Old Three Hundred Explained

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. 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.

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.[1]

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:

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.[2]

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, 1200miles away, to get permission for his colony.[3] 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.

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.[4]

Establishment

Between 1823 and 1825, Austin granted 297 titles under this contract. Each head of household received a minimum of 177 acres[5] or 4,428 acres[6] 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.[4]

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.[7] 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.[8]

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".[9]

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.[10]

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."

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 householdBornDiedFamily as of March 1826NotesRefs
Elijah Allcorn17711844 Wife, five children and two servants.
Martin Allen17801837Wife, nine children
Abraham Alley18031862Wife, five childrenBrother of John, Rawson, Thomas and William Alley
John C. Alley1822Brother of Abraham, Thomas, Rawson and William Alley.
Rawson Alley17931833SingleBrother of Abraham, John, Thomas and William Alley
Thomas Alley1826SingleBrother of Abraham, John, Rawson and William Alley
William Alley1800August 15, 1869SingleBrother of Abraham, John, Rawson and Thomas Alley
Charles AlsburySingleBrother of Harvey and Horace Alsbury. Died about 1828.
Harvey AlsburyWifeBrother of Charles and Horace Alsbury
Horace Alsbury1805June 1847Single; later married Juana Navarro
Thomas Alsbury1773Wife and two daughtersFather 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.
Simeon Asa AndersonWife, three children, one slave
John AndrewsFebruary 1838Wife, two children, one servant
William Andrews1840Wife, five children, two slavesDaughter married Randal Jones in 1824.
Samuel AngierAugust 26, 1792In 1829, married fellow colonist Pamelia Pickett
James E.B. AustinOctober 3, 1803August 14, 1829Helped put down the Fredonian Rebellion. Brother of Stephen F. Austin.
John AustinMarch 17, 1801August 11, 1833
Stephen F. AustinNovember 3, 1793December 27, 1836
James B. Baily November 13, 1797September 30, 18355 wives and 18 children
Daniel E. Balis
William Baratt
Thomas Barnet
Thomas Hudson Barron[12] 179618742 wives 22 children
Benjamin Beason1786 1837wife 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
Wife Prudencio, three children Donated the land on which Bellville was founded in 1846
M. Berry
Isaac Best 17741837Wife 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 ["site", in Spanish] 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
1784 1836
David Carpenter
William C. Carson
Samuel Carter
Jesse H. Cartwright
Thomas Cartwright
Samuel Chance
John C. Clark
Antony R. Clarke
Merit M. Coats
John P. Coles
James Russell Cook 1812 1843 Single
John Cooke
William Cooper
Robert Cooper5 children
John Crownover 1 sonMarried to Elizabeth Chesney, son John Chesney Crownover born 1799 in Pennsylvania[13]
James Cummings
John Cummings
William Cummings
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 178524 May 1867Married 3 times. 3rd wife, Jane Mason Wilkins McCormick Duke. 6 children; Mary Francis, Charlotte Jane, Thomoas Marshall, Jr., John Marshall, Stephen Austin, Alice ImoginDied, 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 DutyMarch 6, 1801 (Gallatin, TN) September 11, 1855 (Webberville, TX)
Thomas Earle
G.E. Edwards
John Elam
Robert Elder
Charles Falenash
David Fenter
James Fisher
David Fitzgerald 1832Widowed with one son and daughter.The plot of land now sits in modern Fort Bend County. Fitzgerald died in 1832 and willed the land to his daughter Sarah. She would later sell the entire property to Johnathan Dawson Waters. [14] [15]
Isaiah Flanakin
Elisha Flowers
John Foster 1837 2 sons [16]
James Frazier
Churchill Fulshear
Charles Garret
Samuel Gates
William Gates
Freeman George 17801834Wife, 8 sonsFreeman 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.[17]
Preston Gilbert
Sarah Gilbert 17501841
Daniel Gilleland
Chester S. Gorbet
Michael Gouldrich
Thomas Gray
1782 1836 90 slaves
Robert Guthrie
John Haddan
George B. Hall
John W. Hall
W. J. Hall
David Hamilton
Abner Harris
David Harris
William Harris
William J. Harris
George Harrison
William Harvey
Thomas S. Haynes
James Hensley
Alexander Hodge 1757 1836 Historical marker erected at Hodge's Bend Cemetery in Fort Bend County (1975), where Alexander Hodge's grave is located.
Francis Holland
William Holland
Kinchen Holliman
James Hope
C.S. Hudson
George Huff
Isaac Hughes
Eli Hunter
