Mary Morton Huff
History of Fort Bend County by Clarence R. Wharton. Mr. Wharton on page page 124 says; George Huff was one of the Three Hundred and his League, as we have seen, was on the Bernard. He died prior to 1850 and his son, W. P. Huff married the daughter of William Morton.
In 1850 Mary Huff, who gave her age as sixty, and and Ellen, fifteen; George, ten; Mary, thirteen; Lucinda, nine; William, five; Martha Ann, one; {all these children born in Texas}, were living together in Richmond, in reduced circumstances. [If these children survived they would be joined by Laura Ann Perry as decedents of the Morton family.]
William P. Huff was then in California. In 1846 the gold rush was on and a party had beem organized from Fort Bend. It included Andrew Jackson Roark, Gilbert R. Brush, Wyly Martin, Jones and others, and Huff, who had never accomplished anything for himself or his family, wanted to try his fortune in California. James Knight was on the point of going, but the approaching marriage of his daughter interfered and he decided to grubsteak Huff. On the 29th of March, 1849 they made a solum contract which they placed of record, in which is was recited that: "Huff being desirous of visiting California and not having the money or means to do so and having a large and helpless family to support during his absence, James Knight has agreed and binds himself and his heirs, administrators and execuors that he will support Huffs's family in a decent manor with provisions and clothing and pay for the schooling of Ellen, Mary Louisa and George, Jr. during the absence of Huff in California. He is to furnish Huff $600 to purchase an outfit for the trip. In return for all these ample considerations Huff agrees that Knight shall have one-half of all the lands, gold and silver that he acquires on his trip to California."
The next year Knight and his colored boy, Bill Moore, went on a trip to california. Wheather he went to check up on Huff we do not know, but we do Huff was soon back in Fort Bend as impecunious as ever. At the close of the war in 1865 he was one of the very few men in the County who had no war record to prevent his holding office under the Carpet Bag regime, and he was for a long time District Clerk.
[pg128] Nancy Morton, mother of Mary, is listed as sixty nine in 1850. Reasoning tells me Mary is not sixty in 1850 as stated on page 125, or nine years younger than her mother with 15 year old daughter and a one year old child.
By early 1836, the estate of William Morton had been partitioned, and the family was living on the Morton League east of the river. During the Texas Revolution, on February 21, 1836, Mrs Nancy Morton, the widow of William Morton, sold the Morton Labor on the west bank of the Brazos River to Robert Eden Handy and William Lusk. On November 8, 1837, the earliest sales of lots in the City of Richmond were made. The first purchaser was Mrs Mary Huff, a daughter of William and Nancy Morton; her purchase was Lot #12, Block #96 for the purchase price 'unknown' and deed record 'C-64'. She purchased the first lot sold in the City of Richmond on land that once belonged to her dad. Research has not revealed why she selected lot #12 for her home. If she wanted to, she could have watched the river traffic from her front porch. This location was on a high bluff of the river, she did not have to concern herself with flooding. Lot #12 remained in the Huff family until 1876 when the heirs sold it for $65.00 to Poebe Newell "together with the hereitaments and appurtenances". After sixty years the old house must have been in bad shape because Phoebe borrowed $125.00 from Alex Kerr for the purpose of putting up a new dwelling. Phoebe Newell was a former slave and was referred to as a "freed woman of color".