Sarah Ann Lillie Hardinge

Birth

Mar. 23, 1824 (Boston, Massachusetts)
Death

Oct. 13, 1913 (Brooklyn, New York)

New Englander turned Texas pioneer, Sarah Ann Lillie Hardinge set sail from New York City on January 29, 1852, and arrived in Galveston 29 days later. With little but a hand-colored map, Sarah and her new husband, George, intended to claim land inherited from Sarah’s late brother. Their plan failed, and over the course of four years, Sarah lived in Austin, Seguin, and San Antonio, giving birth to three boys and managing her family’s affairs before her husband’s financial misdealing forced the family to return to New England.

Throughout her travels, Sarah documented her life in Texas with written accounts in her journal and jewellike watercolors. Nineteen of her paintings are part of the Museum’s watercolor collection, along with one of her journals, a land map, and art supplies. Depicting landscapes and town views, her pictures showcase Hardinge’s achievements as an artist, and they offer an invaluable record of settler-colonial life in Central Texas.