Bridget Nancaro was born around 1783 as a mulatto slave, a person born to one African American and one white parent. Her first record in Spanish Louisiana is a Natchitoches Catholic baptism dated August 3, 1800, indicating her as a godparent. When France reclaimed Louisiana in 1802, she then lived in Colonial France until the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803. On April 18, 1807, John Nancarrow and a man named Linton purchased Bridget from Edward Murphy. At some point, Nancarrow obtained full ownership of Bridget, and between 1810 and 1813, he and Bridget relocated to Nacogdoches in Spanish Texas. On August 7, 1813, eleven days before the Battle of the Medina, which was part of the Mexican War for Independence, Nancarrow freed Bridget. She may have been the last known slave to be legally freed in Spanish Texas by an owner. As a free African American, Bridget was able to exercise the same rights as all freed people. She owned various pieces of property and was involved in multiple trade and sale transactions; had a cattle brand in her name; testified as a witness in at least two different court cases; and filed lawsuits in the Republic of Texas. Living in Nacogdoches when she did, Bridget also was witness to many historical events, including the Fredonia Rebellion in 1826, the Battle of Nacogdoches in 1832, the Texas Revolution in 1836, the Cordova Rebellion in 1838 and the Statehood of Texas in 1846. A final document of Bridget’s life indicates that she was buried in the Catholic section of the Oak Grove Cemetery in Nacogdoches on March 18, 1857. She lived most of her life as a free woman. Bridget’s unique life as a slave and a free woman helps tell the story of Texas from Spanish and French colonialism until it joined the Union on February 16, 1846. This marker is located at her original homesite. (2020)