Site of Dream Colony of Jane McManus
Matagorda County, Matagorda County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Prospective colonial leader who in 1832 hoped to settle thrifty Europeans on a Mexican grant, which she never received. Mrs. McManus, daughter of a U.S. congressman from New York, was a family friend of Stephen F. Austin, "Father of Texas". Joining her Texas venture was her brother, Robert McManus, who later fought in the war for Independence. Although her colonial plans failed, Jane McManus remained enthusiastic about Texas. For years in the 1850s she and her second husband, Gen. Wm. Cazneau, lived in Eagle Pass. She is said to have been an advisor for the U.S. peacemakers after the Mexican War. Outside Texas she had a career as a New York journalist and author. She died in 1878 when a ship was lost at sea as she journeyed to her estate in Jamaica. Although Austin was the most famous leader in Texas colonization, other empresarios included Green DeWitt, Hayden Edwards, Robert Leftwich, Frost Thorn, Martin DeLeon, Ben Milam, Gen. Arthur G. Wavell, David G. Burnet, John Cameron, James Hewetson, James Power, Juan Dominguez, Juan Antonio Padilla, Thomas J. Chambers, Gen. Vicente Filisola, J.C. Beales and Jose M. Royuela. Mrs. McManus was the only known lady colonizer.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1832, when Texas was still Mexican territory, Jane McManus hoped to plant a colony of thrifty European settlers on a Mexican land grant she ultimately never received. A New York congressman's daughter and friend of Stephen F. Austin, she remained devoted to Texas even after her colonial plans collapsed, later living at Eagle Pass and building a career as a journalist and author. She was, the marker notes, the only known woman among the era's empresarios.
Why it matters
McManus stands out as the sole female colonizer in an age of male empresarios, a reminder that women helped shape the peopling of Texas even when the record rarely named them.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Jane McManus
- · Stephen F. Austin
- · Robert McManus
- · William Cazneau
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First Burials in Matagorda Cemetery, Benjamin Wightman and Esther Randall Wightman
Matagorda, TX
Benjamin and Esther Wightman, Connecticut natives who had lived in New York's Herkimer County, followed their son Elias to Texas in 1828, arriving aboard "Little Zoe," the first sailing vessel to enter the port of Matagorda. Elias held the grant to the Matagorda town league under the Republic of Mexico, and his parents' graves became the first burials in the town cemetery.
Collegeport Cemetery
Collegeport, TX
Founded alongside the town of Collegeport in 1908, this cemetery served area residents from its earliest days, with some graves marked simply by Roman numerals set in shell concrete. The King's Daughters, a women's charitable organization, tended it from 1921 until a cemetery association formed in 1958. Hurricane Carla destroyed most of the records in 1961, but the community has always cared for the grounds.
First Baptist Church of Bay City
Bay City, TX
Rooted in a Matagorda County congregation of the early 1850s, this Baptist body organized at Red Bluff in 1889 and moved to the new county seat of Bay City in 1895, taking the name First Baptist Church. Its early members met in borrowed rooms and even a shared Union school before raising their first sanctuary in 1903, only to see a 1909 hurricane destroy it. Rebuilt in brick by 1915 and expanded through the mid-century, the church helped found other congregations and sponsored the Emmanuel Mexican Mission for decades.
Sargent Cemetery
Sargent, TX
George Thomas Sargent brought his family from England to Texas in 1834, and by 1838 they had settled in Matagorda County, where he became a major landowner. The small family cemetery holds six graves spanning three generations, beginning with a grandson in 1859. George and his daughter-in-law Sarah Ann both drowned in the devastating storm of 1875 — a reminder of the Gulf Coast's fury — and the last burials came in the years that followed.