Robertson's Colony
Encyclopedia
Empresario
An empresario was a person who, in the early years of the settlement of Texas, had been granted the right to settle on Mexican land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for new settlers. The word is Spanish for entrepreneur.- Background :...
colonization effort during the Mexican Texas
Mexican Texas
Mexican Texas is the name given by Texas history scholars to the period between 1821 and 1836, when Texas was an integral part of Mexico. The period began with Mexico's victory over Spain in its war of independence in 1821. For the first several years of its existence, Mexican Texas operated very...
period. It is named after Sterling C. Robertson
Sterling C. Robertson
Sterling Clack Robertson was an empresario from Tennessee, during Mexican Texas. He introduced 600 families into Robertson's Colony. Robertson was also an elected delegate to the Washington-on-the-Brazos convention, signing both the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the...
, but had previously been known by other names. It has also been referred to as the Nashville Colony, after the Tennessee city where the effort originated, the Texas Association, the Upper Colony, and Leftwich's Grant, named after early colonizer Robert Leftwich. The eventual contract spread over an area that includes all or part of thirty present-day counties in Texas.
Counties within Robertson's Colony
The original 1824 contract secured by Robert Leftwich included all or part of seventeen present-day Texas counties. The 1827 transfer of the contract from Leftwich to the Texas Association added territory that included all or part of an additional thirteen counties.- BastropBastrop County, TexasBastrop County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2006, the population was 71,700. Its county seat is Bastrop. Bastrop County is named for Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop , an early Dutch settler who assisted Stephen F...
- BellBell County, TexasBell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. Bell County was founded in 1850. It is part of the Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2000, the county's population was 237,974; in 2010 the U.S. Census Bureau reported that its population had reached...
- BosqueBosque County, TexasBosque County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population is 17,204. Its county seat is Meridian. Clifton, however, is the largest city and the cultural/financial center of the county. Bosque is named for the Bosque River, which runs through...
- BrazosBrazos County, TexasBrazos County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas in the Central Texas region. In 2010, its population was 194,851. The county seat is Bryan and it is part of the Bryan-College Station metropolitan area. Brazos is named for the Brazos River, along with Brazoria...
- BrownBrown County, TexasBrown County is a county in West Central Texas. As of 2000, the population was 37,674. Its county seat is Brownwood. Brown is named for Henry Stevenson Brown, a commander at the Battle of Velasco...
- Burleson
- BurnetBurnet County, TexasBurnet County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 34,147. The 2008 Census Bureau Estimate was 44,488. Its county seat is Burnet. Burnet is named for David Gouverneur Burnet, the first president of the Republic of Texas...
- CallahanCallahan County, Texas*Baird*Belle Plain*Callahan City*Clyde*Cottonwood*Cross Plains*Eula*Putnam-See also:*National Register of Historic Places listings in Callahan County, Texas-External links:* at the University of Texas*...
- ComancheComanche County, TexasComanche County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. In 2000, its population was 14,026. Comanche was founded in 1856. Comanche is named for the Comanche Native American tribe...
- CoryellCoryell County, TexasCoryell County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 74,978. The county seat is Gatesville. Coryell County forms part of the Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood Metropolitan Statistical Area...
- EastlandEastland County, Texas*Carbon*Cisco*Desdemona, a ghost town*Eastland*Gorman*Mangum*Olden*Ranger*Rising Star*Romney-See also:*National Register of Historic Places listings in Eastland County, Texas*Santa Claus Bank Robbery-External links:** at the University of Texas*...
- ErathErath County, TexasErath County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 33,001. It is named for George Bernard Erath, an early surveyor and a soldier at the Battle of San Jacinto. The seat of the county is Stephenville....
- FallsFalls County, TexasFalls County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 18,576. In 2003, the population of the county was estimated to be 17,926. It is named for the waterfalls on the Brazos River, which can be found at the Falls On The Brazos Park, a campsite located only a few...
- Hamilton
- Hill
- Hood
- JackJack County, Texas*Bryson*Jacksboro*Jermyn *Joplin *Perrin *Gibtown-See also:*National Register of Historic Places listings in Jack County, Texas-External links:*...
- JohnsonJohnson County, TexasAs of the census of 2000, there were 126,811 people, 43,636 households, and 34,428 families residing in the county. The population density was 174 people per square mile . There were 46,269 housing units at an average density of 63 per square mile...
- LampasasLampasas County, TexasLampasas County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 17,762. Its seat is Lampasas. The county is named for the Lampasas River....
- Lee
- LimestoneLimestone County, TexasLimestone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 22,051. Its county seat is Groesbeck.-Geography:According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water....
