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137-581: The company has been headquartered in Sugar Land since its inception. The city itself is named for the company and the company's crown logo is featured in the city's seal. The company was founded in 1843 by Samuel May Williams and passed through a series of owners until its purchase in 1907 by the I. H. Kempner family of Galveston . The company was later renamed the Imperial Sugar Company, in an effort to emphasize quality. Up until 1988

274-668: A "Monclova speculator" by some of his Texian contemporaries, a reference to his advantageous land acquisitions from the rebelling anti-Santanista faction in Coahuila. After Texas independence, the Republic brokered a deal acknowledging a legacy land grant from the Monclova government and conveying it to the Galveston Town Company, which included Williams as one of its business partners. Cartwright alleges that Williams

411-552: A 57% premium over Imperial Sugar's closing price on 30 April. A spokesman for Dreyfus group said the acquisition was part of the company's efforts to expand into refining and distribution of sugar. In November 2021, US Sugar and Imperial Sugar announced their intentions to merge the two companies. They were sued by the US Department of Justice who claimed in a statement that the deal was anticompetitive and would “leave an overwhelming majority of refined sugar sales across

548-473: A Mexican were just as much infringed, as they would be if I had a thousand." In 1830, Austin wrote that he would oppose Texas joining the United States without guarantees that he should "insist on the perpetual exclusion of slavery from this state [Texas]". In 1833, he wrote: "Texas must be a slave country. Circumstances and unavoidable necessity compel it. It is the wish of the people there, and it

685-457: A Spanish territory. José Antonio Navarro , a San Antonio native with ambitious visions of the future of Texas, befriended Stephen F. Austin, and the two developed a lasting association. Navarro, proficient in Spanish and Mexican law, assisted Austin in obtaining his empresario contracts. In San Antonio, the grant was reauthorized by Governor Antonio María Martínez , who allowed Austin to explore

822-696: A building at the corner of Market and Tremont streets. Three months later the Texas Legislature proscribed the distribution of paper money, creating a civil fine of $ 5,000 per offense. Despite this law, $ 30,000 of the Commercial & Agricultural bank notes had been circulating in New Orleans that year, with another $ 18,000 distributed in Texas. Meanwhile, Williams maintained a large cache of specie to cover redemptions of his notes. Two members of

959-538: A canoe full of corn on the Colorado River near the mouth of Skull Creek. Later the same evening, Robert Brotherton was riding along a trail near Skull Creek when he was "met by the Indians, robbed of his guns and perceiving he was in danger of his life after making his escape, was wounded in the back with an arrow, very severely. A volunteer militia was organized and went to the scene of the robbery. They followed

1096-406: A chain reaction of sugar dust explosions in the finished-sugar packaging area of the plant. OSHA had been criticized in a 2006 US Chemical Safety Board report for lack of preparation for such explosions and a safety program that "inadequately addresses dust explosion hazards". As of August 26, 2008, the death toll had risen to 14, with one still in critical condition. The plant, originally built as

1233-468: A charter for a chapter of Royal Arch Masons to be known as San Felipe de Austin Chapter No. 1, it being the first Royal Arch chapter in Texas, and he was installed as its first presiding officer. As a Freemason, Williams became a member of a fraternity that included a number of other early Texas patriots like Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, Jose Antonio Navarro and Lorenzo de Zavala . Williams "was

1370-490: A colony that could provide a good supply of clean, potable water. Austin claimed rich tracts of land near bays and river mouths already populated by the Karankawa. The Karankawa relied on these bays for the fish and shellfish that provided their winter food sources and thus were fiercely protective of that land. Austin was greeted by the native Karankawa inhabitants with the help of his Mexican scouts, they watched closely as

1507-488: 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

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1644-519: A country as this overrun by a slave population almost makes me weep. It is in vain to tell a North American that the white population will be destroyed some fifty or eighty years hence by the negroes, and that his daughters will be violated and Butchered by them." While Austin thought it would be advantageous someday for Texas to phase out of slavery, up until the Texas Revolution, he worked to ensure that his colony's immigrants could bypass

1781-497: A cowpen for their own consumption of eggs and other dairy, as well as stables and a carriage house. The Williams' owned slaves, perhaps all from the same family, who worked in the house and other parts of the property. Allegedly a cook attempted to poison the family in 1842; however, there is no record to indicate any punishment, legal or otherwise. This suburban area near the Williams house was home to several local merchants during

1918-583: A decree that banned freedmen from Texas and forced emancipated slaves to work for their former slaveowners until the accrued "debt" (e.g. clothing, food), incurred for their own enslavement, was worked off. In 1828, Austin petitioned the legislature to guarantee that slaveowners immigrating to Texas could legally "free" their slaves before immigrating and contract them into a lifetime term of indentured servitude, thereby avoiding recognizing them as slaves. He lobbied to help his colony elude president Vicente Guerrero 's 1829 decree to emancipate enslaved people in

2055-434: A deep depression over the issue and sent his brother, Brown Austin , to further lobby the legislature on his behalf. In March 1827, the legislature signed Article 13 into law. Despite the law complying with some of his requests, Austin called it "unconstitutional". He contested the law as it freed the children of enslaved people at birth, established a six-month grace period before fully emancipating all enslaved people in

