USA > Texas > History of Texas : from 1685 to 1892, volume 1 > Part 10
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Exter and Wilson, February 23, 1828, for one hundred families. None were introduced.
James Power and James Hewitson (Irishmen), June 11, 1828, for two hundred families on Aransas Bay (Refugio).
John McMullen and Patrick McGloin ( Irishmen ), August 17, 1828, for two hundred families on the Nueces River ( San Patricio ).
Joseph Vehlein, November 17, 1828, for one hundred families.
Juan Dominguez, February 6, 1829, for two hundred families. None were introduced.
Don Lorenzo de Zavala, March 12, 1829, for five hundred families.
Don Martin de Leon, April 30, 1829, for an additional one hundred and fifty families.
Padilla and Chambers, February 12, 1830, for eight hun- dred families. None introduced.
General Vicente Filisola, October 15, 1831, for six hun- dred families. Came to naught.
Jose M. Raguela and John C. Beales, March 14, 1832, for two hundred families. Failed.
Juan Vicente Campos (representing a Mexican company ), May 1, 1832, for four hundred and fifty families. Came to naught.
James Grant and John C. Beales, eight hundred families. Also failed.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
The grants to Burnet, Vehlein and Zavala, covering that part of east Texas formerly embraced in Edwards grant and much territory besides were transferred to a company of New Yorkers, who organized as The Galveston Bay Land Company, and issued land scrip in total disregard of the letter, spirit and object of the colonization laws, bringing failure upon themselves, mortification to Burnet, Zavala and Vehlein, and unjust reproach upon Texas.
Thus it will be seen that the spirit of colonization was abroad after the passage of the State law. Many individuals applied for and obtained concessions, and the desire to settle in Texas became wide-spread in the southern and western States. The influence of the movement was felt, although in a less degree, even in the northern States of the American Union.
Austin's colony steadily received additions to its numbers, and contained a majority of the educated and talented men of the country, among the number William H. Wharton, who arrived from Tennessee in 1826; Robert M. Williamson, from Georgia ; Francis W. Johnson, from Virginia; David G. Burnet, from New Jersey; John H. Moore, from Ten- nessee ; Jesse Grimes, from Alabama, and Wm. J. Russell, from North Carolina.
Burnet, Wharton and Williams became distinguished in the councils of the country; and, just as 1827 opened, there came from Missouri, though a Kentuckian by birth, Henry Smith, destined to wield such a powerful influence in the affairs of Texas.
CHAPTER XIV.
De Witt's Colony - Establishment of the town of Gonzales - An incident of Frontier Life - Regulations to govern the survey of Lands and laying out of Towns.
After burying his wife and two little ones on the Brazos in June, 1825, Major James Kerr prepared to establish a settlement and select a site for the capital of De Witte's colony, and, leaving his only remaining child, a little girl of three years, with Mrs. William Pettus at San Felipe, set forth with his negro servants and six white men, viz. : Erastus (Deaf) Smith, Bazil Durbin, Gerou Hinds, John Wightman, James Musick and - Strickland.
In August, 1825, on Kerr's Creek, a mile east of the present town of Gonzales, he speedily erected cabins and surveyed a town which he named Gonzales for the first Governor of Coahuila and Texas, Don Rafael Gonzales. He also located and surveyed the four leagues of land to which each capital town was entitled.1
The survey of lands for future colonists was prosecuted as rapidly as practicable.
The empresario, De Witt 2 arrived at Gonzales about the 1st of October, but from what point is not known - presum- ably, however, from Saltillo. He remained three or four weeks, during which time a number of prospectors came to look at the country. He clothed Major Kerr with full author- ity to manage the colony in his absence, and delivered to him
1 A few weeks after Kerr's arrival, Francis Berry and family arrived and settled near by on the creek. Of this family were also John and Betsey Oliver, grown children of Mrs. Berry, by a former husband.
2 De Witt needed funds to meet his wants during his journey to the United States, and the means he adopted to accomplish that end will meet (124)
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his commission from Governor Gonzales, as Surveyor- General.
Precisely when De Witt left for the east is not known, nor for what point or purpose ; but it is supposed for Missouri, by way of New Orleans. The following letter, however, furnishes imperfect light:
TRINITY, November 12, 1825.
