CAMERON, Texas (AP) — The settlement of Port Sullivan was one of
many Texas villages that dried up and blew away into the
chronicles of the Lone Star State's heritage. It was added to
historical marker lists and ghost town rosters, yet the 19th
century settlement in east Milam County claims important ties to
some Utah families and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. In 1854, the Mormon church dispatched elder Seth M.
Blair on a mission trip to the outpost near the confluence of
the Little and Brazos rivers. Blair preached the Mormon doctrine
and welcomed 50 new converts into the faith, using the Brazos
River for baptisms. Blair also persuaded his newly acquired
flock to make their homes in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory.
Blair, an attorney, veteran of the Texas War for Independence
and celebrated figure in Utah history, was a respected leader in
his church and friend of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints President Brigham Young. Blair led his party of
saints out of Port Sullivan on M