The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905 Page: 105
xiii, 358 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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De Witt's Colony.
105
Here he was soon joined by Kerr, who, now that the little settlement
he had nurtured was no more, believed that the Lavaca was the most
desirable place for the town. He felt that the colonists did not
then have strength enough to rebuild Gonzales, and, moreover, he
thought that even if they moved further into the interior they
would soon be compelled, in order to secure sufficient territory, to
extend their occupation to the Eavaca River.a
In August he went to Bejar to ask the political chief to assign to
De Witt the whole Lavaca valley and to allow the colonists to re-
main at the river's mouth.' On his way he made a thorough exam-
ination of the land, selected a town site near the head of tidewater,
and wrote a detailed description of the country to Austin. In
speaking of the spot he had selected he, in his own way, becomes
eloquent. "No place on earth," he writes, "can exceed this for
beauty. The Elisian fields of the Mehometan Paradise never was
so delightsome as these Prairies." 4 Kerr's mission to B6jar, how-
ever, accomplished little. While the political chief made no oppo-
sition to the existence of a station at the Lavaca to receive immi-
grants,5 he would not authorize the permanent location of colonists
there."
Texas, I 125). To undertake his journey to northern Missouri he needed
funds. In order to secure them he sold bills for different amounts, which
he promised to receive again at their face value as payment for land in
his colony. Brown had in his possession eight of these bills, whose face
value varied from five to twenty dollars. He gives the following literal
copy of one of them:
"No. 2.
"This bill will be received as a cash payment for ten dollars
on account of fees for land in De Witt's Colony.
"River Guadalupe, district of Gonzales, 15th day of October,
1825.
"Green De Witt, Empresario."
1 Kerr to Austin, July, 1826. Austin Papers, class D, no. 24.
2 Unless otherwise stated "political chief" in this essay always means
the political chief, or executive, of the district or department of B6jar.
3Kerr to Austin, August 8, 1826 (Austin Papers, class D, no. 30);
Kerr to Austin, August 23, 1826 (Austin Papers, class D, no. 31). See
below, p. 109.
' Kerr to Austin, August 18, 1826. Austin Papers, class D, no. 23.
5 In May, 1827, full permision was given them to hold permanently a
warehouse that they had erected at the mouth of the Lavaca (Saucedo to
principal commandant, May 1, 1827. Bexar Archives).
' Kerr to Austin, August 23, 1826. Austin Papers, class D, no. 31.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905, periodical, 1905; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101033/m1/107/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.