Moses Austin (October 4, 1761 – June 10, 1821) was an American businessman and pioneer who played a large part in the development of the

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

industry in the early

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, especially in southwest Virginia and Missouri. He was the father of Stephen F. Austin, one of the earliest American settlers of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, which was at the time part of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. After receiving a land grant from the

Spanish Crown The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

in 1820, Moses Austin planned to be the first to establish an American settlement in Spanish Texas, but he died before his dream was realized. On his deathbed, he pleaded with his son to fulfill his dream to colonize Texas. Stephen led the large group of settlers from Missouri who colonized the northern reaches of then-sovereign

in 1825, and in time, the settlers demanded autonomy and later won independence from Mexico under President

Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De,''Handbook of Texas Online'' Retrieved 18 April 2017. often known as Santa Anna, wa ...

, thereby establishing the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

Biography

Moses Austin was born October 4, 1761, to Elias Austin and Eunice Phelps Austin in

Durham, Connecticut Durham ( ) is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Durham is a former farming village on the Coginchaug River in central Connecticut. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut Ri ...

. He is a descendant of Richard Austin on his paternal side.Literary papers of William Austin, with a biographical sketch by his son By William Austin, James Walker Austin In 1784, he moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to enter the

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...

business with his brother, Stephen. He then moved to

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, to open a second dry goods store. In 1785, he married into the affluent iron mining family of Mary Brown, who then became known as Mary Brown Austin. The Austins' second child was born in 1793 and named Stephen Fuller Austin in honor of his father's brother and his mother's great uncle. Their daughter Emily Austin followed in 1795. A second son,

James Elijah Brown Austin James Elijah Brown Austin (October 3, 1803 – August 14, 1829) was an American settler and brother of empresario Stephen F. Austin, "The Father of Texas." Counted also as one of the Old Three Hundred, he is listed in Spanish and Mexican reco ...

, was born in 1803. Austin sought to start his own mining business in southwestern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and in 1789 he traveled there to look at a lead mine. Moses saw potential in the site and by 1791 his family had joined him in what is now Wythe County. Moses and his brother Stephen and several other partners and individuals industrialized the area. Several smelters, furnaces, commissaries, blacksmith shops, liveries, and mills were established. The tiny village around the mines became known as " Austinville", and Moses came to be known as the "Lead King". The Austin brothers soon incurred debts, causing the collapse of the company. After the Virginia lead business failed, Moses skipped out to avoid imprisonment and the consequences of debt, which was then customary for debtors in the U.S. under traditional English law (now being developed for U.S. federal and state codes), and looked toward the rich lead deposits in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, then a part of upper

Spanish Louisiana Louisiana (, ), was a province of New Spain from 1762 to 1801. It was primarily located in the center of North America encompassing the western basin of the Mississippi River plus New Orleans. The area had originally been claimed and controlle ...

.Edmondson (2000), p. 56. In December 1797, Austin and a companion traveled to investigate the Spanish mines. Stephen remained behind to salvage the Virginia business, creating a rift between the two brothers that would last for much of the rest of their lives. The state of Virginia seized much of the property Moses owned and broke up the various operations, which were later purchased from the state at great discounts by Thomas Jackson and his partners — they would later build the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower, one of the few extant shot towers in United States, at this location. In 1798, the Spanish colonial government granted to Moses one league of land (4,428 acres) to undertake lead mining operations. In return he swore allegiance to the Spanish Crown and stated he would settle some families in Missouri. Travelling to Missouri, Austin worked with Francois Valle to identify his claims and to learn the practices of lead mining in Missouri. Valle and other French colonizers had long used enslaved African Americans and enslaved Native Americans to mine, and Austin immediately took to these practices. In 1798, the year of his arrival in Missouri, he purchased at least one enslaved man. Moses greatly expanded the use of enslaved men and women in running mining operations in Missouri. Enslaved African American men were used for the hard, difficult labor of digging the lead ore and processing it. Enslaved boys were forced to man the carts that carried ore from the pits to the smelters. Enslaved women and girls were used to prepare food for the enslaved men who worked the mines, pits, and smelting operations. In 1803, Missouri came under the jurisdiction of the United States as part of the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

. Austin became founder and principal stockholder in the Bank of St. Louis, but the bank failed in the

Panic of 1819 The Panic of 1819 was the first widespread and durable financial crisis in the United States that slowed westward expansion in the Cotton Belt and was followed by a general collapse of the American economy that persisted through 1821. The Panic ...

