Greenleaf Fisk

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Greenleaf Fisk (18071888) was a pioneer, known as the

Father of Brownwood, Texas. When a land and water dispute Greenleaf Fisk
necessitated a new site for Brown County's seat of
Member
Brownwood, Fisk donated the land for the new location. He
House of Representatives
was a military veteran of the Texas Revolution and was a
member of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives. Republic of Texas
Fisk was a Chief Justice when he lived in Bastrop, Texas. In office
When he relocated his family to Brown County, he became a 18381839
substantial land owner and served the people in several
Member Texas Rangers
positions of local government. In 1968, the home of
Greenleaf Fisk was designated a Recorded Texas Historic In office
Landmark, marker number 2273.[10] February 25, 2004, the 18361846
home was put on the National Register of Historic Places, Personal details
Ref # 4000103.
Born May 19, 1807
Albany, New York
Died January 26, 1888 (aged 80)
Contents Brownwood, Texas

1 Early years Resting Greenleaf Cemetery

2 Texas place Brownwood, Tx
3 Brown County Nationality American
4 Personal life and death
5 References Spouse(s) Mary Ann Manlove
Margaret Jane Manlove
Mary Piper Hawkins
Early years Children With Mary Ann Manlove[1]
William Augustus (18361867)
Greenleaf Fisk was born in Penfield, Monroe County, New James Bartholomew (18381882)[2]
York, May 19, 1807 to Nathan Fisk and Rebecca Canfield
Fisk. Many documents inaccurately report that he was born Ann Elizabeth (18401926)[3]
in Albany, New York. At the age of twelve, Fisk worked on a Josiah (18421920)
dairy farm in New Jersey.[11] Margaret Jane (18461859)
Sarah Ann (18481857)
Fisk originally intended to enter the Presbyterian ministry Mary Elmira (18511879)
and enrolled in Lane's Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, With Mary Piper Hawkins[4]
Ohio. He furthered his education at Hanover College in
Greenleaf Jr (18581939)[5]
Indiana.[12]
Cisero (18611894)[6]

Texas Emma(18611952)[7]
Hosea (18641949)[8]
In 1834, Fisk moved to Bastrop County in the community of Naomi (18651958)
Mina, which eventually became the city of Bastrop. It was Martha "Mattie" (18671848)[9]
here that he met and married his first wife Mary Ann Phoebe (18691929)
Manlove, daughter of Col. Bartholomew "Bat" Manlove. He
Milton Cleveland (18741965)
built a Stagecoach Inn on his property at 1005 Hill Street in
Bastrop, as a wedding present for his bride. The house is Alma Lane's Theological Seminary,
mater Cincinnati, Ohio
Hanover College
now on the National Historic Register (#78003353). He later Religion Presbyterian
sold it and two more veterans of San Jacinto lived in the
houseJesse Halderman and Campbell Taylor.

Fisk enlisted in the company of Mina Volunteers, 49 Bastrop County men with Captain Jesse Billingsley, under
Edward Burleson.[13] Fisk missed participation in the Battle of San Jacinto that happened on April 21, 1836,
due to the news of the defeat and death of James Fannin at the Goliad massacre on March 27, 1836. Upon
hearing of the massacre, Burleson ordered several of the Mina Volunteers, including Fisk, to "guard the
baggage at Harrisburg." But later, when he heard the settlers were in trouble on the Runaway Scrape, he
ordered Fisk, John Holland Jenkins and several other men to return to Bastrop to help the settlers who were
fleeing the Mexicans. Fisk's name is on the wall of the San Jacinto Monument as a participant and he received a
land grant for his participation. The remaining Burleson troops pressed on to San Jacinto without Fisk.[14] In
1838, Fisk served one year as a legislator for the Third Congress Republic of Texas, became District Court
Clerk in Bastrop, and in 1841 was named Chief Justice (now called County Judge) for Bastrop County. Fisk
was also elected mayor of Bastrop from 1839-1840.

Other offices and areas of service for Fisk were: first county judge of Williamson and Brown Counties, Chief
Surveyor of the Republic of Texas, district clerk and county surveyor for Bastrop and Brown Counties, Indian
negotiator for the Comancheria, Mina Volunteer, Ranger and Mexican War Veteran.

