Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Emily Austin Perry


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was snow keep. I'd say not a snowball's chance in Brownsville, but it actually snowed there a year or two ago. The Bushranger One ping only 09:57, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Emily Austin Perry

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Much as I have read and reread this article I can see no reason for the subject passing WP:Notability; plenty of nearly met and third cousin of notables but the article presents no acts of hers out of the ordinary for a landed gentrywoman of the time. Fine ( and well-written) for a genealogical site but not for Wikipedia Crusoe8181 (talk) 08:36, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Crusoe8181, Emily Austin Perry has a fully published biography written by Light T. Cummings, the Texas State Historian. Emily Austin Perry did far more than own land. Emily influenced and interacted with many famous people and, in Texas, is herself famous too. This was not just an article about just another landowner. This is an article about a famous pioneer woman who greatly built Texas at a time when women still needed men's signatures on contracts. Deleting this article would retroactively discriminate against this women rather than recognize her achievements. Emily Austin Perry was a truly notable figure. My guess is that you may not be from the US or from TX, and that perhaps you never heard of this woman-- whose home and grave is itself an official Texas State Historical Site. It also seems like you are missing the forest for the trees of this article. Perry was one of the largest Texas individual landholders and irrefutably the wealthiest woman in Texas.[17] She was actively involved in management of the Austin estate, including investments and land,[28]:164-5, 196-7 actively involved in a time where male signatures were still required on contracts and women could not vote.[36] [edit]Support of land planning, railroads, and industry Perry was very involved in the urban planning and settling land. For example, she was one of the founders of the San Luis Company, which managed the development of San Luis, including the initial sale of 450 lots, development of streets, building a bridge, and construction of a lighthouse.[28]:177 Perry raised capital and invested in the first attempt[28]:176 to build a railroad in Texas: The Brazos and Galveston Railroad Company, chartered by the Congress of the Republic of Texas, on May 24, 1838.[28]:176[37] The rail was initially to go from Galveston Bay to the Brazos River, and later plans were for the rail to go from San Luis Island instead of Galveston Bay.[28]:176[38] She was the largest shareholder of the first railroad company in Texas.[17] Perry was at the helm of the development and planning of San Luis. Perry not only owned the league of land which contained Dollar Point, she also managed the development of the town of Austinia, located within that league.[37] Austinia is known in the present day as Texas City. Perry loaned money to Gail Borden (as in the founder/pioneer of Borden Milk Products) to buy his first herd of cows.[17] [edit]Support of religion Perry played a key role in founding the first Episcopal Church in Texas. In 1848, she donated to a visitor to Peach Point, Episcopal Bishop George Washington Freeman of Arkansas, in order to help launch the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.[28]:201 In addition, she paid to underwrite Leonidas Polk's trip to Texas from Louisiana.[28]:201 Polk was the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and later served as a General in the American Civil War, ultimately having Fort Polk named in his honor. Perry also donated the land on which the Union Church Building was originally built; this one structure served as a prayer center for Methodists, the Episcopalians, and the Presbyterians.[39] [edit]Support of education Perry paid Thomas J. Pilgrim to teach her children;[28]:115[40] Pilgrim started the all-boys' school, Austin Academy,[41] in 1829, which was the first school in Texas. Austin Academy had about 40 students.[41] Perry deeded 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) of land for the support and founding of Austin College.[28]:184 In addition, she directed monies owed by the State of Texas to the Austin estate to Austin College. Perry agreed to support her family friend and Austin College Founder Reverend Daniel Baker (who had been Pastor of the Washington, DC Presbyterian church attended by Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams); she supported Baker in his pursuit of expanding religious foundations and education in Texas.[28]:183 Ironically, some of the land provided by Perry to support Austin College was later built on by a different academic institution: Sam Houston State University. (The irony here is the friendly rivalry between Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston). Please remove your protest of this article. Thank you.Bull Market 13:40, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Speedy Keep - I can't tell you how much I hate this challenge, but I'll try. This is the second worst of the year, following the challenge of Polyester... ONE: This is a historical figure, not a contemporary BLP of somebody on the make. This is worthy of note from the outset — a pre-internet figure. TWO: This is not a few throwaway lines, this is a serious piece of work, and well-footnoted. This also is worthy of note before the challenge ever should have been launched. THREE: There are multiple, independent, substantial published sources showing in the piece. FN1 is currently 404 on the net, but it is presumed to exist. That's the Sherman-Denison [TX] Herald-Democrat. FN2 is the Austin College magazine. That's TWO good sources. FN28 is a university press BIOGRAPHY of the subject. We're done!!! Jesus, how about a little common sense and at least a modest attention to WP:BEFORE?!?!? A big, fat, slimy trout for this nomination...  Carrite (talk) 15:52, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Re: "...the article presents no acts of hers out of the ordinary for a landed gentrywoman of the time..." We're not here to judge the merit or importance of acts. This is about whether a topic is notable in wikipedia terms and thereby worthy of encyclopedic biography, which is almost entirely related to whether an article topic is a subject of coverage in multiple published sources elsewhere. This one is WAAAAAAAY over the bar for that. Carrite (talk) 15:57, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Keep We get quite a few articles posted about early immigrants, about whom little can be said other than that they sailed west, or went west, built a farm, co-founded Bloggsville (pop 323) and died. Interesting in a minor way, but not the stuff of encyclopaedias. (Unless someone starts a SettlerPedia to list all that can be listed. An idea for someone to pick up on...) Emily here isn't one of those little known pioneers. A miserable looking beggar in that picture, but a lot of Victorians were, in front of the camera. (Well, you had to keep still for so long. You'd never get pics of us, never mind today's kids, if we had to. That hair style doesn't help, either.) But quite a character - and in her own right, which was unusual for the time. Looks to have had quite an influence on things. Plenty of references. Peridon (talk) 16:25, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Keep- Texas Historical Commission sesquicentennial marker here. Dru of Id (talk) 16:50, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Keep - As per earlier comments. --Kristjan Wager (talk) 21:23, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Texas-related deletion discussions.  • Gene93k (talk) 23:06, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Businesspeople-related deletion discussions.  • Gene93k (talk) 23:07, 1 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Speedy Keep and slack jaw. With it being April Fool's Day, I suppose an AfD for Earth for "using only local sources with intimate ties to the subject" is due up any minute. - Dravecky (talk) 00:12, 2 April 2012 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.