Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 2, Number 2, May 1992 Page: 85
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Beyond Boosterism: Establishing the Age of Columbus
Whatever the size of the place earlier, the city of Columbus took off as a real
estate venture in 1837, when three advertisements for the sale of lots ran in the
Telegraph & Texas Register. Dewees, Thomas Thatcher, and Robert Brotherton were
listed as the proprietors of Columbus in the first ad, dated May 1, 1837. The second,
dated May 22, was simply an announcement that Thatcher and Brotherton were no
longer associated with the venture, and that Wallace had taken their place. It was the
third which stated that the town was being built on the same site that Austin had had
surveyed.64
Columbus was established in a league of land that was originally granted to
Elizabeth Tumlinson. She, rather than her husband, John, received the land, because
he had been killed by Indians near the present site of Seguin in 1823. Elizabeth herself
died less than ten years later, and her six children inherited the land. The league was
divided into six parts, with each part designated by a number. On December 19, 1833,
her six children or their representatives met and drew lots to determine which part of the
league they were to inherit.66 Less than a year later, on September 6, 1834, John J.
Tumlinson, who had drawn Lot 2, sold half of his part of the league to Dewees for $1 12.68
This then, is how Dewees came to acquire land in the Tumlinson league, and it was
apparently on this land that he established the new town of Columbus some months
later.67 Further, since Lundy mentions Dewees' Crossing in August 1834, it is not too
risky to speculate that Dewees had moved onto the land even before completing the
purchase and that his new home took on that appellation. In fact, the third advertise-
ment for the town of Columbus directly states that the town "is at that bend of the river
commonly known as 'Dewees Shoals or Ford.'"s8
54 For the complete text of all three advertisements, see the appendix.
55 Deed Book J, Office of the County Clerk, Colorado County, Texas, pp. 626-629. This drawing
occurred at a place called "Alfred on the Colorado" introducing yet another early name for the Columbus/
Colorado County area. According to the Handbook of Texas (Walter Prescott Webb, Horace Bailey Carroll and
Eldon Stephen Branda, editors, 3 volumes, Austin: The Texas State Historical Association, 1952, 1976),
Alfred was an electoral district that was entirely within present day Colorado County. Seymour V. Connor,
in his excellent article, "The Evolution of County Government in the Republic of Texas," (Southwestern His-
torical Quarterly, vol. 55, no. 2 (October 1951)) stated that the municipality of Colorado was created "in the
old District of Alfred" on January 8, 1836. The origin of the name "Alfred" and the exact character of the
locality that bore it remain unknown.
56 Book A For Bonds and Deeds, Office of the County Clerk, Colorado County, Texas, pp. 36-37.
57 This scenario fits well with the descriptions of how and why towns were founded that are provided
by Friedrich Wilhelm von Wrede and Mary Austin Holley. On pp. 92-93 of Sketches of Life in the United States
of North America and Texas (Waco: Texian Press, 1970), in a passage written in 1839, Von Wrede, as
translated by Chester Geue, says "There are many conditions that determine the location of a town. A group
of speculators who came into possession of a likely townsite, first erected their own building, surveyed the
area, drew up plans on paper showing large streets and building sites, and then called attention to their project
with a magnificent prospectus to attract purchasers." Holley, on page 100 of her book Texas (Lexington,
Kentucky: J. Clarke & Company, 1836. Reprint. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1985), tells of
"a town-making mania" prevalent in 1836. She states, "Every man who purchases a large plantation, pos-
sessing a good site for the location of a town, immediately lays out one." (Confusingly, a few pages later,
on page 119, she lists Montezuma as one such projected town, but locates it on the Brazos River.)
58 It should be noted that the Tumlinson League was not bereft of buildings when it was divided among
the six children. The deed uses a building, described as a "school-house," as a point of reference. The school
was near a spring that was very near the boundary between the land that devolved to Dewees and that that
went to another Tumlinson heir, Joseph Tumlinson. One might speculate that Spring Street was named for
this spring and that therefore it was at the foot of Spring Street. But, if that were the case, about half of the
original town of Columbus would be on property inherited by Joseph Tumlinson, that is, property that Dewees
did not own. The third advertisement for the town of Columbus sheds some light on this question. It refers
to several springs, any one or all of which might have been the inspiration for the street name. It also mentions
another early school (or perhaps the same one), stating that a Mr. Arnold had 34 pupils. Henry T. Arnold
bought lot 1 of block 6 and lot 5 of block 16 on May 24, 1837 (see Deed Book A, Office of the County Clerk,
Colorado County, Texas p. 15).85
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Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 2, Number 2, May 1992, periodical, May 1992; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151385/m1/17/: accessed June 14, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.