If you were Jane Long would you return to Texas

Jane Long, a Texas heroine of the pioneer days, lost her father before her first birthday, her mother at age fifteen, married at age seventeen, became a mother at eighteen and was widowed at age twenty-four. During her brief seven-year marriage, she gave birth to three children, all girls, only one of whom survived to womanhood. Jane had no descendants to bear the name Long. She never remarried, although two famous Texans, Mirabeau B. Lamar and Sam Houston did propose marriage. Her own strength and courage sustained her through many trying times. Jane Long died at the age of eighty-two at Richmond, Texas.

Born on 23 Jul 1798 at Truman Place Plantation in Charles County, Maryland, Jane was the seventh daughter and tenth child of Captain William Mackall Wilkinson and wife Ann Herbert Dent. She was named for her maternal grandmother. In 1811, her widowed mother moved the family to Washington near Natchez and died there within two years. James Wilkinson and wife Ann Biddle became guardians of Jane. Though she called him "uncle", she was not his niece, but the daughter of a cousin. Jane lived in luxury, pampered by her guardians and had her own black slave girl, Kianatia, or "Kian" as Jane called her. Kian remained with Jane all of her life.

Jane Wilkinson's first and only love was Dr. James Long, a native of Virginia, the son of Isaac Long. James was born 1793 and as a child moved with his parents first to Kentucky, then to Rutherford County, Tennessee. During the War of 1812, he served as surgeon in Carroll's Brigade. The Battle of New Orleans was fought early in Jan 1815; Dr. Long, under command of Gen. Andrew Jackson, was in that battle. The Wilkinsons had opened their home in Natchez to a number of the wounded men and it was there that Jane met the handsome young doctor who was to become her husband. Long, having come to dress the wounds of the soldiers, was instantly attracted to the beautiful young lady he met on the staircase. This chance meeting led to a whirlwind romance, but when Jane let it be known that she intended to marry, the Wilkinsons strongly objected. Not one to be denied anything, Jane announced, "Under the laws of the state of Mississippi, I have a right to name my own guardian and I shall name one who will not object - Dr. Long!" That's exactly what she did and married him on 14 May 1815.