Old Three Hundred
The Old Three Hundred were the 297 grantees, made up of families and some partnerships of unmarried men, who purchased 307 parcels of land from Stephen Fuller Austin and established a colony that encompassed an area that ran from the Gulf of Mexico on the south, to near present-day Brenham in Washington County, Texas, Navasota in Grimes County, and La Grange in Fayette County. Moses Austin was the original empresario of the Old Three Hundred and was succeeded by his son, Stephen F. Austin, after his untimely death.[1]
Implementation
Stephen Austin agreed to implement his father's plan, and in the summer of 1821 he and a small group of settlers crossed into Texas. Before he arrived in San Antonio to meet with the governor, they learned that Mexico had earned its independence from Spain, making Texas a Mexican province rather than a Spanish province. Governor Martinez assured him, however, that the new Mexican government would honor the colonization contract.[2]
Stephen returned to Louisiana to recruit settlers. He offered land at 12.5 cents per acre, only 10% of what comparable acreage sold for in the United States. Settlers would pay no customs duties for seven years and would not be subject to taxation for ten years. In return, they would be expected to become Mexican citizens.[3]
In March 1822, Austin learned that the new Mexican government had not ratified his father's land grant with Spain. He was forced to travel to Mexico City, 1,200 miles (1,931 km) away, to get permission for his colony.[4]
The 1823 Imperial Colonization Law of Mexico allowed an empresario to receive a land grant within the Mexican province of Texas. The empresario and a commissioner appointed by the governor would be authorized the distribute land to settlers and issue them titles in the name of the Mexican government. Only one contract was ultimately approved under this legislation, the first contract granted to Stephen F. Austin.[5]
Establishment
Between 1824 and 1828, Austin granted 297 titles under this contract. Each head of household received a minimum of 177 acres[6] or 4,428 acres[7] depending on whether they intended to farm or raise livestock. The grant could be increased for large families or those wishing to establish a new industry, but the lands would be forfeited if they were not cultivated within two years.[5]
The settlers who received their titles under Stephen's first contract were known as the Old Three Hundred, and they made up the first organized, approved influx of Anglo-American immigrants to Texas. The new titles were located in an area where no Spanish or Mexican settlements had existed, covering the land between the Brazos River and the Colorado River from the Gulf Coast to the San Antonio Road.[8] The capital of this new colony was San Felipe de Austin, now the town of San Felipe in Austin County.
Growth
When Austin began advertising his colony, he received a great deal of interest. He was able to be selective in his choice of colonists, which enabled his colony to be different from most others of the time. Austin chose settlers based on whether he believed they would be appropriately industrious. Overall, they belonged to a higher economic scale than most immigrants, and all brought some property with them. One-quarter of the families brought slaves with them. All but four of the men could read and write. This relatively high level of literacy had a great impact on the future of the colony. According to historian William C. Davis, because they were literate, the colonists "absorbed and spread the knowledge and news always essential to uniting people to a common purpose".[9]
Despite a provision in Mexican law requiring immigrants to be Catholic, most of Austin's settlers were Protestant. Many chafed at being ruled by Catholics. Most held strong feelings about property ownership and their personal liberty.
