Esther S. Mann

Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales

Biography

Esther Mann was born Esther Steele Baskin in Abbeville District, South Carolina on 27 May 1818.  She was the daughter of Thomas Stuart Baskin and Mary Noble.  According to papers prepared by Raymond Martin Bell in Washington, Pennsylvania in 1975, the name Baskin had multiple origins in England and County Donegal, Ireland.  The earliest record of the Baskin family in America is found in 1732 where William Baskin first appears on a tax list of East Nottingham Twp, Chester Co., PA.  William had come to America from Ireland about 1731.  He went to Paxton about 1737.  In 1840 John Pickens told the Orange Co. VA court that William Baskin had landed at Philadelphia and had settled in Virginia.  This William Baskin is the great-grandfather of Esther Baskin-Mann.  This Baskin patriarch was born in Ireland about 1705 and married there to Mary Stuart.  After their brief stay in Pennsylvania and then Augusta County, Virginia the family settled in Abbeville County, South Carolina in 1765.  Their son William Baskin, Jr. who was born 14 February 1737 is the grandfather of Esther.  William Jr. married 12 January 1769 to Ann Reid.  He died 9 April 1804, and Ann died 25 December 1747.  Among their 11 children was Thomas Stuart Baskin, the father of Esther.  Thomas S. Baskin was born 6 February 1782 in Abbeville County and died in 1837 in Lexington, Holmes County, Mississippi.  He had migrated to Greene County, Alabama and was married to Mary Noble on 21 January 1806.  Mary had been born in 1789 and died 1 February 1829 in Alabama.  Esther appears to have been their seventh child.  She reportedly met William Mann in Charleston and they were married 18 October 1836.  Malvina Moore in her memoirs says that her family came with the Baskin family to Corpus Christi about 1849 from Mississippi.  However, the birth places of the younger children of William and Esther (see for instance the 1850 Nueces County census, page 138A) indicate that they came to Texas about 1840 as son Walter is the last child listed as born in Mississippi.  His obituary in the Galveston Daily News of 11 July 1875 (page 1 col. 5) reports that he was born in Holmes County, Mississippi in December of 1838 and came to Corpus Christi in 1840.  Louisa Redmond Mann is listed as born in Texas 14 May 1842.  Esther's brother John Baskin formed a shipping business with Forbes Britton and William Mann, and in the early 1850s William Mann was considered the wealthiest merchant in Corpus Christi.  He had a large warehouse and wharf on the bay front of Corpus Christi Bay.  And at one time he also owned the sizable Casa Blanca Ranch west of the city.  However, he died suddenly in 1855, and Esther was left to administer his estate during the turbulent period of the Civil War and Reconstruction.  William and Esther had seven children who lived to maturity: Virginia, Walter, William, Louisa, John, Josephine, and Henry Kinney.  It was Henry Kinney who was appointed to administer the residue of the Mann estate after the death of his mother in Galveston on 15 June 1879.  According to his obit in the Caller of 8 December 1888 (page 4, col. 4) Henry Kinney Mann had been born in Corpus Christi 16 December 1848 and when to Europe for his education.  Studying in Paris, he joined a French company to fight during the Franco-Prussian War, and returned to Galveston after completing his education in civil engineering.  Because of trouble finding a job in that field, he studied law and practiced that profession in Galveston until his death.  Among the children of William and Esther those most notable for our local history are probably William, Walter, and Josephine.  Young William "Billy" Mann and Walter were both Confederates in the Civil War who had a part in the defense of Corpus Christi.  Billy was reportedly placed in charge of the few cannons the town owned to defend against the Federal boats and soldiers who came ashore in August of 1862.  According to his obituary Walter joined Capt. James A. Ware's company and was elected First Lieutenant.  As a member of Gen. Bee's staff he became a Lieutenant Colonel, and then was elected to Colonel of a regiment of cavalry in 1864.  They were also active in business with their "cousin" Walter Gresham (see obit of W. Mann from Galveston Daily News of 11 July 1875 page 1 col. 5).  Walter Gresham was a lawyer, congressional representative, and wealthy railroad executive.  He was the son of Edward Rev Gresham (22 September 1818 to 9 March 1873) and Isabella Mann (5 November 1818 to 23 August 1892).  He is probably best known, however, for building the house in Galveston that is most commonly referred to today as "the Bishop's Palace".  This was built between 1887 and 1892 and designed by noted architect N. J. Clayton and Company.  It withstood the 1900 hurricane with minimal damage.  His wife was his cousin Josephine Mann, the daughter of William and Esther Mann.  Gresham married her in October of 1868, and they had nine children during their years of marriage.  He died in Washington, D. C. on November 6, 1920, and was buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Galveston.  Josephine Carey Mann-Gresham died 23 February 1933.  When Esther Mann died in Galveston on 15 June 1879, her remains were brought back to Corpus Christi to be buried next to her husband William in Old Bayview Cemetery.

Research and transcription: Michael A. Howell