- McLennanMcLennan County, TexasMcLennan County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. In 2000, its population was 213,517; in 2008 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated its population to be 230,213. Its seat is Waco. The county is named for Neil McLennan, an early settler....
- Milam
- MillsMills County, TexasMills County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. In 2000, its population was 5,151. Mills County is named for John T. Mills, a justice of the Texas Supreme Court...
- Palo PintoPalo Pinto County, TexasAs of the census of 2000, there were 27,026 people, 10,594 households, and 7,447 families residing in the county. The population density was 28 people per square mile . There were 14,102 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...
- ParkerParker County, TexasAs of the census of 2003, there were 98,495 people, 31,131 households, and 24,313 families residing in the county. The population density was 98 people per square mile . There were 34,084 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...
- Robertson
- SomervellSomervell County, TexasThere were 2,438 households out of which 37.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.70% were married couples living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.50% were non-families. 21.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.20% had...
- StephensStephens County, TexasAs of the census of 2000, there were 9,674 people, 3,661 households, and 2,591 families residing in the county. The population density was 11 people per square mile . There were 4,893 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile...
- WilliamsonWilliamson County, TexasWilliamson County is a county located on both the Edwards Plateau to the west, consisting of rocky terrain and hills, and Blackland Prairies in the east consising of rich, fertile farming land, The two areas are roughly bisected by Interstate 35...
Colonization laws
- January 4, 1823, the Imperial Colonization Law under Emperor Augustine de Iturbide . The law established the responsibilities and rewards of the EmpresarioEmpresarioAn empresario was a person who, in the early years of the settlement of Texas, had been granted the right to settle on Mexican land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for new settlers. The word is Spanish for entrepreneur.- Background :...
system of recruiting the settlers, the apportionment of land, required adherence to CatholicismCatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, citizenship requirements, and the authority structure within the settlements. Iturbide abdicated March 19, 1823, nullifying the new law.
- August 14, 1824, the General Colonization LawGeneral Colonization LawThe Colonization Law of August 18, 1824 was a Mexican statute allowing foreigners to immigrate to the country.-Background:Under Spanish rule, New Spain was populated almost solely with native peoples or Spanish settlers. Foreign immigration was forbidden for much of the country...
, opened settlement by non-Mexicans, and guarantee basic rights therein.
- March 25, 1825, the State Colonization Law of Coahuila y TejasCoahuila y TejasCoahuila y Tejas was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution.It had two capitals: first Saltillo, and then Monclova...
, established colonization requirements of Texas, while deferring to Mexican federal law.
- The Law of April 6, 1830Law of April 6, 1830The Law of April 6, 1830 was passed in Mexico to counter concerns that Mexican Texas, part of the border state of Coahuila y Texas was in danger of being annexed by the United States.-Background:...
was passed to stem the tide of Anglo immigration, hoping to prevent Texas being annexed by the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Article Eleven of the law specifically addresses: "citizens of foreign countries lying adjacent to Mexican territory are prohibited from settling as colonists in the states or territories of the republic adjoining such countries. Those contracts of colonization, the terms of which are opposed to the present article, and which are not yet complied with, shall consequently be suspended."
The Texas Association
On March 2, 1822, a group of seventy individuals known as the Texas Association met in Nashville, TennesseeNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
to draft a letter to the Mexican government, petitioning for colonization This group included Dr. Felix Robertson, president of the association, Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
, Ira Ingram
Ira Ingram
Ira Ingram was a soldier, legislator, and a land owner. He was a member of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred. Ingram is also noted for being the Republic of Texas's first Speaker of the House.-Early life:...
, Robert Leftwich, Andrew Erwin and Sterling C. Robertson
Sterling C. Robertson
Sterling Clack Robertson was an empresario from Tennessee, during Mexican Texas. He introduced 600 families into Robertson's Colony. Robertson was also an elected delegate to the Washington-on-the-Brazos convention, signing both the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the...
. The association advanced Leftwich and Erwin a total of $4,000 to be used for expenses in presenting the petition to the Mexican government. After escorting Leftwich to Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Erwin returned to Tennessee. Leftwich stayed in Mexico City to pursue the colonization effort.
The Leftwich grant
In the two-year wait in Mexico City before the passage of its General Colonization Law, Leftwich had depleted the monies advanced to him by the Texas Association. On October 20, 1824, Leftwich used his personal funds and petitioned the government in his own name, for settlement of 800 families. His petition to settle the families along the Brazos RiverBrazos River
The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers , is the longest river in Texas and the 11th longest river in the United States at from its source at the head of Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a drainage...
was granted on April 15, 1825. The present-day Texas counties covered by this original Leftwich grant were Bastrop, Bell, Brazos, Burleson, Burnet, Comanche, Coryell, Falls, Hamilton, Lampasas, Lee, Limestone, McLennan, Milam, Mills, Robertson, and Williamson. In exchange for an additional $14,000, Leftwich sold the colonization contract to the Texas Association on August 8, 1825. The deal retained Leftwich as the empresario agent between the association and the Mexican government. Dr. Felix Robertson and a group of advance men made an exploratory trip to Texas to lay the groundwork for the colonization. Leftwich dropped out of the colonization effort due to health issues.
