Mexican Hill

The kindness shown the prisoners was, in the Handbook of Texas, partly the work of a woman the Hardin family held in slavery. Harriet Evans Paine, born in Tennessee about 1822, waited on the captured generals Martin Perfecto de Cos and Juan N. Almonte. One officer later wrote that the prisoners' treatment by the Hardins and Aunt Harriet led many to settle in Texas. She lived to nearly 100, and notes she gave on the area's families, written down by two of Franklin and Cynthia Hardin's children, are kept at the Sam Houston Regional Library.

What the plaque says

Mexican Hill Following the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in the Texas War for Independence, most of the Mexicans captured in the battle were taken to Galveston. Problems concerning a lack of provisions and the threat of attack persuaded Texas President David G. Burnet to transfer some of the prisoners to Liberty. In August 1836, some sixty Mexicans were transported by schooner to Anahuac, where they were met by William Hardin, who took them on to Liberty. Georgia native William Hardin (1801-1839) had come to Liberty from Tennessee in 1825. During the years before the Texas Revolution, he served as commissioner of police and alcalde of Liberty. Hardin was elected a delegate to the convention of 1833 at San Felipe and later served as an election judge in Nacogdoches and as a primary judge in Liberty. The Mexican prisoners stayed on Hardin's property near this site, which has come to be called Mexican Hill. Among the men were General Martin Perfecto de Cos and Ten. Coronel Pedro Delgado, who wrote an account of his time in Liberty. According to Delgado, the Mexicans were treated well and given the best care available during their stay, which lasted until the government of Texas released them on April 25, 1837. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center — 3.9 mi
  A state archives and museum north of Liberty with an exhibit on Southeast Texas history and a campus of historic buildings, including an 1848 house and an 1898 church.
• San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site — 27 mi
  The 1,200 acres of coastal prairie and marsh where the Texas Revolution ended in eighteen minutes, and the 567-foot shaft of fossil-studded limestone that has stood over them since 1939.

More markers nearby

• Edward Thomas Branch — 0.3 mi
• Tarver Abstract Company — 0.3 mi
• Captain William M. Logan — 0.3 mi
• Seven Courthouses of Liberty County — 0.3 mi