Texana IV and V Sonnefeld visited the Texana monument outside the LNRA offices
Texanas visit county to research origin of name
by Kendrick Callies
(Posted 7/22/2010)
There’s nothing like coming home again. Even if coming home again means coming home for the very first time. Hoping to discover and understand the legacy of their name, the two Texanas – the fourth and fifth generation of Texana Jayne – undertook a 14-hour, 1,000 mile journey from Tucson, Ariz. to find out more information on the origination of their unusual name.
“My mom, Texana Jayne III, did a lot of research on our name but she passed away young and unexpectedly before getting to write anything down,” said Texana IV. “So much of what I know now is from word of mouth from my mom and other relatives.”
Founded in 1834 by Dr. F. F. Wells, a friend of Stephen F. Austin, the town of Texana was the county seat of Jackson County from 1835-1883. According to the Handbook of Texas Online, the village was originally named Santa Anna after Antonio López de Santa Anna, at the time a popular Mexican liberal, soldier, and politician. In 1835, however, after Santa Anna had proven himself an enemy of republican government, the residents of the settlement voted to change the name to Texana. By 1884 however, Texana became a virtual ghost town after the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway bypassed the settlement causing a sharp decline in activity and prompting voters to elect Edna as the new county seat...
