1819 Virginia—1870 Austin, Texas
Assembled information by Karen B, Longley
Maria Simms Swisher was a leading citizen of early Austin. She married into the prominent Swisher family. The population at that time was less than 600 as the city struggled to maintain its position as capital. The city’s fortunes improved, and Maria lived in Austin until her death in 1870. By that time the population was 4,500. Maria lived through the Mexican War, the annexation of Texas by the United States, and the Civil War. She saw the construction of the 1853 Texas Capitol building, the establishment of state schools for the deaf and blind, and the erection of the Governor’s Mansion and other government buildings.
Maria Simms was born in Virginia to Matthew F. Simms and Polly (Mary) Mann Simms She was the youngest -four girls and one boy, born between 1801 and 1819. By 1840, the Simms family lived in Nacogdoches, Texas. Matthew Sims died in Harrison County, Texas in 1842, when Maria was twenty-four. Maria’s mother died three years later in Washington County, Texas. (The Simms name gradually evolved through time from Symes to Simms to Sims.)
In 1844, Maria married John Milton Swisher (1819 Tennessee–1891 Austin, Texas). John was the son of a distinguished early Texas pioneer family. Maria's father-in-law was Capt. James Gibson Swisher. In 1833, James and his brother Harvey left Tennessee and brought their families to Texas. Capt. James Swisher drafted and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, and he was involved in the Runaway Scrape and military action during the Texas Revolution. His older son, John Milton, was only 16 when he joined the Texas forces at the Battle of San Jacinto, making him the youngest soldier on the battlefield. The Swisher family lived in Robertson Colony (Milam County) and later Washington County before moving to Austin. Capt. James Swisher was a well-respected figure in Austin. He and his wife also owned and ran a hotel and operated a ferry across the Colorado River. James, his wife Elizabeth, and two of their children are buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Section 4, Lot 127.
Maria and John lived in Austin and owned farm land south of the Colorado River. In 1853, John employed Abner Cook to build an elegant home on the 400 block of San Antonio Street. It is now called the Swisher-Scott Home, and it has been relocated and restored as a historical property. The household included Maria and John, Maria’s widowed sister Martha, and Maria’s two children. It was also home to Maria’s babies whose lives were brief. Maria must have found her life difficult with the loss of her children. Still, she had the comfort of kinfolk close by, both her own family and her in-laws. Her husband did well in Austin. He became the Chief Auditor of the Texas Treasury Department. In 1846, he was elected colonel of the First Regiment of Thomas Green’s Brigade of the Texas militia. Col. Swisher was also a banker, businessman and real estate developer, and he was known for building the Austin Street Railway. In the 1860 Census, he listed his occupation as exchange broker, and his personal estate at $5,000 and his real estate at $35,000. Much of the Swisher land was developed into the Travis Heights neighborhood after the construction of the 1876 bridge across the Colorado River. Many of the street names in the Boudin neighborhood were named for Swisher family members.
Maria died on April 13, 1870, of heart disease. She was 51 years old. Maria was buried at Oakwood Cemetery, Section 1, Lot 28, with her children. There is no gravestone for Maria, but there is a tall upright limestone marker with the names and dates of four of the Swisher daughters who died in infancy. The youngest baby, Jeannie, does not have a marker. Col. Swisher remarried twice, and had two more children with his second wife, Helen A. “Nellie” Nickerson Swisher. Helen died after the birth of her second child and is also buried in Oakwood. She has no marker. The third Swisher wife is buried in California. Col. Swisher has a tall upright marker in Lot 28, which notes his information and honors.
Maria’s Children: Maria’s son John Milton Jr. (1852 Austin, Texas–1900 Houston, Texas) moved to the Texas coast. In 1864, Maria’s daughter Mary Virginia (1845 Austin, Texas–1914 San Antonio, Texas) married Lieut. Thomas Lark Buckner, a clerk in the Bandara School District