DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Augustus Chapman Allen. Now, some men are born on the Fourth of July, and some men go on to found one of the great cities of Texas. Augustus Chapman Allen managed to do both.
He came into the world on July 4, 1806, in Canaseraga, New York, the son of Roland and Sarah Chapman Allen. He was a sharp young man — sharp enough to graduate from the Polytechnic Institute at Chittenango, New York, and sharp enough to turn right around and teach mathematics there until 1827. That year he stepped away from the classroom and into commerce, taking up work as a bookkeeper for the H. and H.
Canfield Company. His brother John Kirby Allen was right there with him, and the two of them bought an interest in the firm together. On May 3, 1831, Augustus married Charlotte M.
Baldwin. Then, the year after that, the Allen brothers left the Canfield Company behind and made their way south — first to San Augustine, then on to Nacogdoches. From there they moved into land speculation, working alongside others, and when the Texas Revolution came calling, they didn't just stand on the sideline.
They provided, at their own expense, a ship called the Brutus for transporting troops and supplies. You heard that right — their own expense. When Texas won its independence in 1836, the Allen brothers made their boldest move yet.
They purchased land along Buffalo Bayou, not far from Harrisburg, which had been substantially damaged during the war. And then they laid out a plan for a new town. They named it for Sam Houston — and they offered it to the fledgling Texas government as a capital.
The Texas Congress accepted the proposal and held its very first session in Houston in May of 1837. That same year, the Allens were joined by their parents, four brothers, and a sister. The whole family, planting roots in a city that hadn't existed the year before.
But the story takes a hard turn. On August 15, 1838, John Kirby Allen — Augustus's brother and partner in all of it — died from a fever. Just like that, the man who had helped dream Houston into existence was gone.
Augustus carried on. In the 1840s he moved to Mexico, where he served as U.S. Consul for the ports of Tehuantepec and Minotitlán, and threw himself into various business enterprises.
Then in 1863, he traveled to Washington, D.C. There he contracted pneumonia. And on January 11, 1864, Augustus Chapman Allen died at the Willard Hotel.
His widow Charlotte — who would live until 1895 — could not have his body returned to Houston. She had him buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Far from Buffalo Bayou.
Far from the city on the Texas coast that he and his brother had conjured up from raw land and audacious ambition. The marker calls him a co-founder of the city of Houston. Born on the Fourth of July, buried in Brooklyn.
Some stories don't end where you'd expect — but the city he founded is still there, bigger than anyone standing on that bayou in 1836 could have imagined.
What the marker says
Augustus Chapman Allen was born to Roland and Sarah (Chapman) Allen in Canaseraga, New York on July 4, 1806. He graduated from the Polytechnic Institute at Chittenango, New York, where he taught mathematics until 1827. That year, he became a bookkeeper for the H. and H. Canfield Company, in which he and his brother John Kirby Allen bought an interest. A.C. Allen married Charlotte M. Baldwin (1805-1895) on May 3, 1831. The next year, the brothers left the firm and moved to San Augustine, relocating to Nacogdoches the following year. From there, they worked with others in land speculation and provided, at their own expense, a ship called the Brutus for transporting troops and supplies during the Texas Revolution. After Texas won its independence in 1836, the Allen brothers purchased land along Buffalo Bayou not far from Harrisburg, which had been substantially damaged during the war. The Allens planned a new town named for Sam Houston, offering it to the fledgling Texas government as a capital. The Texas Congress accepted the proposal and held the first session in Houston in May 1837. That year, the Allens were joined by their parents, four brothers and a sister. On August 15, 1838, J.K. Allen died from a fever. In the 1840s, A.C. Allen moved to Mexico. There, he served as U.S. Consul for the ports of Tehuantepec and Minotitlán, and was engaged in various business enterprises. In 1863, Allen traveled to Washington, D.C., where he contracted pneumonia. He died there at the Willard Hotel on January 11, 1864. Unable to have his body returned to Houston, his widow Charlotte had him buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. He is remembered today as a co-founder of the city of Houston. (2006)