2192-547: A diplomatic mission to Mexico. As late as 1843, Mexico did not recognize the sovereignty of Texas, while Santa Anna offered a general amnesty and other concessions to Texas provided it agreed to re-incorporate itself into Mexico. Houston agreed to a cease fire and peace talks. He appointed Williams and George W. Hockley as envoys, charging them with entertaining a proposal which was unpopular in Texas. The two envoys accepted their official orders in September 1843, but they lacked

2329-582: A diverse set of businesses on the island: they owned a race track, operated a tavern and stables, and offered houses for let, and they owned the Tremont hotel, for which Henry Howell Williams was the managing partner. The Tremont continued operating in Galveston through 1865. Their principal developments were their three-story warehouse and the wharf at Twenty-fourth Street. In 1839, McKinney and Williams received goods from Liverpool , England , and loaded

2466-533: A female companion arrived in Texas under the assumed names of Mr. and Mrs. E. Eccleston. He left unresolved debt in New Orleans, but there may have been other reasons for his departure. The couple lived together in San Felipe de Austin, but there is no indication of their marital status or even her name. They had a son together named Joseph Guadalupe Victoria Williams, who was born in San Felipe de Austin in 1825. The next year Williams split up with her, and she left

2603-471: A half cents per acre. Farmers could get 177 acres (72 ha) and ranchers 4,428 acres (1,792 ha). In December 1821, the first U.S. colonists crossed into the granted territory by land and sea on the Brazos River in present-day Brazoria County . Austin's plan for an American colony was thrown into turmoil by Mexico's gaining independence from Spain in 1821. Governor Martínez informed Austin that

2740-581: A lawyer, reading the law with an established firm. At age 21, he was elected to and served in the Missouri Territory legislature. 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

2877-442: A league and a labor of land, 4,605 acres (1,864 ha), and other inducements. It also provided for the employment of agents, called empresarios , to promote immigration . As an empresario , Austin was to receive 67,000 acres of land for each 200 families he brought to Texas. According to the law, immigrants were not required to pay fees to the government. Some of the immigrants denied Austin's right to charge them for services at

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3014-416: A one-third interest in the new company. LSR commenced operations on January 1, 2011 . Imperial continues to operate a small-bag processing facility at Gramercy. On February 7, 2008 , an explosion at a Port Wentworth, Georgia , sugar refinery killed 14 people and injured more than 40. It was likely caused by an overheated bearing on a conveyor beneath the sugar silos, which ignited sugar dust, then spread in

3151-457: A platform of national assumption of Texas's debt. Texans would benefit from the passage of such legislation; however, Williams and his former business partner had not been repaid by the Republic of Texas for its war debt. He finished second to Timothy Pillsbury . He challenged Pillsbury for the seat in November and lost by a wider margin; it was the last time he ran for public office. Williams

3288-420: A possible war in Texas. He pivoted toward Texas independence while relying on financial assistance from his brother, Henry Howell Williams. He borrowed against his brother's credit to obtain the 125-ton schooner Invincible in support of a Texian naval force. In May 1836, Williams returned with ammunition and supplies loaded on his schooner, along with as many as 700 volunteers on three other boats. Mostly as

3425-400: A resident), and the next year, Williams was living and working in New Orleans. Historians disagree about the timing of Williams's return to the United States from South America. While Joe B. Frantz and Ruth G. Nichols estimate his arrival to New Orleans as the year 1815, Margaret Swett Henson disputes this as a possibility, though she is less certain about timeline. The Panic of 1819 in

3562-536: A result of procurements Williams made in the United States in 1835, the McKinney and Williams partnership had contracted $ 99,000 (~$ 2.88 million in 2023) in short-term debt on behalf of the Republic of Texas . The new government was not able to repay the debt. These loans to the Texas cause had been leveraged by letters of credit from Henry Howell Williams. Thus the Republic of Texas mounted substantial debt from

3699-609: A robust trade with Argentina, shipping food in exchange for cash or hides. Williams left Baltimore to oversee freight bound for Buenos Aires , where he stayed to conduct further business in South America. There Williams learned the Spanish and French languages, and his business dealings gave him experience in navigating Spanish business and political customs. In 1818, Williams boarded at a hotel in Washington, D. C. (where pirate and New Orleans denizen Jean Lafitte had been

3836-518: A sharp discount on his bank notes, but local fears were allayed after local merchants honored the Williams notes at par, and Williams reversed his policy, resuming payments in specie. Williams survived the Panic of 1857. However, political and legal prospects for his bank did not improve. Williams persisted in the banking business despite the legal challenges, and he resisted the advice of family and friends to divest of C & A Bank. In 1822, Williams and

3973-680: A small contingent of people from Quintana over the Gulf to McKinney's warehouse at the mouth of the Neches River . For the four years ending in the summer of 1839, business travels on behalf of his own interests and in support of the Texas cause kept him occupied in the United States. He only resided with his family for eight months during this period. The Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2, Free & Accepted Masons initiated Williams in New York City on November 21, 1835. Williams received

