The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 219

                                
David Gouverneur Burnet

Feeling that his enterprise had failed, Burnet once again
turned to making plans for the future. He was now forty-two
years old, and with the money derived from the sale of his
contract, he planned to do several things; his chief purpose,
however, was to set up a household of his own and to establish
himself financially in Texas.
On Wednesday, December 8, 1830, David G. Burnet and
Hannah Este were married at Morristown, New Jersey. The
wedding took place at the house of Louis Mills, a brother-in-
law of the bride, and the ceremony was performed by the
Reverend Albert Chester, of the Presbyterian Church. The
bride was an attractive young woman, thirty years of age,
and loved by all who knew her.1
The couple spent their honeymoon in New York City and com-
pleted plans for an immediate return to Texas. They bought
furnishings for their new home, a fifteen horsepower steam
engine, and other things necessary to the setting up of a saw-
mill. Burnet, in conjunction with Captain Norman Hurd, char-
tered the boat Call to carry them and their equipment to the
Mexican country, and arrangements were made for a number
of assistants to go with them to aid in the erection and operation
of the mill.
The long trip from New York started in the early part of
1831. The voyage was pleasant and smooth enough until the
boat was caught in a storm nearing Galveston Bay. At the
entrance of the harbor the boat grounded on the bar at Point
Bolivar. All efforts to break it clear failed until a part of the
cargo was thrown overboard to lighten its load. Practically all
of Burnet's furniture, as well as the steam boiler, the bricks
for the foundation, and other articles had to be thrown over
in order to save the engine. Mrs. Burnet made her first landing
in Texas wading through the rough waters of the Gulf.'2
This was a hard blow to the Burnets, but they erected a
makeshift camp on the shore and spent several days in it. After
getting the boat free and making a safe anchorage near Gal-
veston Island, Burnet made haste to find a location for the
sawmill. In the latter part of August the mill was located on
what is now called Burnet's Bay, near the San Jacinto River
"The Burnet Bible, Archives, University of Texas.
"Galveston in Early Days (Galveston, 1889); Mrs. Charles Stephenson,
"Honeymoon Boat to Texas," Dallas News, December 4, 1927.

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