The
Father
of
Texas
Stephen
F.
Austin
Described
by
the
Texas
Handbook
as
"the
founder
of
Anglo-American
Texas"
and
by
many
historians
as
the
"Father
of
Texas,"
Stephen
F.
Austin
called
Peach
Point,
his
sister's
plantation
in
present
day
Jones
Creek,
his
"only
home
in
Texas."
His
personal
life,
as
well
as
his
business
life,
was
bound
up
with
this
county.
It
was
a
part
of
Austin's
original
colony,
the
place
he
had
planned
to
retire,
the
site
to
which
he
came
for
rest
from
the
ceaseless
demands
placed
on
him
as Empresario.
The
county
was
also
a
primary
hotbed
of
dissension
leading
to
the
Texas
Revolution,
the
location
of
the
first
capitol
of
the
Republic
of
Texas,
and
the
place
Austin
was
to
die
while
serving
as
Secretary
of
State
for
the
new
Republic.
It
was
here
that
he
was
laid
to
rest
in
his
family's
cemetery-though
his
accomplishments
and
renown
were
so
great
that
his
remains
were
later
moved
to
the
state
capitol.
Hw
was
placed
atop
the
"Hill
of
Heroes"
in
the
State
Cemetery
where
he
now
presides
over
the
resting
places
of
many
other
great
Texans.
Although
he
entered
into
his
father's
dream
of
colonizing
Texas
only
reluctantly,
Stephen
F.
Austin
was
to
think
of
little
else
once
he
made
his
commitment.
After
learning
of
his
father's
death,
Austin
traveled
to
San
Antonio
and
received
authorization
from
the
Spanish
government
to
carry
on
the
colonization
enterprise,
providing
he
agreed
to
assume
personal
responsibility
for
the
colonists'
conduct.
Financial
conditions
in
the
United
State,
along
with
the
vast
amount
of
land
available
to
settlers
in
Texas,
contributed
to
the
desire
of
many
U.S.
residents
to
move
here,
and
in
the
autumn
of
1821,
the
first
of
Austin's
colonists
began
to
arrive.
Mexico
had
succeeded
in
winning
her
independence
from
Spain,
and
Austin
was
informed
that
the
provisional
government
would
regulate
immigration
through
a
general
law,
rather
than
honoring
the
Spanish
Colonization
grants.
After
establishment
of
the
ayuntamiento
(in
Spanish
municipal
government,
the
equivalent
of
the
modern
town
council,
and
the
most
important
organ
of
local
administration)
in
1828,
Austin
had
complete
authority
over
civil
and
military
affairs
in
his
colonies,
but
allowed
the
colonists
to
elect
their
won
local
alcaldes
(head
of
municipality)
and
militia
officers.
His
own
duties
during
this
period
were
both
divers
and
arduous,
with
the
establishment
of
a
land
office
being
the
most
time
consuming
of
his
tasks.
Other
than
land,
for
which
the
value
at
that
time
was
speculative
rather
than
actual,
Austin
received
relatively
little
return
for
his
duties
as
Empresario,
and
most
of
this
was
eaten
away
by
public
expenses
which
he
paid
because
no
one
would.
As
the
controversy
between
colonists
and
Mexican
officials
heated
up,
Austin
continued
to
urge
patience
and
caution.
Serving
as
spokesman
to
the
Mexican
government
following
two
conventions
by
by
the
colonists,
Austin
went
to
Mexico
where
he
managed
to
achieve
some
reforms.
He
had
started
back
to
Texas
when
he
was
arrested
and
placed
in
prison
in
January,
1834,
on
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