List
Lester G. Bugbee in his article The Old Three Hundred published in the October 1897 issue of The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, identifies the head of each family who purchased land in Austin's colony.[10] They were:
| Head of household | Born | Died | Family as of March 1826 | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elijah Allcorn | 1769 | 1844 | Wife, five children and two servants. | [11] | |
| Martin Allen | 1780 | 1837 | Wife, nine children | [12] | |
| Abraham Alley | 1803 | 1862 | Wife, five children | Brother of John, Rawson, Thomas and William Alley | [13] |
| John C. Alley | 1822 | Brother of Abraham, Thomas, Rawson and William Alley. | [14] | ||
| Rawson Alley | 1793 | 1833 | Single | Brother of Abraham, John, Thomas and William Alley | [15] |
| Thomas Alley | 1826 | Single | Brother of Abraham, John, Rawson and William Alley | [16] | |
| William Alley | 1800 | August 15, 1869 | Single | Brother of Abraham, John, Rawson and Thomas Alley | [17] |
| Charles Alsbury | Single | Brother of Harvey and Horace Alsbury. Died about 1828. | [18] | ||
| Harvey Alsbury | Wife | Brother of Charles and Horace Alsbury | [19] | ||
| Horace Alsbury | 1805 | June 1847 | Single; later married Juana Navarro | [20] | |
| Thomas Alsbury | 1773 | Wife and two daughters | Father of Charles, Harvey and Horace Alsbury. Wife Leah Catlett Alsbury. Daughters Leah Ann and Marion B. Served in the War of 1812. Died August 1826. | [21] | |
| Simeon Asa Anderson | Wife, three children, one slave | [22] | |||
| John Andrews | February 1838 | Wife, two children, one servant | [23] | ||
| William Andrews | 1840 | Wife, five children, two slaves | Daughter married Randal Jones in 1824. | [24] | |
| Samuel Angier | August 26, 1792 | In 1829, married fellow colonist Pamelia Pickett | [25] | ||
| James E.B. Austin | October 3, 1803 | August 14, 1829 | Helped put down the Fredonian Rebellion. Brother of Stephen F. Austin. | [26] | |
| John Austin | March 17, 1801 | August 11, 1833 | [27] | ||
| Stephen F. Austin | November 3, 1793 | December 27, 1836 | [28] | ||
| James B. Baily | November 13,1797 | September 30,1835 | 5 wives and 18 kids | ||
| Daniel E. Balis | |||||
| William Baratt | |||||
| Thomas Barnet | |||||
| Thomas Hudson Barron[29] | 1796 | 1874 | 2 wives 22 children | ||
| Mills M. Battle | |||||
| James Beard | |||||
| Benjamin Beason | 1837 | ||||
| Charles Belknap | |||||
| Josiah H. Bell | |||||
| Thomas B. Bell | Wife Prudencio, three children | Donated the land on which Bellville was founded in 1846 | |||
| M. Berry | |||||
| Isaac Best | |||||
| Jacob Betts | |||||
| Francis Biggam | |||||
| William Bloodgood | |||||
| Thomas Boatwright | |||||
| Thomas Borden | |||||
| Caleb R. Bostwick | |||||
| John T. Bowman | |||||
| Edward R. Bradley | |||||
| John Bradley | |||||
| Thomas Bradley | |||||
| Charles Breen | |||||
| Patrick Brias | |||||
| William B. Bridges | 1795 | April 4, 1853 | |||
| David Bright | |||||
| Enoch Brinson | |||||
| Bluford Brooks | |||||
| Robert Brotherington | |||||
| George Brown | |||||
| John Brown | |||||
| William S. Brown | |||||
| Aylett C. Buckner | |||||
| Pumphrey Brunet | |||||
| Jesse Burnam | 1792 | 1883 | |||
| Micajah Byrd | |||||
| Morris A. Callihan | |||||
| Alexander Calvit | 1784 | 1836 | |||
| David Carpenter | |||||
| William C. Carson | |||||
| Samuel Carter | |||||
| Jesse H. Cartwright | |||||
| Thomas Cartwright | |||||
| Sylvenus Castleman | |||||
| Samuel Chance | |||||
| Horatio Chriesman | |||||
| John C. Clark | |||||
| Antony R. Clarke | |||||
| Merit M. Coats | |||||
| John P. Coles | |||||
| James Cook | |||||
| John Cooke | |||||
| William Cooper | |||||
| Robert Cooper | 5 children | ||||
| John Crownover | 1 son | Married to Elizabeth Chesney, son John Chesney Crownover born 1799 in Pennsylvania[30] | |||
| James Cummings | |||||
| John Cummings | |||||
| Rebecca Cummins | |||||
| William Cummings | |||||
| James (Jack) Cummins | c. 1773 | 1849 | |||
