As San Jacinto Day, April 21, approaches it is interesting to reflect on the events of those days and the people who participated in them. Author Gregg J. Dimmick has written several books about that time. In his recent volume, “Sea of Mud: The Retreat of the Mexican Army After San Jacinto, An Archaeological Investigation,” he described the days that followed April 21, 1836 as they pertained to the Mexican Army. The author noted that General Vicente Filisola was second in command to Santa Anna when the Mexican leader was captured. Filisola was camped elsewhere, to the west and near the current community of Thompsons, near the Brazos in Fort Bend County. Thompsons got its name from a crossing and ferry that once was operated by a Thompson family there. Filisola’s forces were to serve as a rear guard for Santa Anna. The General had just been informed of Santa Anna’s defeat, though the whereabouts of Santa Anna were yet unknown. Filisola decided to gather his troops even further west near the current community of Kendleton, more than half the distance between Richmond and Wharton.
There were still thousands of Mexican troops in the area under several commanders, many times more than those involved in the San Jacinto battle. The forces under Filisola alone were numerous, amounting to around 2,500 soldiers with their wagons, mules and supplies along with another 1,500 women and children. They gathered on the property of Elizabeth Powell as they waited to receive further instructions from the Mexican government.
Relatively little is known about Mrs. Powell. She is sometimes associated with the Old 300 of Austin’s Colony. Although there is one family unit with the last name of Powell, they do not appear to be related to her in any way. Most likely, Mrs. Powell settled within the boundaries of the colony but was not an original colonist. She may have been a part of a second wave of Austin’s colonists.
In some biographical comments, Mrs. Powell was said to have come originally from Pennsylvania. By 1836 she was a widowed woman with five children. She is believed to have been born about 1800 and came to Fort Bend County around 1828 after having formerly been the operator of a boarding house in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mrs. Powell may have occasionally rented out part of her small Texas home to passersby from time to time.
When the above Mexican “occupation” took place, Mrs. Powell was probably not at her residence, having escaped with others during the weeks leading up to the San Jacinto clash. There was at least one account in which another person said that Mrs. Powell claimed to have been in residence during Filisola’s presence there, that she earlier witnessed Mexican troops pass by, including General Santa Anna.
Mr. Dimmick’s volume “General Vicente Filosola’s Analysis of José Urrea’s Military Diary” placed her residence on the bank of Gaujolata (Turkey Creek), one of the many streams that feed into the “San Bernardo” (San Bernard) River which finally empties into the Gulf near Cedar Lake in Matagorda County.
Filisola’s account described the small Powell house as made of wood with two rooms separated by a corridor or “dog trot” open space. It had a garden in the back with several jacales or mud huts that possibly functioned as housing, a kitchen or some other use. He further described the surroundings as including groves of oak trees. Filisola instructed his troops to set up there. Another author, attorney and Texas history authority Clarence R. Wharton, remarked in a 1936 series of centennial newspaper columns that the Powell house was the point at which Santa Anna and Almonte had reached some 10 days earlier before turning back to San Jacinto. He added that General Urrea also came to it before veering to the south towards Columbia only a day before the famous battle.
Filisola, having learned of Santa Anna’s defeat, called his officers together at Mrs. Powell’s to formulate their plans to withdraw and regroup while forces elsewhere serving under General Urrea were planning to go on the offensive. However, as Filisola’s troups were preparing to leave and cross the San Bernard River, a heavy rainstorm began. They were able to traverse the San Bernard but were prevented them by conditions from crossing the flooded West Bernard creek (or river) in the area above where the West Bernard joins the San Bernard. Filosola tried to find an alternate route but became unable to regroup into any kind of a force due to the aftereffects of the storm, the “sea of mud.” The author relates that Filisola had reported that they walked through mud up to their thighs.
During those same few days, Sam Houston was suffering from his wounded foot as he was writing his official account of the battle and dealing with Santa Anna, after the Mexican leader was captured. The Mexican troops reportedly left the Powell property on April 26 and burned the house to the ground as they were leaving.
Mrs. Powell eventually returned to her home site. No structure remains today, but she is believed to have rebuilt a home there. There are also references to Mrs. Powell petitioning for the reimbursement of her losses due to the destruction of her home, but there is no record that she collected on it.
There was rarely, if ever, any reference to the ethnicity of Elizabeth Powell until more recently. A newspaper article by Charles De Mangin in the June 14, 1995 issue of the Houston Chronicle reported the dedication of a historical marker at Powell Point School, sponsored by the Fort Bend Historical Commission and the Kendleton Heritage Society. It celebrated the Powell Point School and how it had served the city’s African-American community for more than 100 years. It stated that the school was named for Elizabeth Powell, and that she was a Haitian immigrant who settled in the area in 1831. It also noted area residents’ contention that she was the legendary Yellow Rose of Texas and added that she is buried somewhere in Kendleton, though the location of her grave was unknown. Kendleton itself was named for William E. Kendall who after emancipation was the law in Texas, sold land to formerly enslaved people for as little as 50 cents per acre.
An article by DSP Rosen in the September 30, 2003 issue of the Houston Chronicle also celebrates Mrs. Powell, noting that she helped more than 100 slaves gain freedom. It restated that her date of birth, date of death and maiden name was unknown and that her grave is on private property inaccessible to the public. It suggested the following biographical information on her, citing a historian by the name of Marjorie Adams. Mrs. Powell was of African-American descent. For some time she had fled to Mexico to escape slavery. She had married an African-American merchant named Joseph Powell who was injured between 1815 and 1817 in a shipwreck. They came to the area three miles from the current location of Kendleton in 1818 or 1819 where she cared for him until his death. It added that Santa Anna came to her home on his way to San Jacinto and that because of her background in Mexico she was able to converse with him. It added that Mrs. Powell had raised enough money to turn her residence into a stage and rest stop. She had aided slaves by putting out code words if it was not safe for them to stop and that she had tried to informally educate slaves on her property.
No portraits or other images of Mrs. Powell or any of her homes are known to exist. Historian Adams was quoted as calling Mrs. Powell “a hero without a face.”
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Sarah Reveley for introducing us to Mrs. Powell.
© 2026, all rights reserved.
Texas History Notebook 