4110-501: A string of defeats with the dramatic turnabout victory at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, and the capture of Santa Anna the following morning. He was then imprisoned. In December 1835, Austin, Branch Archer, and William H. Wharton were appointed commissioners to the U.S. by the provisional government of the republic. On June 10, 1836, Austin was in New Orleans, where he received word of Santa Anna's defeat by Sam Houston at

4247-475: A successful bill which established a state charter for the city of Galveston and another to build a local lighthouse. Williams promoted a bill to emancipate Cary McKinney, a slave of his business partner. Cary was just one of two enslaved persons emancipated in recognition of service to the Republic of Texas. Though Cary's family was not emancipated, he was able to reunite his family by purchased his family members himself. President Sam Houston selected Williams for

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4384-567: Is my duty to do all I can, prudently, in favor of it. I will do so." In May 1835, Austin's colonists learned that Mexico's tolerance for the evasions of enslavers was drawing to a close with its proposal of new abolition legislation. Alarmed, and with Austin imprisoned in Mexico for pushing for independence, colonists turned against the Mexican government, calling it "oppressive" and a "plundering, robbing, autocratical government" without regard for

4521-406: Is tireless, almost shameless, in its devotion to its heroes, but there is no street, no park, no school or building or monument that bears the name Samuel May Williams." He also cites examples of actions by Williams which were corrupt, or at least, perceived to be corrupt by dint of their association with what many Texans considered to be unsavory business and political dealings. Williams was labelled

4658-589: The Telegraph and Texas Register before moving to Galveston. Thomas surveyed land in the Austin Colony before the Texas Revolution. Gail, during part of his stay in Galveston, was a collector of customs, but he is best known for inventing a process for condensed milk. Despite the population growth of Galveston through 1850, this neighborhood ceded its popularity among the wealthy to the Broadway corridor in

4795-500: The Convention of 1832 : resumption of immigration, tariff exemption, separation from Coahuila, and a new state government for Texas. Austin did not support these demands; he considered them ill-timed and tried to moderate them. When they were repeated and extended at the Convention of 1833 , Austin traveled to Mexico City on July 18, 1833, and met with Vice President Valentín Gómez Farías . Austin did gain certain significant reforms:

4932-648: The Dixie Crystals sugar refinery in 1916–1917, had been acquired by Imperial Sugar in 1997. At the time of its purchase, the Port Wentworth refinery was the second-largest sugar refining operation in the U.S. On 1 May 2012, Louis Dreyfus Commodities LLC announced that one of its subsidiaries would acquire all outstanding Imperial Sugar stock for $ 6.35 per share and assume $ 125 million in Imperial Sugar debt. The price per share represented

5069-603: The Gulf Coast between San Antonio and the Brazos River to find a suitable location for a colony. As guides for the party, Manuel Becerra and three Aranama Indians went with the expedition. Austin advertised the Texas opportunity in New Orleans, announcing that land was available along the Brazos and Colorado rivers. A family of a husband, wife, and two children would receive 1,280 acres (520 ha) at twelve and

5206-532: The Panic of 1857 , but anti-banking politics were on the rise. Many of Williams' friends and allies distanced themselves from the bank and encouraged him to give up the project, but he resisted their advice. He died in 1858 after a short illness. Samuel May Williams was born October 4, 1795, in Providence, Rhode Island , to Howell and Dorothy (Wheat) Williams. His ancestors arrived in New England in

5343-476: The capital of Texas . 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),

5480-548: The junta instituyente , the new rump congress of the government of Agustín de Iturbide of Mexico, refused to recognize the land grant authorized by Spain. His government intended to use a general immigration law to regulate new settlement in Mexico. Austin traveled to Mexico City , where he persuaded the junta instituyente to approve the grant to his father and the law signed by the Mexican Emperor on January 3, 1823. The old imperial law offered heads of families

5617-685: The 1630s, and his family tree included a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a president of Yale University . Williams had four brothers and three sisters. His immediate family consisted of sailors and merchants; Howell Williams was a ship captain, and Samuel's uncle, Nathaniel Felton Williams, was a commission merchant in Baltimore . After some schooling in his native city, Samuel apprenticed to Nathaniel. A younger brother, also named Nathaniel Felton Williams, succeeded him as their uncle Nathaniel's apprentice. The Williams family conducted

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5754-465: The 1835 charter and the 1841 relief law. In response to the decision, Bryan and Hamilton devised a new strategy, emphasizing the illegality of paper money issuance, and fining anyone who issued or circulated paper money. By the end of the year, a new attorney general, Thomas J. Jennings sued officers of the C & A Bank, though it was dismissed by District Judge Peter W. Gray . Jennings continued to file similar suits against two Galveston financiers into

5891-503: The 1840s. In addition to the McKinney house, his neighbors included Michel Menard, John Sydnor, and two of the Borden brothers. Menard was a co-founder of Galveston with McKinney and Williams, and engaged as a merchant with J. Temple Doswell. Sydnor was a commission merchant, and is known to have auctioned enslaved persons, though there is a question about whether this was a regular part of his business. Thomas and Gail Borden Jr. co-published