Johnson Calhoun Hunter May 22, 1787 May 29, 1855 Wife: Mary Martha Harbert; Children as of March 1826: Robert Hancock Hunter, John Calhoun Hunter, Harriet Harbert Hunter, Thomas Jefferson Hunter, Thaddeus Warsaw Hunter, Messina Hunter, Martha Hunter Education: Dr. Johnson Hunter, earned a Medical Diploma around 1805. Dr. Johnson & Martha raised 10 children, four girls and six boys. He received a title to a sitio (roughly 4600 acres where La Porte and Morgan's Point, TX are now located) of land from the Mexican government in 1824. In 1826, he sold Hunter's Point (peninsula between Galveston & San Jacinto Bays, now known as Morgans Point and La Porte and relocated to Fort Bend County, where he built a home that served as a Richmond area landmark for fifty years, currently Pecan Grove.[18] In 1855, a five-acre tract of land was donated by Dr. Johnson Hunter on the R.H. Hunter survey and was called the Frost Institute. The institute was organized by Dr. Johnson Hunters' son-in-law. Frost Institute was located approximately six miles north of Richmond.[19] Dr. Hunter was buried in the family cemetery, known as the Brick Church Graveyard.
John Iiams [''sic''] This may be John Williams.
1788 1837
Seth Ingram
John Irons 1786 1842 Wife Polly(Baker) Irons and son Elisha B. Irons born in 1826 Settled outside Monaville, Tx near Irons Creek.
Samuel Isaacks
Alexander Jackson
Isaac Jackson
Thomas Jamison
Henry W. Johnson
James W. Jones
R. Jones
Imla Keep
John C. Keller
John Kelly
Samuel Kennedy
Alfred Kennon
William Kerr
William Kingston
James Knight
17771834Brother of Robert and Joseph, father of Barzillia. Commanded the militia of Austin's colony, murdered by Joseph Clayton.
Barzillai KuykendallSon of Abner Kuykendall
Hosea H. League
Joel Leakey
Benjamin Linsey
John Little
17981880 aka. "the Mother of Texas". Widow of filibuster James Long (1793-1822).[20]
James Lynch
Nathanael Lynch
John McCroskey
Arthur McCormick
David McCormick
John McCormick
Thomas McCoy
Aechilles McFarlan
John McFarlan
1801 1873 Father of the Texas Navy
Hugh McKinsey
A.W. McClain 17971895
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 Mims 1844 Wife Sarah, two sons, one daughter, and four slaves
Asa Mitchell
John L. Monks
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
c. 1787 1831 Wife Rachel Rabb, 10 children Son-in-law to William Rabb, and Brother in-law to John Rabb, Andrew Rabb and Thomas J. Rabb, he ranched and farmed a sitio near Bonus, Texas.
Charles Isaac Nidever
M.B. Nuckols
James Orrick
William Parks
William Parker
Isaac Pennington
John Petty
Zeno Philips[21]
Peter Powell
William Prater
Pleasant Pruitt
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 He disowned his only son Trammell J Pryor.[22]
Andrew Rabb Son of William Rabb, Brother-in-law to Joseph Newman, Brother of Thomas J. Rabb and John Rabb.
Son of William Rabb, Brother-in-law to Joseph Newman, Brother of Thomas J. Rabb and Andrew Rabb.
Son of William Rabb, Brother-in-law to Joseph Newman, Brother of John Rabb and Andrew Rabb.
Father to Andrew Rabb, John Rabb and Thomas J. Rabb, Father-in-law to Joseph Newman.
William Raleigh
L. Ramey
Frederic H. Rankin
Amos Rawls
Benjamin Rawls
Daniel Rawls
Stephen Richardson
Elijah Roark 1782 1829 Son: Leo Andrew Elijah Roark and Wife: Cynthia Elijah Fisher
Earle Robbins
William Robbins
Andrew Roberts 1844 Wife Sally, four daughters, and one son
Noel F. Roberts C. 1786 C. 1843 Harriet Pryor
William Roberts 1813 Jul 1849 Elizabeth Pryor
Edward Robertson
Andrew Robinson Sr.1852 Wife Nancy and two children First settler
George Robinson
James Ross
June Salmeron
Joseph San Pierre
Marvin Scheick
James Scott
William Selkirk 1792 1830 2 children Helped found Matagorda and served as militia captain.
David Shelby
Daniel Shipman NC 20 Feb 1801 Goliad County Texas 4 Mar 1881 Son of Moses Shipman
1774 NC1 Jan 1838 Ft. Bend, TXMary Robinson, ten childrenFather of Daniel Shipman
Bartlet Sims
George Washington Singleton Related to Charla Kaye Moore Sisk [23]
Philip Singleton Daughter Mary King married John D. Taylor November 19, 1838
Christian Smith
Cornelius Smith
John Smith
1767 1837
Gabriel S. Snider
Albert L. Sojourner
Nancy Spencer
Adam Stafford
William Stafford 17801840
Thomas Stevens
Owen H. Stout
John Strange
Walter Sutherland
Elemelech Swearingen 1805 1887 Last family of the Old 300; replaced a family who withdrew their application.
David Tally
John D. Taylor Married Mary King Singleton, daughter of Philip Singleton, November 19, 1838; they had two children Jeanette Susan 1841–1915 and Isabell 1842–1925
Ezekiel Thomas
Jacob Thomas
Thomas J. Tone
James F. Tong 1783July 29, 1827 Elizabeth Thompson, 1 Child- Harriet E. Tong (1817–1884)Father- William H. Tong (1756–1848) Revolutionary Way Minuteman in Maryland, fought at Bradywine and Germantown with George Washington. William Tong, 2 wives and 26 children
Samuel Toy
John Trobough
Elizabeth Piemmons Tumlinson 1778 1829 Wife of John Jackson Tumlinson whom was killed by Waco Indians while crossing the Guadalupe riverSarah was granted one league and one labor of land in the Colorado district.
James Tumlinson
Isaac Vandorn
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
1792 1841 Married Mary Sherwood Wightman in 1828 Helped found Matagorda and surveyed Austin's colony.
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
Solomon Williams
Thomas Williams
Zadock Woods aka Zaduck 1773 1842 Wife Minerva Cottle Woods Served in the battle of Gonzales, the battle of Concepción, the Grass Fight and the Runaway Scrape. Colonist of Texas, Zadock Woods was one of the "Old Three Hundred" who established a colony area with land purchased from Stephen F. Austin.[24] A veteran of the War of 1812, he served in the battle of Gonzales, the battle of Concepción, the Grass Fight and the Runaway Scrape.[25] [26] His homestead was a fortified inn, known as Fort Woods, built to provide protection from Indian attacks on the colonists.[27] He was the oldest man killed in the "Dawson expedition" September 1842.[28]

