Emily Austin Byran Perry was the daughter of Moses Austin and the sister of Stephen F. Austin. She first married James Bryan and, after his death, then married James F. Perry. She moved to Texas in the early 1830s with her second husband. They established Peach Point Planation near present-day Freeport, Texas. In 1840, she made the first financial donation to the Reverend Daniel Baker, thus setting in motion the founding of Austin College.

Professor Light Cummins is currently writing a biography of Emily Austin, which is part of the Texas Biography Series being published by the TCU Press. This volume is currently scheduled for publication in the latter part of 2007. Click here for the TCU Press

Austin College history students, with support from the Andrew Mobley Scholars Fund, are working in collaboration with Professor Cummins on this project. Elena Muniz has already served as a research assistant on this effort. During the spring semester of 2007, students involved in the Mobley Project will also be collaborating on this project.

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