Nicholas Washington Eastland (1803-1891) was born to Thomas Butler and Nancy Mosby Eastland in Woodford County, Kentucky. The family moved to Tennessee, where Eastland married Frances Bates Moore (1804-1849) in 1823. The couple eventually had seven children. In 1834, the Eastlands moved with Nicholas’ brother William Mosby Eastland and others to Fayette County, Texas, where Nicholas received a Mexican land grant in Stephen F. Austin’s colony. Eastland fought in numerous skirmishes against Native Americans, including the Comanche Indians, and served during the Texas Revolution under Albert C. Horton and James Fannin. Following the war, Eastland served as Chief Justice of Fayette County and clerk of the county land commission.
In 1845, the family moved to Bastrop County, where they built a plantation named "Paradise." In 1849, Frances died, and in 1864, Eastland married Nancy Harrington Lee, with whom he had eight children. From 1863 to 1865, Eastland represented the county in the Texas Legislature.
Sources:
Craft, Mrs. Thomas William.
McGuire, Jimmie Wynn, et al.
Composed of a volume of photocopies, the Nicholas W. Eastland Papers, 1803-1867, document the Eastland family history. The collection consists of Bible records for the Eastland family in Tennessee and Texas; an 1836 Mexican land grant for Nicholas Eastland in Stephen F. Austin’s colony; and a photograph of an unidentified man, possibly Eastland. Additionally, the collection contains several photocopies of beadwork taken from a Comanche Indian killed by Eastland near Austin, Texas.
This collection is open for research use.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s
Nicholas W. Eastland Papers, 1803-1867, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.