The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 40, July 1936 - April, 1937 Page: 54
348 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
they are from 20 to 50 years old I have not looked at the country
very much for it is knot very safe for us to go alone and the men
are all so busy that they cant take time to go with us.
T. Rawlins
Besides the settlements of the Rawlins neighborhood, there were
scattered settlements west of the Trinity in the region of Cham-
bers Creek, according to Pillans.
As a result of Mercer's extensive advertising,19 immigrants were
gradually taking up the land within his grant. They came first
from Arkansas to the northeast corner of the grant, east of the
Sabine.
They came from states or territories further away and settled
in the regions nearer the Indian frontier to the south and west.
By the end of 1844 Pillans went with Dr. Rowlett and Tom Bean,
Deputy Surveyor of Fannin County, who served as Land Com-
missioners, as provided for under the Empresario System, visited
the settlements, and issued certificates to more than 100 families,
who had complied with the requirements of the contract.20 The
complete list of settlers who signed an agreement with Mercer
was prepared by Dr. D. Rowlett, P. J. Pillans, and Tom Bean
and sent to the General Land Office, August 2, 1845.21
Upon Rowlett's completion of a map of the Colony, Mercer had
a thousand copies of it and his contract printed in New Orleans
as he was returning from Texas in the late summer of 1845. En
route to New York he proceeded via Jonesville (Arkansas), St.
Louis, and Cincinnati. In important towns of Illinois and In-
diana he "advertised the terms of colonization in the leading news-
papers, by distributing handbills in the inns along the way, and
by communicating with old acquaintances of former years when
I was in the House of Representatives." While Mercer was in
the middle west he "sought information relative to the best prac-
tical mode of settling prairies and to the substitution of wind
"Mercer to Anson Jones, March 31, 1845. Colonization Papers, 1843-
1845. Texas State Library.
Descendants of the settlers may be found in Greenville today and in
the communities on the upper branches of the Sabine River. Personal
interviews with Uncle Billy Horn, aged 85, a son of a settler from Mis-
souri, and with Claude Fuller, former County Auditor of Hunt County.
"ODeposition of P. J. Pillans in the records of the case, Preston vs. Walsh.
"Original Covenant and Agreement between Charles Fenton Mercer and
Settlers. General Land Office.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 40, July 1936 - April, 1937, periodical, 1937; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101099/m1/62/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.