Major James Kerr :
DEAR SIR - I arrived at this place a few days since and after resting two or three days, proceeded on my journey ; but after traveling a few miles, was agreeably surprised to meet Colonel Haden Edwards and Frost Thorn, my partner, which saves me a long trip, as I shall not go by Nacogdoches, as was contemplated when I left you. They are on their way to San Felipe de Austin, where I hope you will have the pleasure of seeing them. Whether you meet Colonel Thorn or not, should he call on you for one or two hundred dollars in Guadalupe land office-money, you will please fill his order * * It would be well for you to let it be known that all who apply for settlement must produce certificates of good character and industry.
You will complete the survey of the town and permit its settlement accordingly. * *
I shall proceed on my journey to-morrow and hope to re- turn in April next. Yours respectfully,
GREEN DE WITT.
with the approval, no doubt, of a school of politicians recently active in the United States.
Here is a literal copy of one of his bills. I have eight such (in sums of five, ten and twenty dollars) in my possession, the chirography of all equal to the finest copy plate : No. 2.
$10
This bill will be received as a cash payment for ten dollars on account of fees for land in De Witt's Colony.
River Guadalupe, district of Gonzales, 15th day of October, 1825.
GREEN DE WITT, Empresario.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
No families were added to the settlement in 1825. A con- siderable number, who visited the place as prospectors, left during the year, expecting to return in 1826.
The colonists, besides coffee, - considered by Texian fron- tiersmen an absolute necessity and not a mere luxury, - sub- sisted on bread made of Indian corn, honey and game. The prairies teemed with buffalo and deer, and while their larders exhibited little variety, the pioneers found subsistence easy.
Parties of Indians frequently called in passing to and fro, but professed friendship.
The settlers at Gonzales, sixty-five miles west of the Col- orado, in 1825-6, were the only American residents west of that stream. De Leon and half a dozen Mexicans at the infant settlement of Guadalupe Victoria, sixty miles southward, were their nearest neighbors. Their nearest neighbors to the west were the people at San Antonio de Bexar, seventy-eight miles distant. There was no road to either place nor in any of the other directions save their own freshly made trail to the Colorado.
Thus matters stood when the first day of July, 1826, arrived. There was to be a celebration of the fourth of July at Beason's, at the Atascosita crossing of the Colorado, a few miles below the present town of Columbus. We copy the following from an article published by the author of this work in 1852, when half of the participants were alive and indorsed it as correct :
Major Kerr had gone on business to the Brazos; Deaf Smith and Geron Hinds were absent on a buffalo hunt; and it was agreed that Bazil Durbin, John and Betsey Oliver and a very sprightly negro boy (a servant of Major Kerr) named Jack, should go on horseback to the Colorado celebration.
They started on Sunday, July 2d, and encamped for the night on Thorn's Branch, fourteen miles east, having no apprehension of danger at that time. The little party, how- ever, were doomed to disappointment, and about midnight,
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while soundly sleeping on their blankets, were suddenly aroused by the firing of guns and the yells of Indians. Durbin was shot in the shoulder by a musket ball and badly wounded, but escaped with his companions into a thicket near by, the horses and other effects being left in the possession of the enemy. From loss of blood and intense pain, Durbin repeatedly swooned, but was restored by the efforts of his companions and enabled to walk by noon on the following day, back to Major Kerr's cabins, where the party was astounded to find John Wightman lying dead and scalped in the passage- way between the rooms, and the house robbed of everything, including important papers and three compasses, and that an unsuccessful attempt had been made to burn it. They hurried down to Berry's cabin, and found it closed and on the door written with charcoal - " Gone to Burnbam's, on the Col- orado."
When Durbin and his companions left on the previous day, Strickland, Musick and Major Kerr's negroes (Shade, Anise and their four or five children ), went to Berry's to spend the afternoon, leaving Wightman alone at the cabins. Returning late in the day, they found Wightman as described -yet warm in his blood. Hurrying back to Berry's with the tidings, the entire party started for the Colorado, where they safely arrived, and were joined a few days later by Deaf Smith and Hinds.
Durbin's wounds had already rendered him very weak, but his only alternative was to reach the same place on foot, or perish by the way. The weather was warm and there was imminent danger of gangrene making its appearance in his wound, to prevent which it was kept poulticed with mud and oak juice. Leaning on Betsey Oliver's arm he arrived at Burnham's on the afternoon of July 6th, three days and a half after starting for that place.