6028-611: The Austin Colony to work as a merchant, then formalized a partnership with Thomas F. McKinney . The next year he also made deals with the provincial government in Monclova for a bank charter and for large tracts of land in Texas. At that time he was a representative in the Coahuila and Texas legislature. However, by 1836, Williams and his partner, Thomas F. McKinney, supported the Texas Revolution against Mexico. Williams borrowed money against his family's lines of credit, which

6165-527: The Battle of San Jacinto. Austin returned to Texas to rest at Peach Point in August. On August 4, he announced his candidacy for president of Texas. Austin felt confident he could win the election until two weeks before the election, when on August 20, Houston entered the race. Austin wrote, "Many of the old settlers who are too blind to see or understand their interest will vote for him." Houston carried East Texas,

6302-529: The C & A Bank. The ruling had three consequences for the bank: it made the bank responsible for paying a large fine imposed by the lower court, it lost the ability to issue notes, and all notes outstanding were to be redeemed and destroyed. This effectively killed the bank, though Williams did not live quite long enough to witness its ending. Biographer Margaret Swett Henson writes, "The ten-year court battle with its political overtones had eroded his once robust health, and despairing of vindication, he relinquished

6439-547: The Consultation nullified the land deal when it declared all large land grants voided in November 1835. In 1835, Williams was elected as a delegate to the Coahuila and Texas Legislature, representing the district of Brazos. That legislature offered for sale 3.5 million acres of land in the Mexican state, an action which many Texians (ethnic Anglos living in Mexican Texas) perceived as corrupt. His participation in

6576-489: The Galveston City Company with Michel B. Menard . Menard hatched the development scheme in 1833, coordinating to acquire a Mexican title to bayside land at the east end of Galveston Island from Juan Seguin . The next year Galveston City Company purchased from Seguin a league and a labor , or about 4,605 acres. The McKinney and Williams investment was initially a fifty-percent share. In December 1836,

6713-475: The Galveston and Brazos Navigation Company, chartered in 1850. The company cut a channel through the shallow, sandy bottoms, from the coast at the west end of Galveston Island to the mouth of the Brazos River. In March 1852, the Texas Supreme Court ruled on the state's appeal in the Williams case. The prosecution strategy was based on challenging the legality of the charter, but the court affirmed

6850-594: The Indian tribes, culminating in 1825 with his order for all Kawankawa to be pursued and killed on sight. By late 1825, Austin had brought the first 300 families to his settlement, the Austin Colony; these 300 are now known in Texas history as the Old Three Hundred . Austin had obtained further contracts to settle an additional 900 families between 1825 and 1829. He had effective civil and military authority over

6987-512: The Karankawa, sometimes more specifically the Carancaguases. Research had suggested that these accusations of cannibalism were false, possibly caused by confusion with another tribe, and that the Karankawa were horrified by cannibalism when they learned of it being practiced by shipwrecked Spaniards. Austin told the colonists that the Karankawa would be impossible to live among. Austin continued to encourage violence both against and between

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7124-402: The Mexican government's opposition 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

7261-467: The Mexican government's resistance to it. Doing so ensured the population growth and economic development of his colony, which was primarily dependent on the monocropping of cotton and sugar. In August 1825, he recommended that the state government allow immigrants to bring people they were enslaving with them through 1840, with the caveat that female grandchildren of the enslaved people would be freed by age 15 and males by age 25. His recommendation

7398-484: The Monclova government aroused the resentment of such persons, many of whom were already suspicious of Williams because of his former position of power in granting land in the Austin Colony. From the perspective of Williams, a member of the federalist Monclova government, the massive land sale was a justified state action in defense of the Mexican Constitution of 1824 , which was challenged by Santa Anna and

7535-596: The Red River region, and most of the soldiers' votes. Austin received 587 votes to Sam Houston's 5,119 and Henry Smith 's 743 votes. Houston appointed Austin as the first secretary of state of the new republic; however, Austin only served approximately two months before his death. In December 1836, Austin was in the new capital of Columbia (now known as West Columbia ), where he caught a severe cold; his condition worsened. Doctors were called in but could not help him. Austin died of pneumonia at noon on December 27, 1836. He

7672-556: The Republic of Texas announced it would validate this title in exchange for $ 50,000 (~$ 1.46 million in 2023) in cash or merchandise. While there is no evidence of any payment to the Texas government, this action transferred land on the east end of the island to the Galveston City Company. Both Williams and McKinney joined the company's board of directors, and voted with the board to make lots available for sale on April 20, 1838. McKinney and Williams relocated its headquarters from Quintana to Galveston in 1838. The firm already operated

7809-477: The Republic of Texas. He had permission to open a bank during the Texas Republic, but did not use this privilege. The Texas bank inspector, Niles F. Smith, never had an opportunity to execute his duties in 1837, but he was never officially relieved of his appointed post. Williams recalled inspector Smith in 1847, who certified the bank's assets in Galveston, New Orleans, and New York. Williams operated out of

