Asa Brigham

Brigham was a Massachusetts man who reached Texas from Louisiana in 1830 and ran a ferry and a store at Brazoria. By 1833 his wife, daughter and son-in-law had all died. He held slaves for a time, but later signed petitions on behalf of free Black residents. He held leagues of land in three counties and was a charter member of the Grand Lodge of Texas in 1837. In 1840 he was charged with using public funds for private purposes and cleared. He was Austin's mayor in 1842. His remains were later moved from the Washington burial site.

What the plaque says

Asa Brigham Alcalde of Brazoria municipality, 1835; signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, 1836; auditor of the Republic, 1836; treasurer of the Republic 1836-1840 and 1841-44. Born in Massachusetts 1790; died in Washington, Texas July 2, 1844.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site — 0.8 mi
  The townsite on the Brazos where delegates met in a cold, unfinished hall in March 1836 to declare Texas independent, with Independence Hall rebuilt and Anson Jones's Barrington farm worked as in 1850.
• Star of the Republic Museum — 1.0 mi
  A star-shaped museum of the Republic of Texas years, 1836 to 1846, built at Washington-on-the-Brazos after a Brenham campaign and opened on March 1, 1970.
• Navasota — 6.5 mi
  A railroad and cotton town where the La Bahia Road crossed the Navasota River, scarred by an 1865 explosion and yellow fever, and the home ground of the songster Mance Lipscomb.
• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 11 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.

More markers nearby

• John William Smith — steps away
• Washington-on-the-Brazos — 0.8 mi
• Washington County — 0.9 mi
• George Campbell Childress Statue — 0.9 mi