Brown County
Fisk became a large landholder in Brown County, eventually owning over 14,000 acres, including the league
that he inherited from his wife, Mary Ann Manlove Fisk. On November 18, 1847, Fisk obtained a grant of
1,240 acres of the Marcus Huling survey, Abstract 405, Patent 150, in Bastrop County.[15] On December 8,
1847, Fisk obtained a grant of 4,605.50 acres of the E.D. Prewitt survey, Abstract 741, Patent 159, in Brown
County.[16] On June 7, 1848, Fisk obtained a grant of 1476.13 acres of the John Kellogg survey, Abstract 578,
Patent 478, in Brown County.[17] On June 17, 1862, Fisk obtained a grant of 320 acres of the H. Upchurch
survey, Abstract 925, Patent 589, in Travis County.[18] On August 21, 1862, Fisk obtained a grant of 949.30
acres of the Taylor Smith survey, Abstract 821, Patent 63, in Brown County.[19] On November 25, 1870, Fisk
obtained a grant of 288 acres in the William S. Mitchell survey, Abstract 632, Patent 288, in Brown County.[20]
On December 1, 1877, Fisk obtained a grant of 320 acres in the Juan Armendaris survey, Abstract 1004, Patent
253, in Brown County.[21]

In 1860, Fisk and his new family moved to Brown County and constructed a log house east of what is now
Brownwood. In time, Fisk would construct a home of native limestone and add a gristmill. That home has now
been designated with historic markers, both state and national. Fisk wore many hats, as County Judge, Justice
of the Peace, County Surveyor, District Clerk, County Clerk, County Treasurer, and teacher at Brownwood
school, the county's first.[11] Fisk also gave land and money at his death to help establish Daniel Baker College
in Brownwood. His daughter Phoebe, was later one of the first female students at the college. This college later
merged with the Baptist college of Howard Payne University.

The original site of Brownwood (County seat for Brown County) was on the east of Pecan Bayou. When a
dispute arose over land and water rights, settlers were forced to find a new location. Greenleaf Fisk donated
sixty acres to relocate the county seat to the west side of the bayou on what is now the current site of
Brownwood,[22] and 100 additional acres for county use. The town of Brownwood was incorporated in 1884
and was named for Henry Stevenson Brown, a commander at the Battle of Velasco.[23]

Personal life and death

Between May and July 1835, Fisk married Mary Ann Manlove, daughter of Colonel Bartholomew Manlove
(first Mayor of Bastrop, Texas) and Avarilla Perkins. Mary Ann was born in Kentucky, probably Bourbon
County in 1811. They later moved from Bastrop County to Williamson County in 1848. Mary Ann inherited
her father's league and labor in Williamson County and she and Greenleaf owned around 27,000 acres in what
is today Georgetown, Leander and Liberty Hill, Texas. Mary Ann also owned a league of land in what is today
Brown and Coleman Counties. This league was given to her as a replacement for land she lost in Bastrop
County over a land dispute, after the Texas Revolution. Both Greenleaf and Mary Ann's children inherited this
land after her death. Greenleaf and Mary Ann also gave land and money to what is today Southwestern
University in Georgetown. This was to help finance the removal of the failed Methodist college from
Reutersville and establish a new college at Georgetown. Later, Greenleaf and Mary Ann's son, James
Bartholomew Fisk married Mary Martha Rachel Euphemia "Feemie," Carothers, daughter of Col. Samuel
Carothers of Georgetown. Fisk's sister-in-law, Lizzie Carothers Weiss, saved the university in 1937, when it
became destitute, by endowing it with $160,000 at her death. Lizzie, a lifelong Methodist, had graduated from
Southwestern. She stipulated that the college be reorganized on a better financial footing, but she literally saved
the college from extinction. Mary Ann and Greenleaf had seven children together. Mary Ann died in 1853 and
is buried in the Fisk-Cashion Historic Cemetery in Williamson County.[1] Greenleaf Fisk then married Mary
Ann's sister, Margaret Jane Manlove (born in 1823) on January 20, 1855 in Williamson County, Texas.
Margaret died in 1855 several days following the birth of a child (this baby died about two weeks later). Both
Margaret Jane and the baby are also buried in the Fisk-Cashion Cemetery in Williamson County. On May 8,
1857 in Williamson County Texas, Mary Piper Hawkins became the third wife of Greenleaf Fisk, and they had
eight children together.[12] The third Mrs. Fisk died in 1905 and is buried at Greenleaf Cemetery in
Brownwood, Texas next to her husband.[4]

