Stephen Fuller Austin (1793 - 1836)

Born 3 Nov 1793 in Austinville, Wythe, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Died 27 Dec 1836 at age 43 in West Columbia, Brazoria, Republic of Texas

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Biography

Stephen Austin is Notable.

A nation can only be free, happy, and great in proportion to the virtue and intelligence of the people. ^[1]..... Stephen F. Austin

Stephen F Austin has been considered as the "Father of Texas".

Stephen Fuller was born 3 Nov 1793 in Wythe County, Virginia, to parents Moses Austin and Mary Brown. The family then moved to a lead mining district called today Potosi, Missouri. Father, Moses had received a sitio from the Spanish government in this area.

He was educated at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.^[2] His first role in public life was serving in the legislature of the Missouri Territory. In 1820, he was appointed circuit judge for the 1st Judicial District by the governor of the Arkansas Territory.^[3] The next move was to Louisiana in Nov 1820 where he studied law.

While Stephen was moving around, his father, Moses was awarded an empresario grant by Spanish Texas. This grant was to bring in colonization to the area (300 families known as Old 300 Hundred).^[4][5]This Old 300 Colony from 1821 to 1836) ils referred as one of the most successful colonies of Texas history. The historical events that followed owe some of the origin to this colony. Also population of Fort Bend was high. n. has been called the most successful colonization movement in American history. There actually were (297 settlers, but the name remained "Old 300).^[6]

The grant was assumed by Stephen after his father's death. His mother Mary insisted that he go to Texas and oversee the grant. Austin moved to the Texas colony. He reached San Antonio, at the time that Mexico gained its independence from Spain. He was friends with Jose Antonio Navarro who assisted him with the empressario contracts.^[7]

Mexico did authorize his grant, so Austin began exploring to determine where to place the colony.^[5]"Old 300" were the settlers who came to Texas and received land grants as part of Stephen F. Austin's first contract for his first colony contract in Mexican Texas . These families had come from the area of Trans-Appalachian South. Most were of British ancestry, with the money to establish and settle. ^[8][9][10]

He advertised the land grant to the families to settle along the Brazos and Colorado rivers. The grant would provide heads of families a league and labor of land (4,605 acres). The first 300 families arrived and became known as Old Three Hundred. Then he began on other contracts (900 families) 1825-27. In 1834, Austin was arrested as the Mexican government felt he was advocating a revolution. While he was in prison in Mexico, the Texas Revolution began without him.^[5]

Austin ran for election as president of the new Republic of Texas. Sam Houston won this election.^[11]

Stephen Austin's colonies were located in present day Brazos, Austin, and Washington counties. Austin County, Texas in present-day Texas was named for this man as well as the Texas capital - Austin, Texas.^[12]

Austin never married, had no children. He left his land, titles, possessions to his sister, Emily Austin Perry.^[13]

Death and Burial

Austin passed away Dec 27, 1836 of pneumonia near West Columbia, Texas at the home of George McKinstry.

Burial: Gulf Prairie Cemetery , Jones Creek, Brazoria County, Texas, Republic of Texas. ^[14]

Memorial: Texas State Cemetery, Republic Hill, Section 1 (C1), Row L, Number 20, Austin, Travis County, Texas

Remains removed to Texas State Cemetery in 1910.^[15]

Sources

1. ↑ ww.sfaold300.org/original-settlers/
2. ↑ Belfiglio, Valentine J. (1993) "The Indian Policy of Stephen F. Austin," East Texas Historical Journal: Vol. 31, Iss. 2 , Article 6. (https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj/vol31/iss2/6) Accessed on 10 Jul 2021.
3. ↑ Glasscock, Sallie (1951), Dreams of an Empire: The Story (Stephen Fuller Austin and His Colony in Texas, pp. 1-14. San Antonio, Texas.
4. ↑ http://www.sfaold300.org/page-1326619, by Christopher Long, "OLD THREE HUNDRED," Handbook of Texas Online
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/umo01), accessed March 17, 2015. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association
6. ↑ http://www.sonsofdewittcolony.org/adp/history/hispanic_period/tenoxtitlan/austins_colony.html
7. ↑ http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/austin.htm
8. ↑ https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/old-three-hundred
9. ↑ https://www.jstor.org/stable/30242636?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
10. ↑ http://www.sonsofdewittcolony.org/adp/history/hispanic_period/tenoxtitlan/austins_colony.html
11. ↑ http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/austin.htm
12. ↑ http://www.genealogytrails.com/tex/state/countynamedafter.html
13. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_F._Austin
14. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #6464
15. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #45

• Gregg Cantrell (1 August 2001). Stephen F. Austin: Empresario of Texas. Yale University Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-300-09093-5. ...generations of Texans have come to revere Austin as the Father of Texas...
• Thom Hatch (1 August 1999). Encyclopedia of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution. McFarland. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-7864-9162-9.
• "Stephen Fuller Austin -- Biography".
• Lonestar Textbook
• Edmondson (2000), p. 59.
• Historical Association (TSHA)". Tshaonline.org. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
• Encyclopedia of Exploration 1800-1850, Howgego

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to the WikiTree profile Austin-1002 created through the import of Pool.ged on Jun 8, 2011 by Herb Poole.

• Biography by Richardson-7161 10:50, 23 May 2016 (EDT)