From Mistress of Manifest Destiny
In January 1838, Jane registered the Waco, Matagorda, and headright claims that totaled 83,272 acres.
The Texas Land Board and Matagorda County Commissioners agreed that her claims were valid, but others had claimed the same land.
By late November, rumors of the Burr scandal had spread to Matagorda and Jane’s rivals used the gossip to their advantage.
A Mississippi faction with claims to her Matagorda land refused her entry to a public ball.
They claimed that she was unfit for respectable society. The incident almost caused a duel when Ira R. Lewis, William Cazneau, and Charles DeMorse, later editor of the Clarksville Northern Standard, defended Jane’s honor and challenged the adversaries.
The newspaper reported that at a public meeting it was decided that the circumstance did not merit such drastic action.
In January 1839, McManus sold her father’s city lots and returned to New York.