Thus was De Witt's colony, like Austin's, at the mouth of the Colorado, christened in blood, and thus for the
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moment ended the first effort to found a settlement within its limits.
Following these events, Major Kerr and a few companions moved to a point on the west bank of the Lavaca, now in Jackson County. There block houses were built and a nucleus formed for a renewal of the enterprise. The place, only temporarily occupied for defensive and rallying purposes, was subsequently known as the " Old Station." Major Kerr established his permanent home on the east bank of the Lavaca near the station.1
De Witt did not return to the colony until after Kerr established his temporary headquarters on the Lavaca. It is certain, however, that he participated in establishing the sta- tion and remained there until July, 1827. The permits given by him to settlers - David C. Stephens, Solomon Lockland and William H. Reynolds - the originals being in the author's possession and dated " De Witt's colony, Lavaca Station, De- partment of Texas, December 13th, 1826," show that he was there at that time attending to his duties. That he remained there and elsewhere in the colony until July following, is rendered quite certain from the fact that, prior to leaving for Missouri to bring out his family, he executed anew a full power of attorney to Major Kerr.2
1 In October, 1827, Ishom, son of John (Waco) Brown and his wife, Nancy A., recently arrived from Missouri, was the first American-born child in that portion of Texas. It may be added that two girl children born re- spectively in 1828 and 1830, to the same parents, were the first American children born at San Antonio de Bexar. They died before reaching more than two or three years of age.
2 The following is a copy of the instrument, the original of which is in my possession.
Know all men by these presents that whereas, I, Green De Witt, of the colony of my name, in the department of Texas, in the Mexican United States, did obtain a grant from the supreme government of the state of Coa- huila and Texas, bearing date the 15th day of April, 1825, to settle four hundred families in the department aforesaid, and within certain described limits as will fully appear by reference being had to said grant. Now know
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
On the 12th of December, 1826, Major Kerr, under the authority vested in him as surveyor-general, commissioned Byrd Lockhart as a deputy surveyor of the colony -a judicious selection - and the survey of lands,1 despite danger from
ye that I, the said Green De Witt, have made, constituted and appointed and by these presents do make, constitute and appoint James Kerr, of said depart- ment, my true and lawful agent and attorney in fact, for me and in my name as empresario of said grant, to do and perform all and singular the duties imposed on me, the said Green De Witt, by virtue of said grant and the na- ture of my contract with the state aforesaid, in as complete and full a man- ner as I myself might or could do, were I doing the same in person; and my name to use as his own, at his will and pleasure, touching these premises to carry into effect all legal proceedings by me made; to seal, execute and deliver such grants, deeds and conveyances and other instruments as might be fit and lawful for me to do under the colonization law, the instructions of the commissioner and political chief, and also of the state and general government ; hereby ratifying and confirming and by these presents allowing whatsoever my said attorney shall in my name, lawfully do, or cause to be done in and about the premises, by virtue of these presents.
In witness whereunto I set my hand and seal, at the Lavaca Station, on this the 14th day of July, 1827, and the sixth year of Mexican independence.
GREEN DE WITT. (L. S.)
Witnesses :
WM. J. RUSSELL,
ABRAM M. CLARE.
The foregoing power of attorney was signed, sealed, acknowledged and delivered by Green De Witt and the subscribing witnesses in my presence, at the Lavaca Station, on this the 14th day of July, 1827.
J. NOORON, Alcalde.
1 The following document regulating the survey of lands and laying out of colonial towns, being common to all the colonies, is here inserted :
Instructions and orders which are to regulate the surveyor, James Kerr, in the measurement of lands for pastoral purposes, labors for cultivation, and planting towns on the lands to be colonized by the empresario, Green De Witt:
1. The measure to be used shall be the vara of three geometric feet.
2. A sitio, or league, for grazing will be composed of a league square, (or its equivalent in area).
3. Pasture-lands shall be surveyed so as to leave no vacancy between tracts, and labors shall be suitable lands for cultivation.
