Old Three Hundred

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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, though not that of their slaves.

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
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
James Cummings
John Cummings
Rebecca Cummins
William Cummings
James (Jack) Cummins
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 [30]
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 Hand Book of Texas, 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. [31]
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]
Ira Ingram
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. Long
James Lynch
Nathanael Lynch
John McCroskey
Arthur McCormick
David McCormick
John McCormick
Thomas McCoy
Aechilles McFarlan
John McFarlan
Thomas F. McKenney
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[32]
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. [33]
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
Noel F. Roberts C. 1820 C. 1825 Harriet Pryor
William Roberts aft. 1856 Elizabeth Pryor
Edward Robertson
A. Robinson
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
G.W. Singleton
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. [34]

References

  1. ↑ Christopher Long, "OLD THREE HUNDRED," Handbook of Texas Online [1], accessed March 27, 2012.
  2. ↑ Edmondson (2000), p. 60.
  3. ↑ Edmondson (2000), p. 61.
  4. ↑ Edmondson (2000), p. 63.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Greaser (1999), p. xviii.
  6. ↑ Cantrell (2000), p. 419.
  7. ↑ Hatch (1999), p. 136.
  8. ↑ Greaser (1999), p. ix.
  9. ↑ Davis (2006), p. 60.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  29. ↑ https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbatq
  30. ↑ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffo19
  31. ↑ "GEORGE, FREEMAN," Handbook of Texas Online [2], accessed June 07, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  32. ↑ "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.
  33. ↑ "PRYOR, WILLIAM," Handbook of Texas Online [3], accessed January 8, 2014. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  34. ↑ Paul N. Spellman, "WOODS, ZADOCK," Handbook of Texas Online [4], accessed June 16, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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External links

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