John Joseph Linn, born in Ireland on October 25, 1798, was a merchant, soldier, statesman, and historian who became the last alcalde and first mayor of Victoria. He served as a member of the General Council of the Provisional Government of Texas in 1835 and as a member of the first Congress of Texas. He died here in 1885. His homesite was a place where members of the New Orleans Greys and the Alabama Red Rovers were entertained while on their way to Goliad to join Colonel Fannin's ill-fated command, and where the women of Victoria moulded bullets for the army.