The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 40, July 1936 - April, 1937 Page: 48

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

tion in Texas, empties. The subscriber has divided his whole
interest in the said tract of land (supposed to contain 8,000 square
miles) into one hundred shares, a considerable portion, of which,
he has disposed of, to associates chosen by himself, in order to
secure the necessary funds to carry on his contract with the Re-
public, which obliges him to settle on the granted lands, 100
families, in five years from the date of his contract, one hundred
of which, (already on the lands) are required to be there, by the
1st day of May, 1845, and the residue, at the rate of 150 per
annum, but no failure to fulfill the conditions of the grant oper-
ates restrospectively; or affects in any manner, the title of the
Emigrant to the land he settles upon.
Each alternate section is reserved to the Republic, but may be
purchased for a stipulated price, at any time in the five years
allowed for completing the contract.
Any further information that may be desired will be afforded
on application in person or by letter to John R. Cooke, Esq.,
Theodore S. Garnett, Richmond, Va.; E. C. Cabell, Esq., Talla-
hasee, Fla.; Solomon D. Bitton, Esq., Eufaula, Fla.; Edward Hall,
of the Texas Consulate in N. O.; G. Washington Anderson, Esq.,
Louisville, Ky.; Sydney Smith, Esq., Washington, Hemstead Co.,
Ark.; Dr. David Rowlett, Bonham, Fannin Co., Texas; A. G.
Kimbel, Esq., Paris, Lamar Co., Texas; Maj. P. J. Pillans, Sur-
veyor and Sub-Agent of the Texas Association in Texas, or to the
subscriber, recently from Texas, but living at Tallahassee. If
application be made, by letter, it should be postpaid.
C. F. Mercer
Sept. 20th, 1844. Chief Agent Texas Ass'n.
Mercer's optimism may have been ill-timed, for the Congress
of 1844-45 determined upon further investigation of all coloniza-
tion contracts. A number of the members of this Congress, ac-
cording to Pillans, had been elected from border counties by
residents who held large amounts of unlocated land scrip, which
they desired to locate when the reserved lands were thrown open.
The repeal of the act reserving lands angered speculators and
those hostile to the Mercer grant." Consequently, the antagonism
of the electors projected itself into the Congress. The Senate in
a resolution directed its secretary to request the President to lay
before it all contracts entered into between the government and
individuals or companies for the purpose of colonizing the public
'Deposition of P. J. Pillans, in the records of the case, Preston vs. Walsh.