| James Curtis, Sr. | |||||
| James Curtis, Jr. | |||||
| Hinton Curtis | |||||
| Samuel Davidson | |||||
| Thomas Davis | |||||
| D. Deckrow | |||||
| Charles Demos | |||||
| Peter Demos | |||||
| William B. Dewees | Sep. 8th, 1799 | Apr. 14th, 1878 | |||
| John Dickinson | |||||
| Nicholas Dillard | |||||
| Thomas M. Duke | |||||
| George Duty | |||||
| Joseph Duty | March 6, 1801 (Gallatin, TN) | September 11, 1855 (Webberville, TX) | |||
| Clement C. Dyer | |||||
| Thomas Earle | |||||
| G.E. Edwards | |||||
| John Elam | |||||
| Robert Elder | |||||
| Charles Falenash | |||||
| David Fenton | |||||
| James Fisher | |||||
| David Fitzgerald | |||||
| Isaiah Flanakin | |||||
| Elisha Flowers | |||||
| Isaac Foster | |||||
| John Foster | 1837 | 2 sons | [31] | ||
| Randolph Foster | |||||
| James Frazier | |||||
| Charles Fulshear | |||||
| Charles Garret | |||||
| Samuel Gates | |||||
| William Gates | |||||
| Freeman George | 1780 | 1834 | Wife, 8 sons | Freeman George received 1 sitios land between San Bernard and Bay Prairie (Matagorda County) and 1 labor of land located Brazos East side opposite San Felipe (Waller County). According to the Handbook of Texas Online, he was given a league and a labor of land (see above) which is known as Matagorda and Waller counties on July 7, 1824. Also one of the original patentees in the vicinity of Old Ocean, Texas, in southwestern Brazoria Co. | [32] |
| Preston Gilbert | |||||
| Sarah Gilbert | |||||
| Daniel Gilleland | |||||
| Chester S. Gorbet | |||||
| Michael Gouldrich | |||||
| Thomas Gray | |||||
| Jared E. Groce | 1782 | 1839 | |||
| Robert Guthrie | |||||
| John Haddan | |||||
| Samuel C. Hady | |||||
| George B. Hall | |||||
| John W. Hall | |||||
| W. J. Hall | |||||
| David Hamilton | |||||
| Abner Harris | |||||
| David Harris | |||||
| John R. Harris | |||||
| William Harris | |||||
| William J. Harris | |||||
| George Harrison | |||||
| William Harvey | |||||
| Thomas S. Haynes | |||||
| James Hensley | |||||
| Alexander Hodge | |||||
| Francis Holland | |||||
| William Holland | |||||
| Kinchen Holliman | |||||
| James Hope | |||||
| C.S. Hudson | |||||
| George Huff | |||||
| John Huff | |||||
| Isaac Hughes | |||||
| Eli Hunter | |||||
| Johnson Hunter | |||||
| John Iiams [sic] | This may be John Williams. | ||||
| Ira Ingram | 1788 | 1837 | |||
| Seth Ingram | |||||
| John Irons | |||||
| Samuel Isaacks | |||||
| Alexander Jackson | |||||
| Humphrey Jackson | |||||
| Isaac Jackson | |||||
| Thomas Jamison | |||||
| Henry W. Johnson | |||||
| Henry Jones | |||||
| James W. Jones | |||||
| Oliver Jones | |||||
| R. Jones | |||||
| Imla Keep | |||||
| John C. Keller | |||||
| John Kelly | |||||
| Samuel Kennedy | |||||
| Alfred Kennon | |||||
| James Kerr | |||||
| Peter Kerr | |||||
| William Kerr | |||||
| William Kincheloe | |||||
| William Kingston | |||||
| James Knight | |||||
| Abner Kuykendall | |||||
| Brazilla Kuykendall | |||||
| Joseph Kuykendall | |||||
| Robert Kuykendall | |||||
| Hosea H. League | |||||
| Joel Leakey | |||||
| Benjamin Linsey | |||||
| John Little | |||||
| William Little | |||||
| Jane H. Wilkinson Long | 1798 | 1880 | Mother of Texas | ||
| James Lynch | |||||
| Nathanael Lynch | |||||
| John McCroskey | |||||
| Arthur McCormick | |||||
| David McCormick | |||||
| John McCormick | |||||
| Thomas McCoy | |||||
| Aechilles McFarlan | |||||
| John McFarlan | |||||
| Thomas F. McKinney | 1801 | 1873 | Father of the Texas Navy | ||
| Hugh McKinsey | |||||
| A.W. McClain | |||||
| James McNair | |||||
| Daniel McNeel | |||||
| George W. McNeel | |||||
| John McNeel | |||||
| John G. McNeel | |||||
| Pleasant D. McNeel | |||||
| Sterling McNeel | |||||
| Elizabeth McNutt | |||||
| William McWilliams | |||||
| Shubael Marsh | |||||
| Wily Martin | 1776 | 1842 | |||
| William Mathis | |||||
| David H. Milburn | |||||
| Samuel Miller | |||||
| Samuel R. Miller | |||||
| Simon Miller | |||||
| James D. Millican | |||||
