William Tennant Austin

A merchant at seventeen, William Tennant Austin reached Brazoria on the schooner Nelson in October 1830, and Stephen F. Austin located his Buffalo Bayou land within weeks. He signed the June 1835 Anahuac protest alongside William B. Travis, and in October he left Columbia with a handful of volunteers for Gonzales, where he became a colonel and aide. General Burleson praised his conduct at Bexar, and Sam Houston named him a major in March 1836. After the war he farmed, held county and customs posts, and in the Civil War served as Confederate marshal for East Texas.

What the plaque says

William Tennant Austin (January 30, 1809 - February 25, 1874) Born in Connecticut. Moved to Texas in 1829. Took part in Texas Revolution, participating in Siege of Bexar, 1835. Served as aide to Stephen F. Austin, "The Father of Texas" (a distant relative), Gens. Edward Burleson and Sam Houston. Commander at Port of Velasco. Was elected clerk of Brazoria County, 1837. Later collector of customs at Velasco. In 1854 moved to Galveston, becoming commission merchant, cotton factor. Officer under Confederacy, Civil War (1861-65). Recorded - 1971

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Galveston Seawall and the 1900 Storm — 0.6 mi
  The concrete wall along the Gulf that Galveston built after the hurricane of September 8, 1900, which killed between 6,000 and 8,000 people in a city of 38,000.
• Moody Mansion — 2.6 mi
  A four-story, 28,000-square-foot house on Broadway, finished in 1895, that W. L. Moody Jr. bought just after the 1900 storm and his family kept until Hurricane Alicia in 1983.
• 1859 Ashton Villa — 2.7 mi
  A brick Italianate house on Broadway, built with enslaved labor in 1859, whose lawn has held Galveston's Juneteenth commemoration of General Orders, No. 3 every year since 1979.
• The Strand — 3.1 mi
  Five blocks of iron-front brick buildings near the harbor that were once called the Wall Street of the Southwest, emptied after 1900 and brought back by preservationists from the 1960s.

More markers nearby

• The Rev. Henry P. Young — steps away
• Burial Site of David G. Burnet — steps away
• Peter Leroy Colombo — 0.3 mi
• The Original Galveston Seawall — 0.6 mi