The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 21, Number 1, November 1985 Page: 59
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HENRY MILLARD, FORGOTTEN TEXIAN
Millard's family was not in the country with him, but two of Millard's friends
testified that he had two sons in the United States, whom he planned to
bring to Texas as soon as he could find the means to educate them
properly. Also, they argued, Millard's servants in Beaumont (Letitia Inge
and Philip Evans) were constituted a part of his family. On March 29, 1838,
Millard was finally issued a certificate for one league and one labor of
land.62 On paper, he prospered.
Millard did not neglect his Masonic affiliations. In 1837 he was invited
to become a charter member of the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas,
along with his friends Sam Houston, Anson Jones, and Thomas J. Rusk
- a prestigious group. In 1840 "the Right Worthy Brother Henry Millard"
was elected Grand Secretary of the Lodge, serving through part of 1841.63
In the meantime, Millard was joined in Beaumont by several members
of his family. His brother Hosmore came in 1839, accompanied by their
mother, Nancy, and their younger sister, also named Nancy.(Their father,
Josiah, is presumed to have died by this time.) Both young Millards soon
put down roots; on June 2, 1840, in the house of her older brother, "Henry
Millard Esq.," Nancy married an Irishman named George Bryan (later
changed back to the original "O'Brien" by his son, George W. O'Brien),
and on March 18, 1841, Hosmore married Mary Bryan, a daughter (by a
much earlier marriage) of that same George Bryan. Another brother, Dar-
court Josiah Otho Millard, came to Beaumont as a married man and
served as one of Beaumont's first physicians.64
Henry Millard, the senior member of the clan in Beaumont (Alfred,
the oldest brother, still lived in Louisiana), continued to take an active role
in the little community. In July of 1840, he was elected to the Board of
Aldermen of the town of Beaumont and even served a time as Justice of
the Peace, performing several marriages during his term of office.65 In spite
of these roots, however, his restless ambition began to prod him. In the
autumn of 1839, desiring to return to army life, he had run again for Major-
62Gifford White, First Settlers of Jefferson County, Texas (St. Louis, Missouri: Ingmire
Publications, 1984), p. 9.
63Records of the Grand Lodge of Texas, Waco, Texas.
64lnterview with Laura Millard Watson, Beaumont Enterprise, May 25, 1919.
65Frederick Eugene Willcox, "Records of the Hon. the Board of Aldermen of the Town of
Beaumont, Begun August 8, 1840," Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, VIII (November,
1972), 62-65. Some Texas Records: Liberty, Polk, Jefferson County, Clayton Genealogical Library,
Houston, Texas.Nov. 1985]
59
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Texas Gulf Historical Society. The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 21, Number 1, November 1985, periodical, November 1985; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1433656/m1/61/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Gulf Historical Society.