| Robert Millican | |||||
| William Millican | |||||
| Joseph Minus | |||||
| Asa Mitchell | |||||
| John L. Monks | |||||
| John H. Moore | Aug. 13, 1800 | Dec. 02, 1880 | Single | Indian fighter, builder of Moore's Fort, and leader at the Battle of Gonzales. Married Eliza Cummins, daughter of Jack Cummins listed above. | |
| Luke Moore | |||||
| Moses Morrison | |||||
| William Morton | |||||
| David Mouser | |||||
| James Nelson | |||||
| Joseph Newman | c. 1787 | 1831 | Wife Rachel Rabb, 10 children | Brother in-law to John Rabb and Thomas J. Rabb, he ranched and farmed a sitio near Bonus. | |
| Charles Isaac Nidever | |||||
| M.B. Nuckols | |||||
| James Orrick | |||||
| Nathan Osborn | |||||
| William Parks | |||||
| Joshua Parker | |||||
| William Parker | |||||
| Isaac Pennington | |||||
| George S. Pentecost | |||||
| Freeman Pettus | |||||
| William A. Pettus | |||||
| John Petty | |||||
| J.C. Peyton | |||||
| James A.E. Phelps | |||||
| I.B. Phillips | |||||
| Zeno Philips[33] | |||||
| Pamelia Picket | |||||
| Joseph H. Polley | |||||
| Peter Powell | |||||
| William Prater | |||||
| Pleasant Pruitt | |||||
| William Pryor | c. 1775 | 1833 | Wife Betsy Trammell, 6 children | His death was recorded as 9 Sept 1833 in the diary of William B. Travis. Pryor's will states he was from Botetourt County, Virginia. | [34] |
| Andrew Rabb | |||||
| John Rabb | |||||
| Thomas J. Rabb | |||||
| William Rabb | |||||
| William Raleigh | |||||
| L. Ramey | |||||
| David Randon | |||||
| John Randon | |||||
| Frederic H. Rankin | |||||
| Amos Rawls | |||||
| Benjamin Rawls | |||||
| Daniel Rawls | |||||
| Stephen Richardson | |||||
| Elijah Roark | |||||
| Earle Robbins | |||||
| William Robbins | |||||
| Andrew Roberts | 1844 | Wife Sally, four daughters, and one son | |||
| Noel F. Roberts | C. 1820 | C. 1825 | Harriet Pryor | ||
| William Roberts | aft. 1856 | Elizabeth Pryor | |||
| Edward Robertson | |||||
| Andrew Robinson Sr. | 1852 | Wife Nancy and two children | First settler |  Texas Historical Marker for Andrew Robinson Sr. | |
| George Robinson | |||||
| James Ross | |||||
| June Salmeron | |||||
| Joseph San Pierre | |||||
| Robert Scobey | |||||
| Marvin Scheick | |||||
| James Scott | |||||
| William Scott | |||||
| William Selkirk | |||||
| Owen Shannon | 1762 | 1839 | Margaret & children | ||
| David Shelby | |||||
| Daniel Shipman | NC 20 Feb 1801 | Goliad County Texas 4 Mar 1881 | |||
| Moses Shipman | |||||
| Bartlet Sims | |||||
| George Washington Singleton | Related to Charla Kaye Moore Sisk | https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsi29 | |||
| Phillip Singleton | |||||
| Christian Smith | |||||
| Cornelius Smith | |||||
| John Smith | |||||
| William Smeathers | 1767 | 1837 | |||
| Gabriel S. Snider | |||||
| Albert L. Sojourner | |||||
| Nancy Spencer | |||||
| Adam Stafford | |||||
| William Stafford | |||||
| Thomas Stevens | |||||
| Owen H. Stout | |||||
| John Strange | |||||
| Walter Sutherland | |||||
| David Tally | |||||
| John I. Taylor | |||||
| George Teel | |||||
| Ezekiel Thomas | |||||
| Jacob Thomas | |||||
| Jesse Thompson | |||||
| Thomas J. Tone | |||||
| James F. Tong | |||||
| Samuel Toy | |||||
| John Trobough | |||||
| Elizabeth Tumlinson | |||||
| James Tumlinson | |||||
| Isaac Vandorn | |||||
| Martin Varner | |||||
| Allen Vince | |||||
| Richard Vince | |||||
| Robert Vince | |||||
| William Vince | |||||
| James Walker | |||||
| Thomas Walker | |||||
| Caleb Wallice | |||||
| Francis F. Wells | |||||
| Amy White | |||||
| Joseph White | |||||
| Reuben White | |||||
| Walter C. White | |||||
| William White | |||||
| Boland Whitesides | |||||
| Henry Whitesides | |||||
| James Whitesides | |||||
| William Whitesides | |||||
| Nathaniel Whiting | |||||
| William Whitlock | |||||
| Elias D. Wightman | |||||
| Jane Wilkins | |||||
| George I. Williams | |||||
| Henry Williams | |||||
| John Williams | |||||
