DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Nancy Tevis, out there in Jefferson County. Now, you want to talk about somebody who didn't flinch — not at an army, not at a land grabber, not at a rival ferryman, not at much of anything — then pull up a chair and let me tell you about Nancy Nixon Tevis. She was born in 1795, a Louisiana native.
In 1825, she came with her husband Noah — born in 1772 — and their children to settle a bluff beside the Neches River. They were the first known Anglo-Americans here. Just them, that bluff, and the river.
In 1835, the Republic of Texas issued them a land grant that included much of what would become the future site of Beaumont. Now that is a piece of ground worth holding onto. But Noah didn't get to hold it long.
Before he died, he sold some of that land to a man named Henry Millard. And Noah Tevis died in 1835 — the same year that grant came through. So now it's 1836.
Nancy is a widow with eight children. And here comes the Mexican Army. Civilians up and fled toward Louisiana in what they called the Runaway Scrape — just dropped everything and ran.
Nancy Tevis did not run. She and those eight children held their own, right there on that bluff. Let that settle for a moment.
The following year, 1837, Nancy joined with Joseph Grigsby, Henry Millard, and others to do something that would echo forward through time — they established a town. And they changed the name. What had been called Tevis Bluff became Beaumont.
Now, Nancy wasn't just lending her name to things and stepping aside. This woman was firm in upholding her rights — and I mean that in the most literal sense the marker will allow me. At one point she wrote a letter directly to Texas President Sam Houston, appealing against a man who was claiming some of her land.
She went straight to the top. And she didn't stop there. She also blocked every rival who came after her profitable ferry service across the Neches and the bayous.
Every last one. Around 1838, she married a man named Joseph Hutcheson. Who later disappeared.
The marker offers no further comment on that, and neither will I. Nancy survived for many years after all of this — the scrape, the land fights, the ferry wars, the second husband who vanished. She lived on through it all, dying during the Civil War, which ran from 1861 to 1865.
She was buried in the Tevis Cemetery, which the marker notes is now extinct. The descendants of Nancy and Noah Tevis went on to be leaders in the local community. And this marker was sponsored by the Andrew Jackson Tevis Heirs and Friends — folks who clearly hadn't forgotten where they came from.
A Louisiana woman settles a bluff on the Neches, weathers an army, writes the president, runs the ferry, helps name a city, and doesn't budge for anybody. That was Nancy Tevis.
What the marker says
(1795-1863) Nancy Nixon Tevis, a native of Louisiana, came with her husband Noah (1772-1835) and children in 1825 to settle this bluff beside the Neches. They were the first known Anglo-Americans here. They received in 1835 a Republic of Texas land grant that included much of the future site of Beaumont. Before dying, Noah Tevis sold some of this land to Henry Millard. When civilians fled toward Louisiana to escape the Mexican Army in the "Runaway Scrape" of 1836, the widowed Nancy and her eight children held their own, remaining here. In 1837 she joined with Joseph Grigsby, Millard, and others to establish a town, changing the name from Tevis Bluff to Beaumont. She was firm in upholding her rights. At one time she appealed by letter to Texas President Sam Houston against a man who claimed some of her land. She also blocked all rivalry to her profitable ferry service across the Neches and the bayous. About 1838 she married Joseph Hutcheson, who later disappeared. She survived for many years, dying during the Civil War (1861-65). Her burial was in the Tevis Cemetery, now extinct. Descendants of Nancy and Noah Tevis have been leaders in the local community. Incise in base: Marker Sponsors: Andrew Jackson Tevis Heirs and Friends