Greenleaf Fisk died on January 26, 1888, and is buried at Greenleaf Cemetery in Brownwood, Texas.[24] At his
death his family gave land for the establishment of Daniel Baker College. One of Fisk's daughters was one of
the first female students there. Later, the Baptist College, Howard Payne College, merged with Daniel Baker
College and is today known as Howard Payne University. Its main building is located on Fisk Street in
Brownwood. The day of Greenleaf Fisk's funeral at the First Presbyterian Church of Brownwood, the entire
town shut down in his honor.[11] Two memorial cenotaphs for Greenleaf Fisk and his first wife Mary Ann
Manlove can be found side by side at Texas State Cemetery. Greenleaf's memorial was dedicated by the Fisk
family on April 26, 2003, whereas Mary Ann's memorial was dedicated in 2009.[25][26]

References
1. Mary Manlove Fisk(https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-b
in/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54434082)at Find a Grave
2. James Bartholomew Fisk(https://www.findagrave.co
m/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=32344598)at Find a
Grave
3. Ann Elizabeth Fisk (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-b
in/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=16570921)at Find a Grave
4. Mary Pipers Hawkins Fisk(https://www.findagrave.co
m/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=24938293)at Find a
Grave
5. Greenleaf Fisk Jr (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/
fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=24899857)at Find a Grave
6. Cisero Fisk (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg
i?page=gr&GRid=24881291)at Find a Grave
7. Emma Fisk (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg
i?page=gr&GRid=9128118) at Find a Grave
8. Hosea Fisk (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg
i?page=gr&GRid=24881132) at Find a Grave
9. Mattie Fisk (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg
i?page=gr&GRid=24897975)at Find a Grave
10. "THC-Tx Home of Greenleaf Fisk"(http://atlas.thc.stat
e.tx.us/viewform.asp?atlas_num=5049002273&site_na
me=Fisk,+Greenleaf&class=5000). Recorded Texas
Historic Landmark. Texas State Historical
Commission. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
11. Laughlin, Charlotte."TSHA Greenleaf Fisk"(http://w
ww.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffi25).
Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical
Association. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
12. Banks, Herbert C (2001).Daughters of the Republic of
Texas Patriot Ancestor Album. Turner Pub Co. p. 51.
ISBN 978-1-56311-641-4.
13. Cutrer, Thomas W. "Jesse Billingsley" (http://www.tsh
aonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbi10). Handbook
of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.
Retrieved 18 February 2011.
14. Moore, Stephen L (2004).Eighteen Minutes: The
Battle of San Jacinto and the Texas Independence
Campaign. Republic of Texas. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-
58907-009-7.
 15. "Huling Marcus Survey grant"(http://www.glo.texas.g
ov/cf/land-grant-search/landgrants.cfm?
intID=103942). Texas General Land Office. Retrieved
18 February 2011.
16. "E.D. Prewitt Survey grant"(http://www.glo.texas.gov/
cf/land-grant-search/landgrants.cfm?intID=104280) .
Texas General Land Office. Retrieved 18 February
2011.
17. "John Kellogg grant"(http://www.glo.texas.gov/cf/land
-grant-search/landgrants.cfm?intID=104115). Texas
General Land Office. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
18. "H. Upchurch grant"(http://www.glo.texas.gov/cf/land
-grant-search/landgrants.cfm?intID=104464) . Texas
General Land Office. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
19. "Taylor Smith grant" (http://www.glo.texas.gov/cf/land
-grant-search/landgrants.cfm?intID=104360) . Texas
General Land Office. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
20. "William S. Mitchell grant"(http://www.glo.texas.gov/
cf/land-grant-search/landgrants.cfm?intID=104169) .
Texas General Land Office. Retrieved 18 February
2011.
21. "Juan Armendaris grant"(http://www.glo.texas.gov/cf/l
and-grant-search/landgrants.cfm?intID=104543) . Texas
General Land Office. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
22. Aston, B.W; Taylor, Ira Donathon (1997).Along the
Texas Forts Trail. University of North Texas Press;.
p. 120. ISBN 978-1-57441-035-8.
23. Odintz, Mark. "Brownwood, Texas" (http://www.tshao
nline.org/handbook/online/articles/heb13). Handbook
of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.
Retrieved 18 February 2011.
24. Greenleaf Fisk (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f
g.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5464081)at Find a Grave
25. "Centotaph Greenleaf Fisk"(http://www.cemetery.stat
e.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?pers_id=9110). Texas State
Cemetery. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
26. "Centotaph Mary Ann Manlove Fisk"(http://www.cem
etery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?pers_id=11405).
Texas State Cemetery. Retrieved 18 February 2011.

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Categories: 1807 births 1888 deaths People from Bastrop County, Texas
People from Brown County, Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks People from Albany, New York
City founders Texas local politicians Hanover College alumni Lane Theological Seminary alumni
19th-century American politicians

This page was last edited on 10 May 2016, at 18:56.

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