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The "Old Three Hundred" were 297 grantees who purchased 307 parcels of land from Stephen Fuller Austin in Mexican Texas. Each grantee was head of a household, or, in some cases, a partnership of unmarried men. Austin was an American approved in 1822 by Mexico as an empresario for this effort, after the nation had gained independence from Spain. By 1825 the colony had a population of 1,790, including 443 enslaved African Americans.[1] Because the Americans believed they needed enslaved workers, Austin negotiated with the Mexican government to gain approval, as the new nation was opposed to slavery. Mexico abolished it in 1837.
The colony encompassed an area that ran from the Gulf of Mexico on the south, to near present-day Jones Creek in Brazoria County, Brenham in Washington County, Navasota in Grimes County, and La Grange in Fayette County. It was the first authorized colony of Anglo-American settlers and enslaved African Americans in Mexico.
Implementation
American Moses Austin was authorized as an empresario by Joaquín de Arredondo of Spain to create a colony of Americans in Texas, which was lightly populated, as a bulwark against the native Comanche people. Before this plan could be implemented, Moses Austin died in Missouri in 1821. That same year Mexico gained independence from Spain.[2]: 17–18
Stephen F. Austin agreed to carry out his father's plan for a colony. At the end of the summer of 1821, he and a small group of Anglo-American settlers crossed into Texas. Before he reached San Antonio to meet with the governor, the group learned that Mexico had gained its independence from Spain. Texas was now a Mexican province rather than a Spanish one. Governor Martinez assured Austin that the new Mexican government would honor the colonization contract.[3]
Austin returned to Louisiana to recruit settlers. He offered land at 12 cents per acre, which was 10% of what comparable acreage sold for in the United States. The Settlers were required to satisfy four regulations:
- They had to be Catholic,
- They had to be of good moral character,
- They had to improve the land (usually by adding structures), and
- They had to cultivate the land within two years, or forfeit it.
Settlers would pay no customs duties for seven years and would not be subject to taxation for ten years. In return, they were expected to become Mexican citizens.[4]
In March 1822, Austin learned that the new Mexican government had not ratified his father's land grant from Spain. He had to travel to Mexico City, 1,200 miles (1,931 km) away, to get permission for his colony.[5] There, he discovered that the Mexican government was dedicated to equal rights for all races and opposed to slavery. (It abolished slavery in 1837.) Austin considered legal slavery critical to the success of his colony, so he spent a year in Mexico City lobbying against anti-slavery legislation. In 1823 he reached a compromise with the government of Agustín de Iturbide to allow slavery in Texas, with restrictions.[2]: 20–23
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 were authorized to distribute land to settlers and issue 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.[6]
Establishment
Between 1823 and 1825, Austin granted 297 titles under this contract. Each head of household received a minimum of 177 acres[7] or 4,428 acres[8] 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.[6]
The settlers who received their titles under Stephen's first contract, known today as the Old Three Hundred, made up the first organized, approved group of Anglo-American immigrants from the United States to Texas. The new land titles were located in an area where no Spanish or Mexican settlements had existed. It covered land between the Brazos and the Colorado rivers, from the Gulf Coast to the San Antonio Road.[9] This area had long been occupied by indigenous peoples, however, and they objected to Anglo-American encroachment, resisting with armed conflict. Both Comanche and Apache warriors raided the new colony.
Austin wrote the colony's legal code, including elements to control enslaved African Americans. Any slave who left a plantation without permission was to be tied up and whipped. Considerable fines were to be assessed for any person helping or harboring a runaway slave.[2]: 23–24
The capital of this new colony was San Felipe de Austin. This is now known as San Felipe in Austin County.
