Stephen F.Austin
Born in Virginia
and raised in southeastern Missouri, Stephen Fuller Austin is considered the
founder of Anglo-American Texas. At the age of eleven years, he attended school
in Connecticut and later graduated with distinction from Transylvania University
in Kentucky.
In 1813, at the
age of twenty-one years, he was elected to the territorial Legislature of Missouri,
and was reelected to that position each year until 1819, when he moved to Arkansas.
Meanwhile, Stephen's father, Moses Austin, received a grant of land in Texas
for purposes of colonization.
The elder Austin
died soon after returning to Missouri from a trip to Texas, but bequeathed his
grant to Stephen with instructions to carry it to a successful completion. Accordingly,
after many delays and frustrations with the Mexican government, Steven Austin
introduced a large number of colonists from the United States. An unassuming
man with a kindly presence, he was deeply respected by all, and achieved unparalleled
influence over the often unruly settlers in Anglo Texas.
Austin is remembered
in Texas history for his many efforts on behalf of Texas before, during, and
immediately after Texas' Revolution with Mexico. His contributions to Texas
included: long and perilous pilgrimages to Mexico on behalf of Texas; his unwillingness
to counsel his people to take up arms against the Mexican government as long
as any hope for peace remained; his firm and decided voice, speaking words of
encouragement and hope during the darkest days of the revolution; and his laborious
travels in the United States to obtain needed support for his struggling countrymen.
After devoting
the best years of his life to the cause of Texas, Austin was overcome by disease
and on 27 December 1836 died an untimely death at the age of forty-three years.
Stephen
F. Austin (1793-1836)
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