43 Incredible Stephen F Austin Facts That You Should Know

Stephen Fuller Austin, born in 1793 in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri, is known as the Father of Texas.

He was the first impresario to bring settlers to Texas. His father, Moses Austin, had been granted permission by Spain to settle 300 American families in Texas.

But upon Moses' death, Stephen took over the venture. He traveled to Texas in 1821 and began establishing settlements. Incidentally, Stephen was the first American to settle in Texas. He fought to make Texas an independent state but is often overlooked as a hero by historians. Austin earned his reputation as a pioneer and impresario because of his settlements that triggered the Mexican Texas Era.

There were many leaders who took part in making Texas an independent state from the Mexican Congress. But Stephen Fuller Austin was supposedly one of the greatest leaders of all time. People of Texas consider Stephen Fuller Austin to be a hero and the reason why they are able to live in Texas today. They have hence named various parks, colleges, and streets after him. The city of Austin is named after this great leader. The other two notable places that are named after him are Stephen F. Austin University and Austin College.

Keep reading this article to know more about Stephen F Austin, his achievements, personal life, family, and more.

Fun Facts About Stephen F Austin

Stephen Fuller Austin was determined to make his father's wish come true. To embark on his journey into the new land where people spoke a new language, Austin was not afraid to learn the new language. In fact, he put in a lot of effort and hard work to learn this new language and later became very fluent in Spanish. This was just one of his great works. Let's dive deeper into some really fascinating facts about Stephen Fuller Austin's accomplishments.

• In the year 1821, Stephen F. Austin (born September 11, 1793 and died December 27, 1836) received a commission from the Mexican Government to bring 300 American families who were popularly called 'The Old Three Hundred' into Texas in order to have a population that was large enough for them to maintain Texas' independence from the Spanish colonists in Mexico.
• Stephen Fuller Austin was inspired to lead this new colony after hearing of Mexico’s independence from Spain and the subsequent opening of Texas for new settlers.
• Stephen F. Austin was very successful in bringing settlers to Texas, who formed the core of the Anglo population in Texas.
• In 1827, Austin was elected as the political chief of the impresario grant and became a naturalized Mexican citizen that same year.
• Austin, along with his brother, was instrumental in encouraging Americans to settle in Texas.
• Austin helped bring one of the largest waves of immigration, which were Americans, to Texas.
• Austin died in December 1836 and was interred in the city of Austin, which then became the capital, replacing Harrisburg, Texas.
• Stephen Fuller Austin was the sole legislator to serve in the Congress of the Republic of Texas.
• When Stephen Austin was left indigent after the Panic of 1819, he moved to Arkansas Territory, to the south.
• Austin's second colony was Bastrop. It is also called the Little Colony. This colony was named after his good friend, Baron de Bastrop.
• Austin wished to remain a state in the Mexican-Spanish Government itself. This was maintained for some time before he finally supported the Texas Revolution. Sam Houston was the leader of this revolution.
• Sam Houston gained 5,119 votes in the initial Presidential election, whereas Stephen Austin only gained 587 votes.
• Stephen Austin was born in a period when portraits were made to capture the image of people and scenarios. Even though we have a lot of portraits of Stephen Fuller Austin today, he only sat for one portrait in the year 1836. Many other paintings that we see today are variations of this particular portrait completed in 1836.
• The biggest statue of Austin, which is commemorated by the artist Elizabeth Ney, is displayed in the city of Austin. Another statue, which is the replica of the main one, is displayed in the Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol located in Washington, D.C., United States of America.

Facts About Stephen F Austin's Accomplishments

Many people consider Stephen Fuller Austin to have been a great lawyer and a canny diplomat. He led the Texas Army to San Antonio. Stephen Fuller Austin is sometimes misunderstood when it comes to his role in the Texas Revolution. From the beginning, Stephen Fuller Austin always wanted to improve relations with Mexico and was a good proponent in creating peace with Mexico. But when they threw him in jail for almost one and a half years, and when he saw the anarchy taking place in Mexico City, he decided that Texas should be determined as a separate state. Once decided, he poured himself into the Texas Revolution.

