Edward Brown

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Edward Brown of Atascosa County. Pull over if you need to — this one earns a minute. Edward Brown came into this world in 1808, born to Avery and Maria Brown.

Where exactly? Well, the documents can't quite agree — Tennessee or Kentucky, take your pick. What's not in dispute is where he ended up, and what he did getting there.

Find him in New Orleans in 1836. He's a young man, and the Republic of Texas is calling. He volunteers.

He musters into service in the company of William D. Burnett, and just like that, Edward Brown is a soldier of the Texas Revolution. When the fighting is done, he stays.

Texas has a way of doing that to people. But here's the thing about Texas in those years — the trouble wasn't finished just because the war was. Mexico periodically invaded, and in September of 1842, General Adrián Woll came back and recaptured San Antonio.

Brown was there. He participated in the defense of San Antonio de Bexar from the house of Samuel Maverick. Now, that sounds like the setup for a heroic story, and it is — just not the kind where everything goes the hero's way.

Brown was taken. He was one of the prisoners marched all the way down to Perote Prison in Mexico. You sit with that image a moment: a man who'd already fought one war for this land, now marching away from it in chains.

He remained at Perote until 1844, when Waddy Thompson, United States Minister to Mexico, negotiated his release. Whatever Edward Brown felt walking out of that prison, he wasted no time. In September of 1844, he married Loreta de la Fuentes y Fernandez of San Antonio — born in 1819, the daughter of Jose Cresencio de las Fuentes y Fernandez and Maria Gertrudis Diaz.

Two worlds, two histories, one family. Two years later, war came again. The U.S.-Mexico War, and Brown answered again.

He joined a company mustered in Castroville by John H. Conner in 1846. That unit mustered out in September of 1847.

Two wars. Two musters. The man had given plenty.

What he got in return, partly, was land. A preemption grant for one hundred and sixty acres on the waters of the Atascosa. And he dedicated the rest of his years to farming and ranching on that ground.

Edward and Loreta raised seven children on that Atascosa land. Eduardo, who went by Waddy T, born in 1848 — you wonder whose memory that nickname carried. Maria Soledad, called Lolida, born in 1850.

Susanna in 1851. James, known as Santiago, in 1854. Hendrick in 1856.

Marcellus in 1857. And Matilda in 1860. Seven children, two languages in their names, two nations in their blood.

Edward Brown died in 1886. Loreta lived on until 1892. They are buried somewhere in the legacy of those seven kids and that hundred and sixty acres on the Atascosa — a veteran twice over, a prisoner who came home, a man who put down roots so deep the marker's still talking about him.

What the marker says

(1808-1886) A veteran of both the Texas Revolution and the U.S.-Mexico War, Edward Brown was an early Atascosa County colonist and landowner. He was born to Avery and Maria Brown, though documents differ on place of birth in Tennessee or Kentucky. While in New Orleans in 1836, he volunteered to fight in the Republic of Texas Army and mustered into service in the company of William D. Burnett. After the war, he remained in Texas. In the years after the Revolution, Mexico periodically invaded Texas. One of these invasions occurred in September 1842, in which General Adrián Woll recaptured San Antonio. Brown participated in the defense of San Antonio de Bexar from the house of Samuel Maverick. Brown was one of the prisoners marched to Perote Prison in Mexico, where he remained until Waddy Thompson, United States Minister to Mexico, negotiated his release in 1844. In September 1844, he married Loreta de la Fuentes y Fernandez of San Antonio (1819-1892), the daughter of Jose Cresencio de las Fuentes y Fernandez and Maria Gertrudis Diaz. Two years later, during the U.S.-Mexico War, Brown joined a company mustered in Castroville by John H. Conner in 1846. The unit mustered out in September 1847. Brown received a preemption grant for 160 acres of land on the “waters of the Atascosa” and dedicated the rest of his years to farming/ranching. Edward and Loreta had seven children: Eduardo “Waddy T” (b. 1848), Maria Soledad “Lolida” (b. 1850), Susanna (b. 1851), James “Santiago” (b. 1854), Hendrick (b. 1856), Marcellus (b. 1857) and Matilda (b. 1860). (2023)