THE LIFE AND TIMES OF STEPHEN F. AUSTIN

Part 8: Starting Over

by Bob Heinonen

In 1819, the financial panic set in. The first major economic depression in American history began. Moses Austin and his influential friends had tried to break the economic paralysis by creating and investing heavily in the Bank of St. Louis. But the Bank of St. Louis failed – the Austin family wealth was gone.

Stephen F. Austin was upset with his father, Moses. Here Stephen was, twenty-seven years of age and he had to begin a new career…a new life. As the eldest son of the wealthy merchant, he was expected to take over the family business when his father died. But now there was nothing left but incredible debt.

“Sometime in 1818, [Stephen F.] Austin had acquired an interest in a tract [of land] on the Red River called Long Prairie, in the southwestern corner of what is today Arkansas.” Basically, like a lot of other people, he established squatter’s rights meaning improving the land with the expectation that the government would recognize his ownership when it made the land available for ownership. In addition, Stephen and his brother-in-law James Perry (his sister Emily’s first husband) purchased a New Madrid certificate. These certificates were issued by Congress to people who lost their land during the New Madrid earthquake of 1812 and allowed them to claim new land; the certificates could be sold to others. Stephen and James Perry decided that between squatter’s rights and the New Madrid certificate their ownership of the land at Long Prairie would be secure. And then, as a land speculator, Stephen “had bought more than $9,000 worth of claims, all on credit, with plans to locate them on multiple sites across Arkansas. It was an immense gamble. If it succeeded, he might realize his dream of freeing the family from debt. If it failed, he was ruined.”

Stephen moved to Long Prairie in the spring of 1819, where he operated a store and a farm. By the end of the summer, however, he was discouraged by the low profit and the persistence of disease in the area. In an attempt to gain fortune, Stephen applied some of his New Madrid certificates to land where it was speculated the new capital of Arkansas would be located…a place called Little Rock. Unfortunately, another group of men had the same idea and claimed the same land. After a bitter struggle, a compromise was worked out over ownership of the land but Stephen did not make his fortune.

Back in early 1819, Stephen and his father had conceived an idea to rebuild the family fortune. As before, it involved land. As before, it was farther west. As before, the land was in Spanish owned territory…this time it was in Texas. In November, 1820, much to Stephen’s dismay, Moses set out from Stephen’s home in Little Rock to talk with Spanish authorities in the Texas capital of San Antonio de Bexar about acquiring a contract to colonize Texas.

Stephen wanted nothing to do with his father’s Texas project and he immediately went to New Orleans were he became an apprentice attorney under Joseph Hawkins who was the brother of a college classmate of his. In New Orleans, Stephen began work on his number one goal in life - to rebuild the family fortune. And he had already announced he would not marry until he had done so.

Next Month - Part 9: TEXAS?

Quotes are from Gregg Cantrell’s Stephen F. Austin Empresario of Texas. Bob Heinonen is the founder of Texas Heroes and has been portraying Stephen F. Austin since 1993. Copyright© by Bob Heinonen 2008.