The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918 Page: 237
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The Government of Austin's Colony, 1821-1831
On October 30, Austin drew up an explicit statement of the
conditions of settlement in his colony: settlers must give "the
most unequivocal and satisfactory evidence of unblemished char-
acter, good morals, sobriety, and industrious habits"; and must
have sufficient means to p-ay for their lands and get a start in the
colony as farmers or mechanics. "No frontiersman who has no
other occupation than that of a hunter will be received-no drunk-
ard, no gambler, no profane swearer, no, idler . .. will he
received." Those rejected for bad character would be ordered
from the settlements, and, if necessary, escorted out under guard,
their own property being seized to pay the cost of the escort.
Persons accepted as settlers would receive, as a rule, a league of
land of their own choice at the rate or $12.50 per hundred acres,
payable in cash, cattle, or negroes, on receipt of title. This pay-
ment would include the cost of surveying, issuing and recording
title, and all other charges. Persons with large, capital or a large
family might obtain more than a league. Single men must com-
bine in groups of ten in order to receive a league in common.
The next day he issued a public notice requiring newcomers to
report immediately upon arrival to the nearest alcalde; if they
wished land, they must report to Austtin himself and show evi-
dences of good character before selecting it.52
gam, November 17, 1823, for $1291.80; to Benjamin Fowler, November
25, for 200 bushels of corn at fifty cents a bushel; to Alexander John-
son, March 7, 1824, for $231.75 "in surveyor's, orders." All in Austin
Papers, miscellaneous.
""Terms on which settlers are admitted into the colony formed by
Stephen F. Austin in the Province of Texas," October 30, and "Public
Notice," October 31, 1823. Austin Papers, miscellaneous. After this one
Garner was given ten lashes for entering the colony without the proper
credentials, showing Austin's intention of enforcing to the letter the re-
quirement -of certificates of character. See Austin to Bell, December 6,
1823. Austin Papers.
The provision for granting more than a league to those whose capital
or large families would enable them to. improve it was sound policy and
was later incorporated in the State colonization law, but many of the set-
tlers, those "North American frontier republicans," as Austin called
them, "who felt that they were sovereigns," refused to see in it a valid
ground of distinction. Their complaints caused Austin great annoyance,
but he was relieved from further embarrassment .on this point by the
colonization law of March, 1825, which .required the approval of all ex-
ceptional grants by the Governor.237
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 21, July 1917 - April, 1918, periodical, 1918; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101073/m1/243/: accessed May 14, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.