FANNIN, MINERVA J. (1832 ~1893) Minerva J. Fannin, daughter of Colonel James Walker and Minerva Fort Fannin, was born in 1832 in Columbus, Georgia. Born mentally handicapped, Minerva lived with her family until after her mother's death in 1837 or 1838.

After Minerva Fort's death, Minerva J., and her older sister, Missouri Pinckney, lived with Thomas F. McKinney, who was one of Stephen F. Austin's original settlers. While living with McKinney, Missouri died of yellow fever on November 14, 1847, and was buried at the Trinity Episcopal Cemetery in the Old City Cemetery in Galveston. Minerva lived with the McKinney's until about age 31, when she was moved to the Austin Lunatic Asylum, now the Austin State Hospital, by a special act of the legislature.

Minerva was never an official inmate of the Asylum. McKinney was still her legal guardian, and had to pay an annuity that would fully cover all costs. Minerva stayed at the Asylum until her death, at age 63, on July 27, 1893. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas took it upon themselves to have Minerva buried in the Texas State Cemetery.

Information taken from Austin State Hospital Records, McKinney Falls State Park Website, http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/mckinney/mckinney.htm#history, and "McKinney Falls: The Ranch Home of Thomas F. McKinney, Pioneer Texas Entrepreneur," by Margaret Swett Henson, Gammel's Law of Texas, and obituary Rosebud News (Rosebud, Texas), Friday, August 11, 1893.