GOD & TEXAS: The Mother of Houston, Texas

John and Augustus Allen were super-salesmen. After they founded the swampy city of Houston in 1836, they advertised land for sale that was, “Handsome and beautifully elevated, salubrious (hygienic), and well-watered.” They neglected to disclose that hurricanes and torrential semi-tropical rains watered everything and empowered the yellow fever mosquitoes.

In 1837, naturalist John James Audubon visited Republic of Texas President Sam Houston. He wrote in his journal, “We approached the President’s mansion, however, wading through water above our ankles.” Once he entered the dog-trot statehouse, Audubon noted that “the ground floor, however, was muddy and filthy.”

Undeterred, the Allen brothers assured potential land-buyers that Houston would soon be “the great interior commercial emporium of Texas.” In their rascally promotional spiel, this part did happen. But neither of the brothers would see it.

John died of Yellow Fever in 1838. And Augustus left for Mexico in 1850, after a disagreement with Charlotte, his more business savvy spouse. Before he left, Augustus wisely deeded his holdings to Charlotte. From that point forward, Charlotte Marie Baldwin Allen earned the title of “Mother of Houston, Texas.”

Born into an affluent family, Charlotte’s father was the founder of Baldwinsville, New York. From her youth, Charlotte understood the complexities of building a functioning city. She married Augustus in 1831 and moved to Texas. It is surmised that the Allen brothers used Charlotte’s sizeable inheritance to purchase property, build structures, and advertise sales.

By the time Augustus left Charlotte, she had become a beloved philanthropist and a nonpublic orchestrator of business and commerce. Legend has it that Charlotte named the city after the famed Sam Houston, hoping to gain awareness for the fledgling city. It worked, as did many of her other innovations.

Until her death in 1895, Charlotte negotiated real estate and development projects, and was a leader in Houston’s construction industry. She bank-rolled the Texas Navy, and financed the building of the Capitol of the Republic of Texas. Not only did she own a slaughterhouse she even had her own cattle brand. Charlotte bestowed much personal land for public use including what is now known as downtown Market Square Park.

As a devout Christian, Charlotte donated land for the building of First Methodist Church and First Presbyterian Church, of which she was a charter member. Now buried in Glenwood Cemetery, the city honored her in the naming of Charlotte Baldwin Allen Elementary School.

Charlotte reflected the Biblical standard of a godly woman as summarized in Proverbs 3:16-31 NKJV, “She considers a field and buys it. She perceives that her merchandise is good; she extends her hand to the poor; her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land; she opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness; charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised; and let her own works praise her in the gates.”

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