Mary Phelps Austin was born on 30 October 1784 in
New Haven, Connecticut, to Elijah Austin (17511794) and Esther Phelps Austin. She grew up in a large family, which included three older brothers, three younger brothers, and a younger sister. One of her older brothers was
Henry Austin (Texas settler). Elijah Austin was a veteran of the American Revolution, joining the
Governor's Foot Guard Company on behalf of the American colonists. He was a merchant and a shipowner. At least one of his vessels delivered to his shop at the New Haven
wharf a shipment of
Chinese porcelain,
silk, spices, and
tea. Elijah died of yellow fever in 1794 before Mary's tenth birthday. In addition, one of Elijah's ships had crashed, and the loss was great enough to leave his estate insolvent. Timothy and Jennett Phelps adopted Mary shortly after Elijah's death. Timothy, Mary's maternal uncle, was a successful businessman, serving as a director for a bank and an insurance company. Jennett was just twenty-one years old when Mary came to live with them. Mary chose to remain in the home of her uncle and aunt even after her mother remarried about two years later. She attended local schools, with her greatest interests being literature, writing, and music. In 1804,
Stephen F. Austin moved from
Missouri Territory to live with the Phelpses; Mary's eleven-year-old cousin had grown up in the frontier west before his father sent him to New Haven for an education. Mary was engaged that year to
Horace Holley, a seminary student and aspiring minister, and they were married on 1 January 1805. == Activism ==