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The Santa Anna townsite was platted in 1835 by surveyor and land speculator David Brown of San Augustine County. It became the center of political and military activities for the area west of the Neches River to the present western boundary of Jefferson County, including southern Hardin County. Thomas Huling of Jasper and Henry Millard, later an officer in the Republic of Texas Army, owned a store in Santa Anna which they hired Joseph Pulsifer to manage. Pulsifer arrived on July 21, 1835, and in letters to his sister in Connecticut he recounted activities in this area before and after the Texas Revolution. His letters, a valuable written record of early Jefferson County history, referred to families living in the vicinity and the existence of two stores and a school building in Santa Anna. Following the Texas Revolution the boundary of Jefferson County was extended westward. The town of Beaumont, founded by Henry Millard, Nancy Tevis, and Joseph Grigsby, and consisting of only three houses in April 1836, was organized and became county seat. The growth of Beaumont, absentee land ownership, and the death of town founder David Brown in 1847 led to the demise of Santa Anna. |