The Nashville company
On March 8, 1827, the Texas Association petitioned the government to transfer the colonization contract to the association, and recognize Hosea H. League as their representative. In 1826, League had joined the colonization efforts of Stephen F. AustinStephen F. Austin
Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...
. In January 1827, League led settlers to join the Green DeWitt
Green DeWitt
Green DeWitt was an empresario in Mexican Texas. He founded the DeWitt Colony, one of the most successful.-Early years:...
group. In April of the same year, he led settlers to join Austin's colony.
League empowered Austin to act on his behalf in regards to the association's petition. In the paperwork, Austin referred to the association as "the company from Nashville". On October 15, the government granted Austin's petition on behalf of the Nashville Company. It extended the boundary to include the present-day Texas counties of Bosque, Brown, Callahan, Eastland, Erath, Hill, Hood, Jack, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell, and Stephens. This brought the total to all or part of thirty present-day Texas counties.
The Upper colony
In 1830, Sterling C. RobertsonSterling C. Robertson
Sterling Clack Robertson was an empresario from Tennessee, during Mexican Texas. He introduced 600 families into Robertson's Colony. Robertson was also an elected delegate to the Washington-on-the-Brazos convention, signing both the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the...
of the Texas Association, along with Alexander Thomson, Jr. began recruiting settlers for the Texas colonization. The new Law of April 6, 1830, however, nullified the colonization contract with the Texas Association. Stephen F. Austin was able to get an exemption for his colony and that of Green DeWitt. Robertson asked for Austin's assistance in getting an exemption for the association's colonization efforts. Although Austin initially agreed to help Robertson, he and his secretary Samuel May Williams applied for a colonization grant of the same area in their own names. Their justification in the petition was that Robertson had not begun colonization. Austin's petition was granted on February 5, 1831. Under the new contract, the area was referred to as the Upper Colony of the Austin contract. By 1834, Austin and Williams had also failed to colonize the area.
Robertson's colony
Coahuila y Tejas governor Agustín ViescaAgustín Viesca
Agustín Viesca was a governor of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas in 1835. He was the brother of José María Viesca, also a governor of Coahuila y Tejas during 1827-1831....
cancelled the Austin-Williams contract on May 22, 1834, and granted a new contract to Sterling C. Robertson, to complete the contract of 800 families before April 29, 1838. The legal description being:
The contract set Robertson's payment as empresario to be five leagues and five labors, 23027.5 acre (93.2 km²; 36 sq mi),
of premium lands for every 100 families introduced into the colony. The colony was established in Falls County
Falls County, Texas
Falls County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 18,576. In 2003, the population of the county was estimated to be 17,926. It is named for the waterfalls on the Brazos River, which can be found at the Falls On The Brazos Park, a campsite located only a few...
, with the capital named Sarahville de Viesca after Robertson's mother Sarah Maclin Robertson, and Governor Viesca. It was located near present-day Marlin
Marlin, Texas
Marlin is a city in Falls County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,628 at the 2000 census, but decreased to 5,967 by 2010. It is also the county seat of Falls County, and has been so since 1851...
. Robertson's son Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson
Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson
Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson was an early white settler in Robertson's Colony in Texas. His father was the colony's founder Sterling C. Robertson. Brought to Texas to learn the Spanish language, he translated for both Robertson's Colony and later the Texas General Land Office. He practiced law...
worked translating deeds into the Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for the colony, and received 1107 acre (4.5 km²; 1.7 sq mi) in Milam County for his services.
Due to out break of the Texas Revolution
Texas Revolution
The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was an armed conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836...
, the provisional government of Texas shut down all colonial Land Offices on November 1835. Robertson succeed in introducing 600 families to the colony before 1838. He filed a lawsuit in Travis County
Travis County, Texas
As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...
District Court in November 1837, to receive his payment of premium lands for the families he did introduce.. In 1841, the District Court found in his favor. Robertson died in 1842. In December 1847, the Texas Supreme Court
Texas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Texas is the court of last resort for non-criminal matters in the state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is the court of last resort for criminal matters.The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices...
discounted 221 of those families. Even though the families were introduced to the colony within the time frame of Robertson's contract, the Texas Supreme Court cited that the discounted 221 families were introduced after the 1835 closing of the Land Offices.