7946-492: The Republic or by the State of Texas. McKinney continued to assert the claims of the partnership, but died in 1873 before succeeding in this advocacy. Upon his death, the state acknowledged $ 17,000, a small portion of the claim, but did not remit any funds to his estate. The State of Texas finally acknowledged the legacy of the Williams and McKinney contributions through a repayment in 1835. Texas historian Joe Frantz characterizes

8083-555: The Saltillo government. The Monclova government was raising money to prepare for a possible civil war in Coahuila. With santanista General Martín Perfecto de Cos marching from Saltillo, the Monclova legislature ended its session in late-May 1835 with most of its members fleeing the region. Many of the federalists were captured, including Williams who was taken after crossing the Rio Grande River at Presidio, Texas . He

8220-537: The Southeast in the hands of only two producers”. Imperial Sugar and US Sugar stated that they disagreed with the antitrust lawsuit and that they fully intended to litigate. US Sugar completed the $ 315 million purchase of Imperial in November 2022. On July 13, 2023, 7he 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia rejected the U.S. government's claim that the merger violated antitrust and refused to undo

8357-644: The State of Texas installed a cenotaph in their memory. Since he had not recorded a will , he left a contested estate which included large tracts of undeveloped land in addition to other assets valued at $ 95,000. His Galveston home, the Samuel May Williams House , is on the National Register of Historic Places . Early in 1859, the Texas State Supreme Court invalidated the bank charter of 1835 used to support

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8494-517: The Texas Congress headed an opposition to the C & A Bank: Guy M. Bryan and Elisha M. Pease . Attorney General and Pease-ally John W. Harris filed a lawsuit against Williams, who retained Galveston-attorney, Ebenezer C. Allen . Harris filed a total of four suits against Williams with $ 75,000 in fines. In 1849, a District Court ruled that an 1841 law that gave Williams banking privileges was still valid. In 1849, Williams gained an ally in

8631-519: The Texas rebels. With the colonists numbering more than 11,000 by 1832, they were becoming less amenable to Austin's cautious leadership, and the Mexican government was becoming less cooperative. It was concerned with the colony's growth and the U.S. government's efforts to buy the state from them. The Mexican government had attempted to stop further U.S. immigration as early as April 1830, but Austin's skills gained an exemption for his colonies. He granted land to immigrants based on 640 acres (2.6 km ) to

8768-629: The Texian forces during the Siege of Béxar from October 12 to December 11, 1835. After learning of the Disturbances at Anahuac and Velasco in the summer of 1835, an enraged Santa Anna made rapid preparations for the Mexican army to sweep Anglo settlers from Texas. War began in October 1835 at Gonzales . The Republic of Texas , created by a new constitution on March 2, 1836, won independence following

8905-614: The United States York Rite of Freemasonry as a liberal alternative to the established European-style Scottish Rite . On February 11, 1828, Austin called a meeting of Freemasons at San Felipe to elect officers and to petition the Masonic Grand Lodge in Mexico City for a charter to form a lodge. Austin was elected Worshipful Master of the new lodge. Although the petition reached Matamoros and

9042-512: The United States forced many Americans into insolvency. By 1822, the opening of Mexican Texas to Anglo-colonization offered these distressed families an opportunity to escape debts by moving outside the jurisdiction of American law. Sometimes these debtors abandoned their property and wrote the letters "GTT" on their doors, an acronym for Gone to Texas . Though Williams sold tobacco to the Karankawa people on Galveston Island in 1821, he joined

9179-460: The Williams campaign. They offered to buy Texas Treasury notes (redbacks) for 50 cents on the dollar just as rival commission houses offered only 37.5 cents on the dollar. Substantively, he campaigned based on a conservative monetary policy in response to the Republic's devaluing currency. Williams once used his position in the House to assert the interests of the Galveston City Company, challenging

9316-547: The account of the McKinney and Williams partnership, which in turn had at least of portion of its financial backing from Henry Howell Williams. After independence, Williams served the Republic of Texas as its loan commissioner while serving simultaneously as a procurement officer for the Texas Navy, serving both the Sam Houston and Mirabeau Lamar administrations. McKinney and Williams were investors and co-founders of

9453-497: 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 . Austin declared his candidacy for Congress two weeks before the first Arkansas territorial elections in 1820. His late entrance meant his name did not appear on

9590-543: The authority to stand behind their own agreements, which would be subject to approval by the President and the Texas Congress. According to the Secretary of State, Anson Jones , their job was to extend the process as long as possible. Meanwhile, unknown to Williams and Hockley, Texas negotiated an annexation treaty with the United States and appealed for sovereign recognition from Great Britain. The Texas War Department, on

9727-424: 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 First Circuit Court judge. Little Rock was designated as the territorial capital over the next few months. 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

9864-526: The business. The company no longer refines sugar at its original plant in Sugar Land (the facility was closed in 2003) but its corporate headquarters are still located in its founding city. On December 19, 2010 , two buildings of the Sugar Land factory were demolished by controlled explosion to facilitate the development of the property for residences, business properties and park land. In 2010, Imperial exchanged its aging nineteenth-century Gramercy, Louisiana refinery to Louisiana Sugar Refiners, LLC (LSR) for

