MARY AUSTIN HOLLEY
Mary Austin Holley, a first cousin of Stephen F. Austin, was a woman of wealth,
culture and intellect, a woman of adventure and letters. At 18, she married
Horace Holley who became a prominent minister in Boston and then in Kentucky. Mr.
Holley died of yellow fever leaving Mary with two children to raise. This is
when she found out she could write for profit because, in her grief, she wrote a
biography of Mr. Holley that was widely accepted.
Eventually, Mary contacted her cousin, Stephen, who she had not seen in over 20
years. Over the next few years they developed a very close relationship through
their shared love of philosophy, music, the arts....and Texas. Their
correspondence is one of the few glimpses of Stephen F. Austin's feelings and
beliefs.
Mary Austin Holley, a first cousin of Stephen F. Austin, was a woman of wealth,
culture and intellect, a woman of adventure and letters. At 18, she married
Horace Holley who became a prominent minister in Boston and then in Kentucky. Mr.
Holley died of yellow fever leaving Mary with two children to raise. This is
when she found out she could write for profit because, in her grief, she wrote a
biography of Mr. Holley that was widely accepted.
Eventually, Mary contacted her cousin, Stephen, who she had not seen in over 20
years. Over the next few years they developed a very close relationship through
their shared love of philosophy, music, the arts....and Texas. Their
correspondence is one of the few glimpses of Stephen F. Austin's feelings and
beliefs.