, causing him to lose his entire fortune. He again sought help from Spain. In 1820, Austin traveled to the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar in Spanish Texas and presented a plan to colonize Texas with Anglo-Americans to Governor Antonio María Martínez. In 1821, the governor asked Austin's friend, Erasmo Seguín, to give him the news that he had been awarded a land grant and permission to settle three hundred families in Texas. On Austin's return trip, he became ill, and he died in June 1821, shortly after arriving back in Missouri. His son Stephen F. Austin carried out his colonization plan several years later, and led the three hundred families to what became the first Anglo-American settlement in Texas. In 1885, the legality of Austin's Spanish property claims were settled posthumously by the U.S. Supreme Court in '' Bryan v. Kennett''.

Family

Moses Austin had many relatives who helped settle Texas, including Stephen F. Austin and Emily Austin Perry (daughter), Moses Austin Bryan (grandson), and others. Moses Austin should be distinguished from his grandson Moses Austin Bryan. James Bryan was his first son-in-law;

James F. Perry James Franklin Perry (1790–1853) was an American who was an early settler of Texas. James married to Emily Austin Perry, and together they operated Peach Point Plantation. He was involved in Texas land distribution. Life James Franklin Perry was ...

was his second son-in-law. The Missouri State Archives reflect that Moses Austin lived in a mansion called Durham Hall, named for his birth town of

Settlement in Texas

Motivation to settle

Moses Austin attempted various economic ventures before his plans to settle in Texas came to fruition. Austin failed to successfully maintain the St. Louis Bank and his financial situation suffered from unfavorable shipment deals. Austin's desperation reached a climax in 1820 when a Missouri sheriff threatened to break down his door to collect past debts. Austin's son, Stephen F. Austin, also continued to seek employment in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

to help his poor financial situation. In November 1820, Austin learned that the United States passed the

Adams–Onís Treaty The Adams–Onís Treaty () of 1819, also known as the Transcontinental Treaty, the Spanish Cession, the Florida Purchase Treaty, or the Florida Treaty,Weeks, p. 168. was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to ...

with Spain, which situated present-day

in New Spain's territory. Moses Austin hoped the Spanish government would permit free trade with the United States so he left for Texas to try and begin a new economic venture. Mary Brown Austin, Moses Austin's wife, wrote to her cousin explaining Moses's plans to colonize Texas in order to provide for their family.

Negotiations with Spain

Austin's primary intention was to create a trading venture on the coast of Texas to allow the United States to trade with New Spain. On December 23, 1820, Austin arrived in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

to begin negotiations with the Spanish government to establish a trading post. After some difficulty on his own, Austin paired with a Spanish interpreter, Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop, who agreed to join Austin and plan a settlement called "Austina" which would be located somewhere on the coast of Texas. On December 26, 1820, Austin and Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop presented a formal petition to Governor Antonio María Martínez. They requested permission to bring three hundred families to a port in Texas. Most importantly, Austin insisted that the settlers were former subjects of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and would be willing to defend the land against foreign enemies. Austin convinced Spain to reinstate the

empresario An empresario () was a person who had been granted the right to settle on land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for settling the eastern areas of Coahuila y Tejas in the early nineteenth century. Since ''empresarios'' attract ...

system in Texas, which resulted in permission to begin a new settlement in Texas. This outdated reward system granted tracts of land to immigrants who pledged their allegiance to the Spanish crown. Therefore, Austin's settlement was contingent upon its allegiance to the Spanish Crown.

Plan for settlement

After returning from successful negotiations in

, Austin returned to Missouri to recruit settlers for his new settlement. In April, he created a "Form of Contract for Emigration to Texas" which detailed the obligations of each member joining the settlement in Texas. Austin required emigrants to help build community structures. He also ordered the settlers to own a "Spanish carbine", a type of gun, to protect the settlement. Austin's relationship with the settlers he recruited was not one of mutual respect, but rather he employed the settlers. Austin contracted his settlers to work from their departure in May, until the following January. In return, Austin guaranteed transportation along with the necessary tools and provisions to begin the settlement. Although Moses Austin died prior to his planned departure, his son, Stephen F. Austin, continued his efforts to colonize Texas. Austin triggered such a substantial movement of people into Texas that the land became inundated with Americans. Austin's push to settle Texas contributed to the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

in 1836 which foreshadowed Texas's integration into the United States in 1845.

Death

Austin died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. His tomb is located in Potosi, Missouri.

Gallery

File:Tomb of Moses Austin p2.jpg, Tomb of Moses and Maria Brown Austin File:Moses Austin Statue.jpg, Moses Austin statue, San Antonio, Texas

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Moses 1761 births 1821 deaths People from Durham, Connecticut American businesspeople in metals Texas pioneers Deaths from pneumonia in Missouri Businesspeople from Missouri People from Jefferson County, Missouri People from Washington County, Missouri People from Natchitoches, Louisiana Businesspeople from Virginia People from colonial Connecticut People from Wythe County, Virginia 18th-century American merchants