DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker's the source here, and I'm just the one bringin' it to life — so here's the story of Jane Long's tavern, straight from the record. Now, you want to talk about a woman who had her hand in the making of Texas, you start with Jane Herbert Wilkinson. Born in Maryland in 1798, she made her way to Natchez, Mississippi, by 1812.
And it was there, in 1815, that she married a man named James Long — physician, soldier, a figure carrying a date of around 1793 to 1822 beside his name, which tells its own quiet story. Jane, though — Jane kept moving. She was granted land in Austin's colony in 1827, and by 1832 she had opened a boarding house right here on this very site in Brazoria County.
Now, the word boarding house doesn't quite do it justice. This stretch of Texas was a busy port, and Jane's establishment became something more than a place to rest your boots. It became a center — a genuine center of Anglo political activity.
People talked here. People planned here. And the names that passed through her door.
In 1835, when Stephen F. Austin was released from Mexican prison, Jane hosted a benefit for him right here. Let that sink in a moment.
The man who had done as much as anyone to settle this colony, stepping out of captivity, and the first real gathering in his honor happens at Jane Long's tavern. Then October of 1836 — a ball. And attending that ball?
President Sam Houston himself, along with the adjourned Congress. The adjourned Congress. Texas had just gotten its footing as a republic, and this room was where they celebrated.
She left in 1837, moved to Richmond, where she ran a popular hotel. Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long lived until 1880, and the ground she stood on here in Brazoria County had already seen enough history to fill a dozen markers. Some places just have a gravity to them.
This was one of those places — and Jane Long is the reason why.
What the marker says
Jane Herbert Wilkinson (1798-1880) was born in Maryland and moved to Natchez, Mississippi, in 1812. There in 1815 she married physician and soldier James Long (c. 1793-1822). Jane was granted land in Austin's colony in 1827, and opened a boarding house on this site in 1832. The busy port and tavern became a popular center of Anglo political activity. Here Jane hosted a benefit for stephen F. Austin in 1835, upon his release from Mexican prison, and a ball in October, 1836, attended by President Sam Houston and the adjourned Congress. She moved to Richmond in 1837 to operate a popular hotel there. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986