4. The site for any town being designated, he will run the base lines east and west, north and south, designating in the center a square of 120 varas (333} English feet) on each side, exclusive of the streets, which shall be known as the constitutional square or plaza and from this point (the
9
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
hostile savages, proceeded with all reasonable dispatch, and immigrants continued to arrive and locate at and near the station on the Lavaca.
During 1827 immigrants continued to arrive in east Texas and all the colonies, DeLeon's colony receiving quite a num- ber. That of Austin, however, covering so large a territory, received much the greater number. Beginning with James Cummins on the Colorado, and Josiah H. Bell on the Brazos, as temporary alcaldes in 1824, and appointing Samuel M. Williams as secretary of the colony in August of that year, he had step by step organized his colony in such manner as to inspire confidence in its permanence and prosperity. But at a most inopportune period in the last half of the year 1826, a cloud appeared in Edwards' colony, the headquarters of which were in Nacogdoches. Justice to that gentleman and fidelity to the truth of history demand at least a brief and clear review of the facts leading to the failure of his enter- prise, for it is conceded by all writers and critics, that he was an educated, high-souled and honorable man. Therefore, leaving the colonists of DeWitt at Lavaca station, coincident events in the east will be given in so far as they relate to Edwards' colony.
corners) streets shall run twenty varas (55} feet wide) and on these (and parallel streets) the square shall be formed with perfect exactness.
5. The square east of the first one shall be designated for the temple, minister's house and other edifices of the church, and that on the west for public edifices. Another square shall be set apart for a market, another for a prison and house of correction, another for schools and another for a cemetery.
JOSE ANTONIO SAUCEDO, Chief of the Department of Texas.
San Antonio de Bexar, August 25, 1826.
CHAPTER XV.
Haden Edwards - The Republic of Fredonia - Austin's Address to his Colo- nists - Death of Hunter and Fields -Dispersion of the Fredonians.
Permission to establish a colony was granted Haden Ed- wards, as we have seen, by the State of Coahuila and Texas, on the 18th of April, 1825. He was to introduce eight hun- dred families, and was authorized to organize and temporarily command the militia. Unfortunately for him his territory included the old settlement of Nacogdoches, on the verge of what was once the neutral ground. It was situated as near the United States as the twenty-border-league reservation per- mitted and was contiguous to the territory in which the Cherokees and other United States Indians ( unauthorized by any grant) had been settling since 1820. Added to these probable causes of future conflict, was another likely to arouse, as it speedily did, the avarice of selfish and dishonest men and unscrupulous swindlers and forgers. Scattered over the country, were alleged individual grants of land - some real and some pretended - from the former Spanish authori- ties.
After receiving his grant, Edwards returned to the United States, made extensive arrangements for introducing families from that country, involving large outlays of money, and then, with his family, repaired to Nacogdoches in October, 1825. Soon learning that many Spanish claims, in conse- quence of the prospective increase in the value of lands, were being asserted, and, doubtless believing a considerable num- ber of them to be fictitious, and knowing that he was obli- gated in his contract to respect and protect all genuine claims of former date, he gave notice in November, to all such
(131)
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
claimants, to exhibit their titles in order that the true might be respected and the false rejected, in accordance with the law. This first step aroused opposition among the Mexicans; the evil-disposed pretended-claimants seducing into their ranks many for whose protection the investigation was in good faith intended. Near the same time Edwards ordered an election, to be held on the 15th of December, for militia officers, which he had the right to do; but he went further and advised that the civil office of Alcalde should be filled at the same election, a matter over which it was claimed he had no legal jurisdic- tion. The former Alcalde, Jose Antonio Supelveda, a scoundrel and forger of land titles, presided. Norris, a brother-in-law of James Gaines, a resident of the neutral ground, was a candidate for Alcalde ; and Edwards allowed his son-in-law, Chapin, to stand for the same office.
