...he first ironclad ever built. Captain Austin was a Texan, a relative of Stephen F. Austin, and his family resides to-day in Houston at No. 2712 Fannin street. But for the success of this vessel the Merrimac would never have been built, and Ericson would never have submitted his plans for the cheese box on a raft. The first ironclad, the Enoch Train, a towboat on the Mississippi river, was purchased ...