Growth
When Austin began advertising his colony, he received a great deal of interest. He was selective in his choice of colonists, which set it apart from others of the time. Austin chose settlers whom he believed would be appropriately industrious. Overall, Austin chose people who belonged to a higher economic class than most immigrants, and all brought some property with them. All but four of the men could read and write. This relatively high level of literacy had a great influence on the future of the colony. According to historian William C. Davis, because the colonists were literate, they "absorbed and spread the knowledge and news always essential to uniting people to a common purpose".[10]
Although Mexican law required immigrants to be Catholic, most of Austin's settlers were Protestant. Many chafed at being ruled by Catholics. Virtually all were of British ancestry.[1]
One-quarter of the families brought enslaved African Americans with them. Jared Groce brought 90 slaves, having had large plantations in the Southeast. According to historian Christopher Long, the Old Three Hundred "constituted the heart of the burgeoning slave empire in antebellum Texas."[1]
List
Lester G. Bugbee in his article "The Old Three Hundred", published in The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association (October 1897), identifies the head of each of the Old Three Hundred families who received a land grant in Austin's colony.[11] They were:
| Head of household | Born | Died | Family as of March 1826 | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elijah Allcorn | 1771 | 1844 | Wife, five children and two servants. | [12] | |
| Martin Allen | 1780 | 1837 | Wife, nine children | [13] | |
| Abraham Alley | 1803 | 1862 | Wife, five children | Brother of John, Rawson, Thomas and William Alley | [14] |
| John C. Alley | 1822 | Brother of Abraham, Thomas, Rawson and William Alley. | [15] | ||
| Rawson Alley | 1793 | 1833 | Single | Brother of Abraham, John, Thomas and William Alley | [16] |
| Thomas Alley | 1826 | Single | Brother of Abraham, John, Rawson and William Alley | [17] | |
| William Alley | 1800 | August 15, 1869 | Single | Brother of Abraham, John, Rawson and Thomas Alley | [18] |
| Charles Alsbury | Single | Brother of Harvey and Horace Alsbury. Died about 1828. | [19] | ||
| Harvey Alsbury | Wife | Brother of Charles and Horace Alsbury | [20] | ||
| Horace Alsbury | 1805 | June 1847 | Single; later married Juana Navarro | [21] | |
| 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. | [22] | |
| Simeon Asa Anderson | Wife, three children, one slave | [23] | |||
| John Andrews | February 1838 | Wife, two children, one servant | [24] | ||
| William Andrews | 1840 | Wife, five children, two slaves | Daughter married Randal Jones in 1824. | [25] | |
| Samuel Angier | August 26, 1792 | In 1829, married fellow colonist Pamelia Pickett | [26] | ||
| James E.B. Austin | October 3, 1803 | August 14, 1829 | Helped put down the Fredonian Rebellion. Brother of Stephen F. Austin. | [27] | |
| John Austin | March 17, 1801 | August 11, 1833 | [28] | ||
| Stephen F. Austin | November 3, 1793 | December 27, 1836 | [29] | ||
| James B. Baily | November 13, 1797 | September 30, 1835 | 5 wives and 18 children | ||
| Daniel E. Balis | |||||
| William Baratt | |||||
| Thomas Barnet | |||||
| Thomas Hudson Barron[30] | 1796 | 1874 | 2 wives 22 children | ||
| Mills M. Battle | |||||
| Benjamin Beason | 1786 | 1837 | wife Elizabeth "Betsy" & children Lydia, Collins, Nepsey, Abel, Edward (Leander), Benjamin; one hired hand, seven servants; horses, mules, cattle, and farming utensils | In 1822, Beason (originally Beeson) began operating a ferry across the Colorado River. Beason also established a gristmill, gin, and a sawmill; his wife operated a boarding house. The settlement became known as Beason's Ferry or Beason's Crossing, later the site of the Texas Army camp under General Sam Houston. Following the Battle of the Alamo, Santa Anna's army headed for San Jacinto, and Sam Houston ordered that Beason's Crossing be burned during the Runaway Scrape. Beason's Crossing was officially renamed Columbus after the population returned In 1837. See Columbus, Texas. | |
| Charles Belknap | |||||
| Josiah H. Bell | August 22, 1791 | ||||
| Thomas B. Bell | Wife Prudencio, three children | Donated the land on which Bellville was founded in 1846 | |||
| M. Berry | |||||
| Isaac Best | 1774 | 1837 | Wife Mary Margaret (Wilkins), and some of their nine children. | After spending his early years in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, Best and his wife left Garrard County, Kentucky, and moved to Montgomery County in southern Missouri in 1808. There he built a mill and an outpost known as Best's Fort, which served as a refuge from Indian attacks during the War of 1812. The family and several slaves moved to Texas in 1824. On August 19 of that year, Best received title to a sitio east of the Brazos River in what is now Waller County. He increased his landholdings and built a home near the site of present Pattison. The 1826 census described Best as a farmer and stock raiser between forty and fifty years of age. His household consisted of his wife, three sons, two daughters, and four slaves. Best may have lived at San Felipe in 1833, when William B. Travis issued a subpoena for him as a witness in a case against Isaac Clower. Best died near Pattison in 1837. On August 21, 1974, the Texas Historical Commission dedicated a marker to him on Farm Road 1458 1½ miles west of Pattison." | |
| 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 Russell Cook | 1812 | 1843 | Single | ||
| John Cooke | |||||
| William Cooper | |||||
| Robert Cooper | 5 children | ||||
| John Crownover | 1 son | Married to Elizabeth Chesney, son John Chesney Crownover born 1799 in Pennsylvania[31] | |||
| 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 Marshall Duke | 1785 | 24 May 1867 | Married 3 times. 3rd wife, Jane Mason Wilkins McCormick Duke. 6 children; Mary Francis, Charlotte Jane, Thomoas Marshall, Jr., John Marshall, Stephen Austin, Alice Imogin | Died, Hynes Bay, Refugio County, Texas during the yellow fever epidemic of 1867-Certified by Witnesses: Wm. Andrews, G. Seelingson, F. Hunt. Source: Daily Ranchero, September 1, 1867. | |
| George Duty | |||||
| Joseph Duty | March 6, 1801 (Gallatin, TN) | September 11, 1855 (Webberville, TX) | |||
| Clement C. Dyer | |||||
| Thomas Earle | |||||
| G.E. Edwards | |||||
| John Elam | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Old_Three_Hundred |