10001-631: The coast and west of Quintana, at the San Bernard River. Joseph and Austin Williams, two of his sons, managed the plantation for a brief period before its sale in 1850. Williams ran for US Congress twice. A special election in 1846 was necessary to determine representation for Texas for the few months remaining of the Twenty-ninth Congress. Williams was one of six candidates for the Texas Second district while running on

10138-481: The colonists and fill Texas "with Indians and negroes [freed slaves]". Immigration controls and the introduction of tariff laws had done much to dissatisfy the colonists, peaking in the Anahuac Disturbances . Austin became involved in Mexican politics, supporting the upstart Antonio López de Santa Anna . Following the success of Santa Anna, the colonists sought a compensatory reward, proclaimed at

10275-486: The colonists would lack the mass labor to cultivate the land, which would stall the pace of immigration needed to develop and increase the land's value, deflate the economy, and motivate his colonists to leave. Austin went before the legislature and pleaded that, at the least, his original 300 families should be allowed to continue enslaving people. He argued against the "bad faith" of freeing them, demanded reparations to enslavers for every enslaved person emancipated by

10412-766: The colony was not generating much revenue. Williams continued to accept additional responsibilities at the Austin Colony. He managed the Public Land Office, and he served as its postmaster from 1826. He served as secretary of the ayuntamiento from 1828 to 1832, a post requiring him to record official documents in Spanish and send them to the state government. Austin later claimed that Williams had been underpaid for his service and later compensated him with 49,000 acres (200 km ) of land in Texas. With his existing land grant of 9,387 acres (37.99 km ), Williams had accumulated more than 58,000 acres (230 km ) of land in Texas. Early in 1834 Williams co-founded

10549-547: The colony, taking their son with her. After her death, Williams brought Joseph back to Texas and raised him as a member of his family. Williams married Sarah Patterson Scott on March 4, 1828, at San Felipe de Austin. A native of Kentucky , she emigrated to Texas with her parents William and Mary Scott in 1824. Sarah Williams gave birth to nine children, five of whom survived to adulthood. By 1829, Samuel and Sarah Williams were caring for two children: their newborn daughter Sophia Caroline Williams and his four-year-old son "Vic" from

10686-622: The colony. After escaping from jail in June 1835, Williams moved his family from the seat of the Austin Colony to Quintana. While Samuel was in the United States, Sarah fled her home during the Runaway Scrape early in 1836. By that time, the Williams's had already relocated from San Felipe de Austin to Quintana, the site of the McKinney and Williams warehouse, where the McKinneys also lived. Thomas McKinney and William H. Jack transported

10823-514: The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, attributing its problems to lower sales for refined sugar as well as higher energy costs. Then on August 29, 2001, the company emerged from Chapter 11 and has since turned its focus inward as it downsizes its operations. In 2003, Imperial won the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award for innovative use of web technology to help turn around

10960-655: The company had only one plant, at its original location in Texas, when they purchased the Holly Sugar Corporation, a sugar beet processor headquartered in Colorado Springs . At that time Imperial Sugar Company became Imperial Holly Corporation and began publicly trading on Nasdaq . Since the initial acquisition the company has made several more acquisitions that effectively doubled the corporation's size each time. The company's name returned to Imperial Sugar Company in 1999. On January 17, 2001 ,

11097-524: The court seating an anti-banking, pro-agrarian judge. The political climate did not favor Williams and his banking interests in 1857, but an economic panic was a greater threat. A bank closed for business in New York that August, and by October, three banks in New Orleans stopped paying in specie. This triggered a mass of demands for redemptions at both Galveston banks, which prompted Williams to refuse to honor some depositors' checks. An early closing triggered

11234-453: The election of John M. Allen , the town's first mayor. He led the passage of a bill to change Galveston's charter, which imposed a requirement of land ownership in order to vote in municipal elections. Effectively this reduced the number of eligible voters by half, and this paved the way for the "conservatives" to elect John W. Walton over the "liberal" John M. Allen in 1840. Allen transported the town's archives and stored them in his home, which

11371-500: 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 helped suppress the Fredonian Rebellion . He also helped ensure the introduction of slavery into Texas despite

11508-654: The fall of 1824, Austin appointed Williams as a recording secretary for the Austin Colony . Though Mexico had not yet established an ayuntamiento (local government) in the colony, Austin had told Jose Antonio Saucedo about his intention to establish the recording secretary position with all of the responsibilities of a secretary for an ayuntamiento . Also in 1824, Williams received his own headright , which included two leagues (about 4,428 acres each) and three labores (about 640 acres each). Austin had promised Williams an annual salary of $ 1,000, ($ 24,434 in 2019) but

11645-516: The first bank in Texas: the Commercial & Agricultural Bank (C & A Bank). This was the only institution to legally issue paper money, though his charter and the bank's practices faced legal challenges throughout its existence, including anti-banking legislation and scrutiny from various Texas Attorneys General . Favorable decisions rendered by the district courts saved Williams and his bank for about four years. C & A Bank remained solvent during