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Edmondson (2000), p. 60.
  2. Edmondson (2000), p. 61.
  3. Edmondson (2000), p. 63.
  4. Greaser (1999), p. xviii.
  5. Cantrell (2000), p. 419.
  6. Hatch (1999), p. 136.
  7. Greaser (1999), p. ix.
  8. Book: Burrough . Bryan . Tomlinson . Chris . Stanford . Jason . 2021 . Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth . New York . Penguin Press . 9781984880093.
  9. Davis (2006), p. 60.
  10. Web site: Old Three Hundred . Long . Christopher . . Texas State Historical Association . July 11, 2021 .
  11. Bugbee . Lester G. . The Old Three Hundred: A List of Settlers in Austin's First Colony . October 1897. 1. 2 . Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association . 108–117 . 30242636 .
  12. Web site: TSHA | Barron, Thomas Hudson. www.tshaonline.org.
  13. Web site: Ancestry® Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records. ancestry.com. 2016-04-17.
  14. Web site: TSHA | Fitzgerald, David. www.tshaonline.org.
  15. Web site: TSHA | Waters, Jonathan Dawson. www.tshaonline.org.
  16. Web site: TSHA | Foster, John. www.tshaonline.org.
  17. "GEORGE, FREEMAN," Handbook of Texas Online https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fge05, accessed June 07, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  18. "Fort Bend County Texas - A Pictorial History" by Sharon Wallingford, p. 47
  19. "Fort Bend County Texas - A Pictorial History" by Sharon Wallingford, p. 58
  20. Web site: TSHA | Long, Jane Herbert Wilkinson. www.tshaonline.org.
  21. "PHILIPS, ZENO," Handbook of Texas Online (https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fph05), accessed October 02, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  22. "PRYOR, WILLIAM," Handbook of Texas Online https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpr18, accessed January 8, 2014. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  23. Web site: Singleton, George Washington .
  24. Title: Zadock and Minerva Cottle Woods, American pioneers Author: Paul N Spellman Publisher: Austin, Texas 1988 OCLC Number: 36308761
  25. Paul N. Spellman, "WOODS, ZADOCK," Handbook of Texas Online https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwo17, accessed June 16, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  26. Original papers Regarding Zadock Woodsand His Sons: Norman Woods; Henry Gonzalvo Woods; Montraville Woods; Leander Woods compiled by Robert Forsyth Little, IV and Marianne Elizabeth Hall Little OCLC Number: 310362910 in Historical Manuscript collection, University of Texas at Austin Library.
  27. Texas Haunted Forts Author: Elaine Coleman Republic of Texas Press 2001
  28. Memorial Stone erected by the State of Texas 1936 at the site of Woods Fort