FIRST -- Librarian of the Houston Lyceum, Houston TX
N 29° 44.488 W 095° 24.288
15R E 267428 N 3292560
Margaret Hadley Foster was the first librarian of the Houston Lyceum. She is descendant of Obedience Smith (January 21, 1771 - March 1, 1847), a Republic of Texas pioneer
Waymark Code: WMY3BJ
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/12/2018
Views: 0
This sign of history was placed by the Winlow Place Civic Club in honor of Obedience Smith (January 21, 1771 - March 1, 1847) -- Houston. The sign is located on the campus of Lanier Middle School, at the corner of Woodhead street and Harold Street, 2 blocks south of Westheimer Road in the Neartown area of Houston.
The sign lists the noted and accomplished descendants of Obedience Smith, one of whom is Margaret Hadley Foster, was the first librarian of the Houston Lyceum, the precursor to the Houston Public Library.
The sign reads as follows:
"[Winlow Place logo]
Obedience Smith
(January 21, 1771 - March 1, 1847)
Obedience Smith was a pioneer of 3 American frontiers: Kentucky, Mississippi, and Texas. Newly widowed, she arrived in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas from Jackson, Mississippi just weeks before the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836. She had followed her son, Colonel Benjamin Fort Smith (1796-1841), Adjutant to General Sam Houston.
She received a land grant from the Republic of Texas in 1838 and chose 3,368 acres (5.26 square miles) from the league and the labor to commence in downtown Houston near Lamar and Louisiana, extend west to River Oaks, south to Rice University, northeast to Wheeler at Crawford, and north to the place of beginning. Thus, "out of the Obedience Smith survey" appears on thousands of inner-city titles now worth billions of dollars.
Obedience was the daughter of Elias Fort, leading deacon of the Particular Baptist churches in Edgecombe County, North Carolina and later in Robertson County, Tennessee. Her husband was Major David Smith (1753-1835), a Revolutionary war patriot, Indian fighter, and lumber mill owner in the Natchez and Cumberland districts. She had eleven children, only for surviving her.
She was a founder of the First Baptist Church of Houston in 1841, and matriarch of the families of judges John W. N. A. Smith and T. B. J. Hadley; Hiram George Runnels, Mississippi Governor and later Texas State Senator; Colonels Benjamin Franklin Terry and Thomas Saltus Lubbock of Civil War fame; Justice David Smith Terry, the "dueling judge" of California; Aurelia (Hadley) Mohl, suffragist and founder of the Texas Women's Press Association; Margaret (Hadley) Foster, first librarian of the Houston Lyceum, forerunner of the Houston Public Library; and Mabel (Franklin) Smith-Astin, a founder of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Several Houston streets in 3 Texas counties are named for these family members.
Marker is the property of the Winlow Place Civic Club"
FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1848
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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