Many believe that there would have been no boundaries to what Stephen Fuller Austin could have achieved had he not fallen prey to pneumonia and died in the year 1836. But his accomplishments that were achieved while he was alive are no less impressive. Let's dive in deeper and get to know some of his incredible achievements and accomplishments.

• Stephen Fuller Austin graduated in 1810 from Transylvania University located in Lexington, Kentucky. At this university, he studied subjects such as geography, math, and astronomy.
• Stephen Fuller Austin served and was elected to be a part of the legislature of the Missouri Territory when he was 21 years old.
• Stephen Fuller Austin played an important role in getting a charter for the struggling bank of St. Louis.
• Stephen F. Austin was an Anglo-American impresario, a promoter of Texas colonization, and a land speculator who played a leading role in the development of Texas.
• Known as the Father of Texas and considered to be the founder of Texas, Stephen Fuller Austin led the second, and ultimately, the most successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States to the region in 1825.
• The colony he established in Texas, the first in which American settlers established a government (not sanctioned by Mexico), was also the beginning of Texas.
• In the state Capitol of Austin, a portrait of Stephen F Austin is displayed on the back of the lieutenant governor’s rostrum in the Senate chamber.
• Stephen Fuller Austin had a rather interesting career before he took on his father's life goal. He served in the Texan Military Forces as the adjutant for a militia battalion. He had a vital and important role in the Missouri territorial legislature.
• Stephen Fuller Austin wished to make Texas a different state from the Mexican Congress so that they could have a self-governing environment using general immigration law and have liberty in their state. The Mexican Government, however, denied this wish. He then declared the creation of a separate state without getting permission from the Mexican Government in the year 1833 and was eventually thrown in jail for this reason.
• In the year 1835, he was released from jail just a few months before the Texas Revolution for Texas independence broke out. Stephen Austin hence had to move to the United States of America to seek help. After returning, and after the Texas independence, he stood in the elections but lost to Sam Houston to become the President. Despite that, he served as the secretary briefly.

Facts About Stephen F Austin's Book

The role of Stephen F. Austin in the Texas Revolution is one of the most controversial of the Texas Revolution. Stephen F. Austin was a prominent person in Texas and has been called the Father of Texas because of his contributions to its independence from Mexico.

Stephen’s father was Moses Austin, and Moses was granted permission from the Spanish Government to settle 300 families in Texas. Stephen’s father died before the plans could be completed, and Stephen took over the settlement.

Stephen was the first Anglo-American to receive a Mexican land grant in Texas. Stephen F. Austin was a prominent figure in the Texas revolution because he was able to negotiate with the Mexican Government to create laws that were beneficial to Texas. Stephen also was able to write a constitution for the provisional Government of Texas that created a more democratic government.

The Texas Revolution was a revolt of people from the United States and Tejanos in 1835–36 against the Government of Mexico. The revolt included many provinces opposed to the reign of the President named Antonio López de Santa Anna. The Mexican Congress believed that the United States wanted to annex them since they had started the Texas uprising.

The Mexican Government initiated the Tornel Decree, which stated that any foreigners fighting against Mexico would be declared pirates and would not be recognized as citizens of any country or flag. The Mexican Congress pardoned any Tejano or person who did not fight or take up arms against the Government.

Austin led the second and the largest group of colonists to settle in Texas. Known as the very famous Father of Texas and the founder of Texas, Stephen F. Austin served as the first chairman of the Board of Land Commissioners under the General Land Office of the Republic of Texas. He was also, indirectly, the father of Texas secession.

