Stephen F. Austin

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF STEPHEN F. AUSTIN

Part 7: Back Home To Missouri

by Bob Heinonen

In 1809, at the age of sixteen, Stephen F. Austin’s formal education ended and he headed home to Missouri where his father immediately got him involved in the family business. In fact, as soon as Stephen returned home, Moses left on a four month trip to New York City leaving Stephen in charge of the mines. Needless to say, Stephen quickly got very involved in the family business.

During the next years, as Stephen grew more comfortable in the business world, Mother Nature was up to some tricks. In late 1811 and early 1812, a series of earthquakes centered on New Madrid, Missouri, occurred and, although the Austin’s were only 150 miles from the epicenter, the Austin’s recorded nothing of the events. The earthquakes were probably the largest in North American history and were felt all over what is today the United States except for west of the Rocky Mountains. However, on a trip Stephen made for his father down the Mississippi to New Orleans in 1812, he saw the destruction caused by the massive New Madrid earthquake.

And then, in 1816, “The Year Without A Summer” took place. It is now known that the Indonesian volcano Mount Tambora erupted in April of the prior year sending huge volumes of volcanic dust into the air. This airborne dust spread around the world and reduced the amount of sunshine reaching the ground. In turn, the colder weather spawned major snowstorms in New England in June, destroying most food crops. People starved and many families migrated west to improve their conditions. This event was probably felt more in the northeastern United States but, again, the Austin’s made no mention of it.

The year before “The Year Without a Summer,” at the age of 21, Stephen was elected to the first of four one-year terms in the House of Representatives of the newly created Territory of Missouri. It was during this time that the economy began a major downturn. The War of 1812 had almost totally paralyzed commerce and industry including lead mining. In an attempt to break this economic paralysis, Moses Austin and his friends formed the Bank of St. Louis and all invested heavily in it.

Then, in 1819, the panic set in. The first major economic depression in American history began. The Bank of St. Louis failed – the Austin family wealth was gone.

Next Month - Part 8: Starting Over