of Texas. Tall, fearless, and of Irish stock, Bailey asked at his death in 1833 to be buried standing upright, facing west, with his gun at his side. Local legend still says his restless ghost walks Bailey's Prairie by night.
Nash-Wright House
East Columbia, TX
East Columbia began in 1823 as Bell's Landing, a town in Stephen F. Austin's colony founded by Josiah H. Bell. The oldest part of this house was raised about 1847 on cedar pole framing by George Lewis Nash, whose family lived here some forty-five years. Merchant James P. Wright's wife Martha bought and expanded it in 1892, and their descendants preserve it still.
Bethel Presbyterian Church
East Columbia, TX
Organized on June 13, 1840, Bethel Presbyterian Church ranks among the oldest congregations in Texas, its original land and building given by Mrs. J. H. Bell. Founded during the days of the Republic, it took root in the river-port community of East Columbia and acquired a new church home in 1932. Its long life reaches from the frontier settlement era into the modern age.