The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 38, July 1934 - April, 1935 Page: 177

Benjamin Rush Milam

BENJAMIN RUSH MILAM
Lois GARVER
CHAPTER III
(Continued)
Milam's next problem was the colonizing of his grant between
the Colorado and Guadalupe Rivers, known as "Milam's Colony."
He had agreed to settle three hundred families in this territory
within a period of six years, and, up to this point, his attempts
to settle this colony had failed. At this time he had less than a
year in which to settle the grant, which would have been almost an
impossibility to accomplish. In the first place, Milam's grant,
though in a very fertile region, was not as accessible as some
other colonies, even Wavell's. Although people were still enthu-
siastic about emigration into Texas, they preferred other sections
of the country to Milam's. James Milam, writing to Earl Stan-
ley Williams from Palmyra, Missouri, said:
The Texas fever rages in Missouri. There is a great many of
my acquaintances that talk of going to Texas. If they sell here
they all talk of going to Dewitt's Colony.'17
In the second place, Milam had "too many irons in the fire," so to
speak. His interests were entirely too scattered to achieve very
profitable results, and for this reason, as well as others already
mentioned, the attempts he did make to settle or dispose of his
grant in 1828 and 1829 were destined to fail. According to the
records in the General Land Office, Milam succeeded in introducing
only fifty-two families into his colony, and their land titles, at that,
were not issued until 1835.118
A certain Samuel Brents of Greensburgh, Kentucky, seems to
have been cooperating with Milam in his attempt to settle his
colony. In a letter to Milam, November, 1832, Brents said:
Notwithstanding I know your grant on the Guadalupe has ex-
pired, yet I have continued to encourage settlers to go on to that
and other colonies you had.119
11TJames Milam to Williams, E. S., January 4, 1830, in Hill Collection
of Milam Papers.
" sAbstract of Original Record of Titles, 53-55, in General Land Office.
"'Brents to Milam, November 2, 1832, Milam Papers (Hill Collection).

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