• After the Texas Independence in the Spring of the year 1836, the people needed to elect their leader. Stephen Fuller Austin was one of the participants who stood to be the President. Sam Houston, the then hero of the Battle of San Jacinto, excelled, so Austin lost to Sam Houston in the elections.
• Stephen Fuller Austin served as the secretary of state under the Houston administration, but it was only for a few months before his death. Sam Houston showed remorse for Austin's death by dubbing him as the Father of Texas.
• Although Stephen F. Austin and David G. Burnet were friends and business partners, they often found themselves on opposite sides of a controversy. There are letters between them published in a book named Fugitive Letters, 1829-1836. These include letters from Stephen F. Austin to David G. Burnet.
• The letters that Austin wrote to Burnet are an interesting insight into Austin’s thoughts on the subject of slavery and how important he considered it to be to the future of Texas.
• The letters are also interesting because they are private letters to Austin’s friends rather than public and formal documents.
• This is the second publication of a historic voice pedagogy at this time, alongside a collection of writings by Stephen F. Austin and Moses Austin. The Austin Papers, published in 1829 and 1830, are a collection of letters and articles written by Moses and Stephen Austin, father and son. These letters describe their experiences as Anglo-Americans in Mexican Texas from the 1830s through the 1840s.
• Stephen Fuller Austin also wrote a book named 'Establishing Austin's Colony'. In this book, he mentioned all the necessary orders, laws, and contracts of the Anglo-American Colonization.
• In the year 1822, Austin began to learn Spanish and embark upon his journey into the new world. He learned to speak, read and write Spanish on his own.

Facts About Stephen F Austin's Family

In 1810, right after graduating from Transylvania University, Kentucky, he returned to Ste. Genevieve, a city in Missouri. He wished to have freemasonry in Texas. Stephen Austin's father gave him a prominent role in the mercantile business.

In New Orleans, he underwent an informal education. He arranged a shipment of lead in 1812 when the world war was going on. He stayed with Joseph H. Hawkins in New Orleans in the year 1820. Joseph H. Hawkins was a lawyer and Kentucky Congressman from New Orleans.

In what is today known as Illinois central, Austin worked as a militiaman and harassed the indigenous people. Stephen Fuller Austin took over the lead mine after his father fell ill and became unfit to take charge of the mine.

After his family lost their business and their fortune in the lead mining industry, Moses Austin moved towards Texas, and the elder Austin fell in love with the incredible landscapes and beauty of Texas. Following are some of the interesting and fascinating facts about Stephen Fuller Austin's incredible family.

• Stephen Fuller Austin died a bachelor and named all of his belongings to his sister Emily Austin Perry in his will. He trusted his sister so much that he made sure the property went to his sister and not her husband after Austin's death. Giving property to the husband was a more common practice back then.
• Stephen Fuller Austin's sister built so much upon his property that she became the wealthiest woman in Mexico City at the time.
• Stephen Fuller Austin died just a few days before Christmas due to pneumonia in the year 1836 at the age of just 43. He was serving as the first secretary of the state of Texas when he died.
• Stephen Fuller Austin was initially buried in the Gulf Prairie Cemetery, which is located in the Jones Creek, Brazoria County, and was later moved to the Texas State Cemetery located in Austin.
• Stephen Fuller Austin died in West Columbia which lies to the southwest of Houston.
• Stephen Austin was born to Moses Austin and Mary Brown Austin on November 23, 1793.
• Stephen Fuller Austin was the fourth child of Moses Austin (1761–1821) and Mary Brown Austin (1762–1812). Both parents were from wealthy families from Massachusetts.
• Stephen Austin was born in southwestern Virginia (today's Austinville) in a mining region.
• Stephen Fuller Austin had an elder sibling named Eliza, who only lived for a month.
• Stephen Fuller Austin's family moved west to Potosi, Missouri, the lead-mining region, when he was four years old.
• Anthony Austin, his great-great-grandfather, was the son of the famous colonist Richard Austin. Richard Austin's colony is not exactly known, but he or his descendants have been known to have held some of the public offices in Charlestown.
• Stephen Fuller Austin's wife was named Esther, who was also an original settler of Suffield, Massachusetts, (known today as Connecticut) since 1749.
• Stephen Fuller Austin's family sent him to the east once again when he was 11 years old, to the Bacon Academy located in Colchester, Connecticut, which is a preparatory school. At this school, he studied subjects like English grammar and writing, geography, rhetoric, geometry, logic, and some Greek and Latin.
• Stephen Fuller Austin's father, Moses Austin, had led the second group of colonists to travel to Texas.
• On his deathbed, Moses Austin proposed a venture to establish colonies in present-day Texas. He was granted permission to finally settle almost 300 families and to found a city but died before he could return to Missouri. His son, Stephen Fuller Austin, was determined to follow through with his father's plans.
• Moses Austin died while Stephen Fuller Austin was still a teenager. Moses Austin was the younger brother of Squire Samuel Austin.