On April 14, 1841, Elnora Van Cleve was born in a cabin near Sixth and
Congress in Austin, Texas. She would be recorded as the first child born in the
new Capitol city of the Republic of Texas. Her parents, Lorenzo Van Cleve and Margaret Smith, were the third couple to marry in Austin after the town was founded December 29, 1839. Her grandfather, Thomas W. Smith, was the first Travis County Treasurer. Her uncle, James W. Smith, was the first Travis County Judge. Both were killed by Indians in separate attacks in 1841. Her cousin,
Fayette Smith, was captured January 21, 1841, by Indians on Shoal Creek. She
married Daniel Brown in 1859 and they had fifteen children. Pictured above is
her Bible started shortly after the civil war.
Read the story in Comanche Trace, Book 4 of the Westward Sagas series.
