A new history of Texas for schools : also for general reading and for teachers preparing themselves for examination Page: 87 of 412

1825.]

ERA OF COLONIZATION.

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ily, and all things locked more cheerful, a permanent set-
tlement was made at Gonzales.*
EDWARDS'S COLONY.
The Grant.-In April, 1825, a large tract of land in
Eastern Texas was granted to Hayden Edwards.t His
contract called for eight hundred families. In October of
the same year, Edwards, with his family and a number of
immigrants, arrived in Nacogdoches, where they went to
work with much energy and determination.
Troubles of the Colony.-Edwards found many trou-
bles awaiting him. For years colonists, some with, but
more without, legal rights, had been settling in the coun-
try about Nacogdoches; Mexicans, Indians, rough char-
acters from the Neutral Ground, and daring American
adventurers, all claimed more or less of the land granted
to Edwards. As empresario Edwards was instructed to
respect the rights of all settlers who held legal titles to
their land. Being anxious to do his duty, but also being
unwilling to allow his colonists to be imposed upon, he
ordered (November, 1825) that all settlers who held land
* De Witt's colony was bounded on the north by the San Antonio and Nacog-
doches road; on the east by Austin's colony aid the Lavaca River; on the south
by De Leon's colony, and on the west by the Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers.
t Hayden and Benjamin Edwards, Kentuckians by birth, came from a family
distinguished throughout the Southern States for worth, energy, and intellectual
power. After the failure of their colony in Texas Benjamin returned to Missis-
sippi, where he ran for governor, but died (about 1845) during the campaign. Ban-
croft says Hayden Edwards returned to Texas after the Texas Revolution and
represented his district in Congress. He was the father of thirteen children.