William Elliott: Irish Merchant and Pioneer in 19th Century America (1799–1847)
Published: 1952
Updated: September 12, 2019
William Elliott, merchant, was born in Ireland in 1799. He was apprenticed to a mercantile house in Dublin before he immigrated to America in 1820. He married Eleanor Connally in New Orleans in 1835, and they had three children. In 1836 he was interested in mining in Mexico and was a merchant in Matamoros. He may have been the William Elliott whom Adolphus Sterne reported as coming from San Antonio to Nacogdoches with $25,000 in specie in March 1839. In August 1839 Elliott moved to San Antonio and established a mercantile business in partnership with Edward Dwyer. In 1843 he joined other San Antonio citizens to petition the government for better protection of the frontier. He died in New Orleans on May 12, 1847, while on a buying trip for his business.
Bibliography:
Frederick Charles Chabot, With the Makers of San Antonio (Yanaguana Society Publications 4, San Antonio, 1937). Amelia W. Williams and Eugene C. Barker, eds., The Writings of Sam Houston, 1813–1863 (8 vols., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1938–43; rpt., Austin and New York: Pemberton Press, 1970).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Anonymous, “Elliott, William,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/elliott-william.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
FEL13
- 1952
- September 12, 2019