11782-732: The first three degrees of Freemasonry that same night. Four days later, on November 25, 1835, he received all the degrees of the Royal Arch chapter in Jerusalem Chapter No. 8, Royal Arch Masons. Six days later, on December 1, 1835, he received the orders of Masonic Knighthood in Morton Commandery No. 4, Knights Templar. A week after that, on December 8, 1835, the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, meeting in Washington, D.C., granted Williams

11919-463: The husband, 320 to the wife, 160 for every child, and 80 for every enslaved person. Slavery was a very important issue to Austin, one he called "of great interest" to him. Austin was a periodical enslaver throughout his life; however, he had conflicting views about it. Theoretically, he believed slavery was wrong and went against the American ideal of liberty. In practice, however, he agreed with

12056-446: The immigrants unloaded their goods, so that their two sloops could navigate safely up the shallows of the Colorado River. When the Karankawa noticed that only four armed men were guarding the merchandise of 300 immigrants, they made their attack, killing the guards and plundering the articles. On February 23, 1823, the Karankawa killed two men, named Loy and John C. Alley, and wounded another named John C. Clark . They were bringing home

12193-576: The immigration ban was lifted, but a separate state government was not authorized. Statehood in Mexico required a population of 80,000, and Texas had only 30,000. Believing that he was pushing for Texas independence and suspecting that he was trying to incite insurrection, the Mexican government arrested Austin in January 1834 in Saltillo . He was taken to Mexico City and imprisoned. No charges were filed against him as no court would accept jurisdiction. He

12330-496: The latter because of debts. He landed in Mexican Texas in 1822, having learned French and Spanish. Stephen F. Austin hired Williams for his colony in 1824. Williams first worked as a clerk , and later assumed the title of secretary to the ayuntamiento , a local government established for the colony by the Mexican state of Coahuila and Texas . He worked for Austin for about a decade. In 1834, Williams quit as secretary of

12467-400: The legislature of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas passed a law similar to the one authorized by Iturbide. The law continued the system of empresarios and granted each married man a league of land, 4,428 acres (1,792 ha), stipulating that he must pay the state $ 30 within six years. Austin sought an area for his colonists on the land near the mouth of the Colorado River (Texas) for

12604-400: The merger. Samuel May Williams Samuel May Williams (October 4, 1795 – September 13, 1858) was an American businessman, politician, and close associate of Stephen F. Austin , who was an Anglo-American colonizer of Mexican Texas . As a teenager, Williams started working in the family's mercantile business in Baltimore . He spent time in South America and New Orleans , fleeing

12741-423: The most feeling and affectionate Fathers that ever lived. His faults I now say, and always have, were not of the heart." Austin led his party to travel 300 miles (480 km) in four weeks to San Antonio , with the intent of reauthorizing his father's grant; they arrived on August 12. While in transit, they learned Mexico had declared its independence from Spain, and Texas had become a Mexican province rather than

12878-412: The moving spirit" behind the formation of the first Masonic lodge in Galveston, and is considered "the father" of Galveston's Harmony Lodge No. 6. Williams represented Harmony Lodge at the annual Grand Lodge meeting in December 1839. At that meeting, he was elected the third Grand Master of Masons in Texas, succeeding Anson Jones and Branch T. Archer. An avid proponent of Royal Arch Freemasonry, Williams

13015-531: The next decade. Williams died on September 13, 1858, after an illness of about two weeks. Local Knights Templar and Royal Arch Freemasons led his funeral proceedings. Many flags were flown that day at half mast, while many Galveston businesses closed to honor his memory. He left four surviving children and his wife. He and his wife are buried at the Trinity Episcopal Cemetery in Galveston. The original grave sites cannot be identified, but

13152-423: The next year, while Gray continued to dismiss them. Early in 1857, District Judge Gray fined Robert G. Mills $ 100,000 after a jury found him guilty of violating the 1848 banking act. The jury in the Williams trial was deadlocked, but his legal team recommended that he consent to a fine of $ 2,000 with a guilty plea. A few weeks later, Gray lost his election bid for the Texas Supreme Court to Oran M. Roberts , with

13289-471: The original capital, Saltillo , while the rival federalistas established their capital at Monclova . During meetings at the state capital, Williams bought 100 leagues of land in northeast Texas from the Monclova government at an eighty percent discount. During the trip he also secured a bank charter, while selling $ 85,000 (~$ 2.65 million in 2023) worth of its stock. However, back in Anglo-Texas,

13426-709: The other hand, instructed them to demand demilitarization of the Nueces Strip , the corridor in south Texas between the Rio Grande and Nueces rivers. Diplomatically, Mexico claimed all of Texas as its sovereign territory; militarily, Mexico fortified at the Nueces River. Withdrawing from the Nueces Strip was an untenable position for Mexico, though Jones had told them that Mexico would agree to it. Williams and Hockley sailed for Laredo in early October, but

13563-499: The partners applied to ships and ammunition on behalf of the rebel government. After Texas gained independence , Williams focused most of his business activities in Galveston , and represented Galveston County for one term in the Republic of Texas legislature. Through his partnership with McKinney he was invested in the Galveston City Company, and established diverse business interests there. The partnership ended when their business

