Noah Griffith (1786-1853) _ Esther Wightman Griffith (1788-1863)
Dobbin, Montgomery County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Members of Stephen F. Austin's second colony, Noah Griffith (1786-1853) and his wife Esther (Wightman) (1788-1863) came to Texas in 1829 from New York. They lived in the port community of Matagorda before moving here in 1831. This site is part of their original Mexican land grant. Griffith was a farmer and miller, and the Griffith home was used as an early polling place. Recorded - 1980
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Noah Griffith and his wife Esther, born in the 1780s, came to Texas from New York in 1829 as members of Stephen F. Austin's second colony. After a time in the port community of Matagorda, they moved to this site in 1831 on land granted them by the Mexican government. A farmer and miller, Noah saw the family home serve as an early polling place for the fledgling community.
Why it matters
Their lives embody the ordinary settlers whose Mexican-era land grants laid the foundation for Anglo-American Texas.
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Related people
- · Noah Griffith
- · Esther Wightman Griffith
- · Stephen F. Austin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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When surveyor Elias Wightman returned east in 1828 to recruit colonists for Stephen F. Austin's Texas venture, among those who joined him were his sister Esther and her husband Noah Griffith. Arriving through the port of Matagorda in 1829, the family received a Mexican land grant here and built a log cabin in 1831. Their sons spread into Texas life — one helped organize an early grange of farmers, another ran an early sawmill, and a third married Angelina Dickinson, remembered as "the babe of the Alamo" who survived the 1836 battle as an infant.
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