The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928 Page: 309
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Empresario Contracts for the Colonization of Texas 309
any of the four grants claimed by the company. The issuance
of scrip was made possible by that feature of the colonization law
which required the colonist to have the permission of the em-
presario before he obtained a title to his land. The company
had taken the provision of the law and commercialized it. The
issue of scrip was not provided for in the law and not expected
by the Mexican authorities. Many people, not understanding
the colonization laws, thought the possession of scrip was equiv-
alent to a deed to the land. As a matter of fact the scrip was
worthless and useless in Texas. Every empresario would receive
and grant land to every immigrant of good character whether
he possessed scrip or not.
Outside of Texas the scrip of this company did have a great
sale because the purchasers did not understand its real nature.
In the case of Carter v. Dey and Curtis, tried in New York in
1832-1833, it was proved that this company and its associates
had sold scrip to the amount of 6,210,390 acres. The clerk of
the company claimed that the scrip sold from one to two cents
an acre; another witness stated that he had sold it for from five
to ten cents an acre.23 In March, 1831, Henry Austin, at New
Orleans, wrote to Stephen F. Austin that the Galveston Bay and
Texas Land Company of New York was selling hundreds of thou-
sands of acres of land at five cents an acre.24 By 1834 scrip to the
amount of 7,500,000 acres had been issued.25 If the company
did sell as much as 7,500,000 acres at five cents an acre, its
hopes of being reimbursed for its efforts "out of the means the
contracts themselves furnish" were realized at least indirectly.
The company made contracts with individuals and other com-
panies to settle large tracts of land within its territory. Thomas
E. Davis of New York contracted to settle a million and a half
acres in the center of the grant. General Mexia engaged to make
settlements on the San Jacinto or Trinity.26 Mexia sent out one
ship, the Crescent, in January, 1831, with ten families. The
"Kennedy, Tewas: the Rise, Progress, and Prospects of the Republic
of Texas, I, 34, n.
24Henry Austin to Stephen F. Austin, March 15, 1831. Austin Papers.
"'Woodman, Guide to Texas Emigrants, 97, n.
"6Mexia to Austin, April 16, 1831; J. P. Austin to Stephen F. Austin;
January 25, 1831; Austin Papers. Woodman, Guide to Texas Emi-
grants, 122.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928, periodical, 1928; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101088/m1/333/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.