Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas, he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families and their slaves from the United States to the Tejas region of Mexico in 1825.
Born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri, Austin served in the Missouri territorial legislature. He moved to Arkansas Territory and later to Louisiana. His father, Moses Austin, received an empresario grant from Spain to settle Texas. After Moses Austin's death in 1821, Stephen Austin won recognition of the empresario grant from the newly independent nation of Mexico.
Austin attracted numerous Anglo-American settlers to move to Texas, and by 1825 Austin had brought the first 300 American families into the territory. Throughout the 1820s, Austin sought to maintain good relations with the Mexican government, and he helped suppress the Fredonian Rebellion. He also helped ensure the introduction of slavery into Texas despite the opposition of the Mexican government to the institution. Austin led the initial actions against the indigenous Karankawa people in this area.
As Texas settlers became increasingly dissatisfied with the Mexican government, Austin advocated conciliation, but the dissent against Mexico escalated into the Texas Revolution. Austin led Texas forces at the successful Siege of Béxar before serving as a commissioner to the United States. Austin ran as a candidate in the 1836 Texas presidential election but was defeated by Sam Houston, who had served as a general in the war and entered the race two weeks before the election. Houston appointed Austin as Secretary of State for the new republic, and Austin held that position until his death in December 1836.
Numerous places and institutions are named in his honor, including the capital of Texas.
Early years
Stephen F. Austin was born on November 3, 1793, in the mining region of southwestern Virginia. His parents were Mary Brown Austin and Moses Austin. In 1798, his family moved west to the lead-mining region of present-day Potosi, Missouri. Moses Austin received a sitio from the Spanish government for the mining site of Mine à Breton, which had been established by French colonists.
His great-great-grandfather, Anthony Austin (b. 1636), was the son of Richard Austin (b.1598 in Bishopstoke, Hampshire, England). The immigrant ancestors, Richard Austin and his wife Esther, were original settlers of Suffield, Massachusetts, which became Connecticut in 1749.
When Austin was eleven years old, his family sent him back East to be educated, first at the preparatory school of Bacon Academy in Colchester, Connecticut. He studied at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, from which he graduated in 1810. After graduation, Austin began studying to be a lawyer, reading the law with an established firm.
At age 21, he was elected to and served in the legislature of the Missouri Territory. There he was "influential in obtaining a charter for the struggling Bank of St. Louis". Left penniless after the Panic of 1819, Austin decided to move south to the new Arkansas Territory.
He acquired property on the south bank of the Arkansas River, in the area that would later become Little Rock. After purchasing the property, he learned the area was being considered as the location for the new territorial capital, which could make his land worth a great deal more. He made his home in Hempstead County, Arkansas. Two weeks before the first Arkansas territorial elections in 1820, Austin declared his candidacy for Congress. His late entrance meant his name did not appear on the ballot in two of the five counties, but he still placed second in the field of six candidates. Later, he was appointed as a judge for the First Circuit Court. Over the next few months, Little Rock was designated as the territorial capital. But Austin's claim to land in the area was contested, and the courts ruled against him. The Territorial Assembly reorganized the government and abolished Austin's judgeship.
Austin left the territory, moving to Louisiana. He reached New Orleans in November 1820. He met and stayed with Joseph H. Hawkins, a New Orleans lawyer and former Kentucky congressman. He made arrangements to study law with him.