The result of the election was disputed. Each candidate claimed to be elected. Chapin took possession of the office. Saucedo, Political Chief, decided in favor of Norris,1 who was on the Mexican side in the excitement growing out of the question of titles and declared that, if need be, the militia would be used to put him in possession. But he was allowed peacefully to take the office. Another difficulty arose about
1 In 1790, Barr and Samuel Davenport, Americans, were traders and merchants in Nacogdoches. Davenport seems to have become a permanent resident and to have remained in that vicinity, with considerable posses- sions, until the general flight of the population into Louisiana, after the defeat of the republican forces near the Medina, on the 18th of August, 1813, and the march of the victorious Spaniards towards Nacogdoches immediately thereafter. He then settled in Natchitoches and figured in public affairs. Edmond Norris settled at a place known as Rancho Canicho, in Nacogdoches county, in 1805-6; abandoned it in the exodus of 1813 and returned in 1820 (see Texas Supreme Court Reports, volume 44, page 204, title Norris v. Stephen). His son, Nathaniel Norris, was the person spoken of as Alcalde in 1826, in the military report and official declaration of the Political Chief, Saucedo. James Gaines, another of those early characters, was a brother-in-law to Nathaniel Norris, and his supporter in these troubles.
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the keeper of a ferry on the Trinity, in which Saucedo, very unjustly, decided in favor of a Mexican, avowing that he did so because he was a Mexican.
Edwards reported his progress to the chief at San Antonio and complained of Sepulveda and another Mexican named Louis Procela, who had fled from the United States for crime, and intimated that if they had been Americans, he would have driven them from the country. Saucedo felt that this was an indignity cast upon his countrymen. It was another step toward a breach. Norris the new, and Sepulveda the old, Alcalde, in concert favored every bogus claim set up, and many new settlers were ousted of their possessions. Rascality, en- throned at Nacogdoches and protected at San Antonio, was sowing bitter seeds. On the 1st of May, 1826, Saucedo wrote Edwards a letter denunciatory in character, especially so in regard to the organization of the militia and Edwards' desire for an examination of the old claims. This added fuel to the flames. Soon afterwards, Edwards visited the United States leaving Benjamin W. Edwards, his brother, to act in his absence. The latter wrote to Austin at San Felipe, setting forth all the facts, and also to the Baron de Bastrop, then in the Legislature at Saltillo. Austin advised him to fully ac- quaint Governor Victor Blanco with all that had transpired. This he did, fully and fairly, concluding with a denunciation of James Gaines and Norris, in which he characterized them as corrupt, treacherous and utterly unworthy.
On the 2nd of October, Governor Blanco answered B. W. Edwards' letter, reciting the facts as he claimed to have gained them from statements made by the Sepulveda party, and claiming that Edwards' letter was not respectful in tone. He concluded his extraordinary epistle as follows :
" In view of such proceedings, by which the conduct of Haden Edwards is well attested, I have decreed the annul- ment of his contract, and his expulsion from the territory of
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the Republic, in discharge of the supreme orders with which I am invested. He has lost the confidence of the government, which is suspicious of his fidelity ; besides it is not prudent to admit those who begin by dictating laws as sovereigns. If to you or your constituents, these measures are unwelcome and prejudicial, you can apply to the Supreme Government ; but you will first evacuate the country, both yourself and Haden Edwards ; for which purpose I this day repeat my orders to that department - in the execution of which, as they will expel all evil-doers, so they will extend full protection to those of worth, probity and useful skill, that have settled therein and are submissive to the laws and constituted authorities.
VICTOR BLANCO."
Before this letter reached Nacogdoches, Haden Edwards returned from the United States. Its arrival caused intense excitement and great bitterness of feeling. The party of Sepulveda was exultant, and Mexicans rapidly began asserting claims to nearly all the valuable lands held by the Americans. Norris, a subservient tool of unscrupulous men, yielded un- hesitatingly to their demands, and caused Americans to be Ousted from their homes and driven away or fined and im- prisoned; and, to add to the unbearableness of the situation, Gaines, his brother-in-law, held a company of regulators in readiness to enforce his mandates. The dominant party soon went to such outrageous extremes that many of their parti- sans abandoned them. Edwards exerted his influence and authority as best he could to induce his friends to practice moderation and made dispassionate representations to the government in which he clearly presented the true status of the colony. He had invested fifty thousand dollars in prepara- tions and could not afford to be rash. All appeals for justice having failed, the colonists, as a last resort, determined to assert and defend their rights. Steps were taken to organize
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forces, and, knowing the Cherokees to be exasperated at the refusal of the Mexican government to grant them lands, an alliance was sought with them. John Dunn Hunter, one of their chiefs, on his return from the city of Mexico, had just communicated to them the refusal of that government, and they were prepared for such advances and readily acceded to the proposed union, when advocated by him.
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