Alexander Calvit Explained
Alexander Calvit (1784 - 1836) was an early settler in colonial Texas and a sugar planter. His Evergreen Plantation lay where the town of Clute, Texas, was later built.
Early life
Calvit was born on June 17, 1784, in what is now Mississippi,[1] which was then part of Spanish West Florida and in 1798 became the Mississippi Territory of the United States. He served as a First Lieutenant and aide-de-camp in the Creek War of 1813–1814.[2] [3] [4]
Career
He was one of the earliest settlers in Mexican Texas, going on Stephen F. Austin's mission.[5] As a member of the Old Three Hundred, in 1824 he received some land in what are now Brazoria and Waller Counties.[1] [5] This included what is now known as Clute, Texas.[6]
He established the Evergreen Plantation, a sugar plantation in what later became known as Clute, Texas.[7] [8]
Personal life
He married Barbara Mackall Wilkinson, sister of Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long, known as "the mother of Texas."[9] [10] Their daughter, Barbara, married John Hunter Herndon, a lawyer and a planter.[5] When she inherited her father's plantation, they renamed it the Herndon Plantation and raised Arabian horses and cattle.[7] [8]
Death
Calvit died of pneumonia on January 7, 1836, aged 51, at his home in Brazoria County (then Brazoria District, Mexican Texas).[11]
Notes and References
- "CALVIT, ALEXANDER," Handbook of Texas Online (https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fca22), accessed September 09, 2014. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
- Eron Rowland, Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1921, Volume 4, p. 38 https://books.google.com/books?id=_ntSrQAFBI0C&dq=%22alexander+calvit%22&pg=PA38
- John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne, Mississippi, as a Province, Territory, and State: With Biographical Notices of Eminent Citizens, Power & Barksdale, 1880, Volume 1, pp. 320; 329 https://books.google.com/books?id=TScWAAAAYAAJ&q=%22alexander+calvit%22
- H. S. Halbert, T. H. Ball, The Creek War of 1813 and 1814, Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1995, p. 245 https://books.google.com/books?id=SUDVCLiZ0-AC&dq=%22alexander+calvit%22&pg=PA245
- C. Herndon Williams, Texas Gulf Coast Stories, The History Press, 2010, p. 78 https://books.google.com/books?id=dPlzFzLulnEC&dq=%22alexander+calvit%22&pg=PA78
- http://www.ci.clute.tx.us/history.htm City of Clute, Texas: History
- C. Herndon Williams, True Tales of the Texas Frontier: Eight Centuries of Adventure and Surprise, The History Press, 2013. https://books.google.com/books?id=AlkVBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22alexander+calvit%22&pg=PT67
- Diana J. Kleiner, "CALVIT-HERNDON PLANTATION", Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed September 9, 2014. Uploaded June 12, 2010. Modified September 4, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
- Neila Skinner Petrick, Jane Long of Texas, 1798-1880: A Biographical Novel of Jane Wilkinson Long of Texas: Based on Her True Story, Pelican Publishing, 2000, p. 89 https://books.google.com/books?id=HMD-rc6x6msC&dq=%22sandy+calvit%22&pg=PA89
- Mary Austin Holley: The Texas Diary, 1835-1838, Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1965, p. 113 https://books.google.com/books?id=OvgTAAAAYAAJ&q=%22alexander+calvit%22
- https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fca22 Handbook of Texas Online: "Calvit, Alexander"