| John R. Williams | Built "The Old Place" along Clear Creek, which eventually became the oldest remaining structure in Harris County, Texas. It is now part of Houston's Sam Houston Park | ||||
| Robert H. Williams | |||||
| Samuel M. Williams | |||||
| Solomon Williams | |||||
| Thomas Williams | |||||
| Zadock Woods aka Zaduck | 1773 | 1842 | Served in the battle of Gonzales, the battle of Concepción, the Grass Fight and the Runaway Scrape. | [35] | |
References
- ↑ Christopher Long, "OLD THREE HUNDRED," Handbook of Texas Online , accessed March 27, 2012.
- ↑ Edmondson (2000), p. 60.
- ↑ Edmondson (2000), p. 61.
- ↑ Edmondson (2000), p. 63.
- 1 2 Greaser (1999), p. xviii.
- ↑ Cantrell (2000), p. 419.
- ↑ Hatch (1999), p. 136.
- ↑ Greaser (1999), p. ix.
- ↑ Davis (2006), p. 60.
- ↑ Bugbee, Lester G..org/publicatshq/online/v001/n2/article_7.html THE OLD THREE HUNDRED. A LIST OF SETTLERS IN AUSTIN'S FIRST COLONY ], Volume 001, Number 2, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 108–117. Accessed 2008-04-14.
- ↑ "Allcorn, Elijah", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Allen, Martin", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Alley, Abraham", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Alley, John C.", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Alley, Rawson", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Alley, Thomas V.", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Alley, William A.", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Alsbury, Charles Grundison", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Alsbury, James Harvey", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Alsbury, Horace Arlington", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Alsbury, Thomas", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Anderson, Simeon Asa", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Andrews, John", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Andrews, William", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Angier, Samuel Tubbs", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Austin, James Elijah Brown", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Austin, John", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ "Austin, Stephen Fuller", Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association
- ↑ https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbatq
- ↑ "Ancestry® | Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records". ancestry.com. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
- ↑ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffo19
- ↑ "GEORGE, FREEMAN," Handbook of Texas Online , accessed June 07, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
- ↑ "PHILIPS, ZENO," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fph05), accessed October 02, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
- ↑ "PRYOR, WILLIAM," Handbook of Texas Online , accessed January 8, 2014. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
- ↑ Paul N. Spellman, "WOODS, ZADOCK," Handbook of Texas Online , accessed June 16, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
- Cantrell, Gregg (2001), Stephen F. Austin, empresario of Texas, New Haven: Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-09093-2
- Davis, William C. (2006), Lone Star Rising, College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, ISBN 978-1-58544-532-5 originally published 2004 by New York: Free Press
- Edmondson, J.R. (2000), The Alamo Story-From History to Current Conflicts, Plano, TX: Republic of Texas Press, ISBN 1-55622-678-0
- Greaser, Galen (1999), "Foreword", Austin's Old Three Hundred: The First Anglo Colony in Texas, Austin, TX: Eakin Press, ISBN 1-57168-291-0
- Hatch, Thom (1999), Encyclopedia of the Alamo and the Texas revolution, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, ISBN 978-0-7864-0593-0
External links
- Old Three Hundred from the Handbook of Texas Online
- A map of Austin Colony grants in Brazoria County, Texas <--Dead link, April 2016.