13700-399: The partnership of McKinney and Williams as "Underwriters of the Texas Revolution," since, "without their aid [Sam] Houston's army conceivably would have lacked clothes, provisions, and most especially, arms." Yet Cartwright notes a lack of acknowledgement of the legacy of Williams in his adopted hometown: "Today hardly anyone in Galveston remembers his name or what he did. The city of Galveston

13837-474: The partnership of McKinney and Williams, setting up a warehouse at Brazoria , then relocated to Quintana at the mouth of the Brazos River . The firm operated small steamboats on the Brazos and used its warehouse to manage transfer of freight to and from the larger ships operating on the Gulf of Mexico. An internal political battle in Mexico caused the state of Coahuila and Texas to split into two capitals. Those loyal to Santa Anna ( santanistas ) controlled

13974-452: The previous relationship. By 1830, Williams had already moved his family from Calle Commercio to a lot on the outskirts of town, and added onto this wood-framed house, then finished it with locally milled siding and brick, and with imported sash from New Orleans. In addition to his annual salary of $ 1,000, (~$ 28,613 in 2023) he received a seven-league bonus in 1830 for service to the ayuntamiento . He selected seven leagues scattered throughout

14111-565: The processes of government and other public services. During these years, Austin, a Louisiana Lodge No. 111 member at Ste. Genevieve, Missouri , sought to establish Freemasonry in Texas. Freemasonry was well established among the educated classes of Mexican society. It had been introduced among the aristocracy loyal to the House of Bourbon , and the conservatives had total control over the Order. By 1827, Americans living in Mexico City had introduced

14248-520: The province legally and to bypass the government's effort to prohibit slavery when it passed the Law of April 6, 1830 . In 1829, John Durst, a prominent landowner and politician, wrote about the president's emancipation of enslaved people, "We are ruined forever should this measure be adopted". Stephen F. Austin replied, "I am the owner of one slave only, an old decrepit woman, not worth much, but in this matter I should feel that my constitutional rights as

14385-594: The ranks of the immigrant debtors in May 1822. He and a female companion left New Orleans and the United States to escape debts and poor economic prospects. They registered under the names of Mr. and Mrs. E. Eccleston, and passed over the gangplanks of the sloop Good Intent . The sailing ship met a storm in the Gulf of Mexico , and finally made landfall at the mouth of the Colorado River on June 18. At this time Texas

14522-571: The rate of 12.5 cents/acre (31 cents/ha). When Emperor of Mexico Agustín de Iturbide abdicated in March 1823, the law was annulled once again. In April 1823, Austin induced the congress to grant him a contract to bring 300 families into Texas. He wanted honest, hard-working people who would make the colony a success. In 1824, the congress passed a new immigration law that allowed the individual states of Mexico to administer public lands and open them to settlement under certain conditions. In March 1825,

14659-480: The recall of older debt instruments and stopping further issuance of unsecured debt. In addition, he proposed that Texas only accept payments in cash from importers and suggested a broad fifteen percent tariff on imported goods. This proposal was a political success, as all of its recommendations were adopted. However, inflation continued into 1841, as Texas redbacks traded at 37.5 cents on the dollar before he went to Austin and later depreciated to 12.5 cents. He sponsored

14796-559: The same ship with Texas cotton , establishing direct trade between England and the Republic of Texas. McKinney and Williams divested their commission business in 1842, selling it to Henry Howell Williams, who ran it as a division of his commission house in Baltimore. In 1839, Williams represented Galveston County in the lower house of the Congress of the Republic of Texas . McKinney and Williams used their commission house to support

14933-502: The security of "life, liberty or property". Resisting the impact a changed slavery policy would have on economic growth, and fearing rumors of Mexico's plan to free the enslaved people and turn them loose upon the colonists, shortly after Austin returned from Mexico, he and his colonists took up arms against the Mexican government. Austin later gained U.S. Government support for his revolution when he wrote to Senator Lewis F. Linn and pleaded that Santa Anna planned to "exterminate" all of

15070-552: The settlers, but he quickly introduced a semblance of American law – the Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas was agreed on in November 1827. Austin organized small, informal armed groups to protect the colonists, which evolved into the Texas Rangers . Despite his hopes, Austin was making little money from his endeavors; the colonists were unwilling to pay for his services as empresario, and most of his revenues were spent on

15207-464: The social, economic, and political justifications for it and worked hard to defend and expand it. Despite his defense of it, he also harbored concerns that the long-term effects of slavery would destroy American society. He grew particularly concerned following Nat Turner's rebellion in 1831, stating: "I sometimes shudder at the consequences and think that a large part of America will be Santo Domingonized in 100, or 200 years. The idea of seeing such

15344-412: The state congress. His former partner in the mercantile trade, Thomas McKinney gained a seat in the lower house and sought to repeal the 1848 banking laws. McKinney also found common cause with Williams in relation to the incoming Attorney General, Andrew Jackson Hamilton . For McKinney it was personal, and for Williams it was business. Hamilton had prosecuted the case against Williams in district court and

15481-442: The state, and included provisions to improve the conditions of enslaved people and transitioning freedmen. Austin –– who had been so effective in persuading the legislature, however, that the author of Article 13 (before its passage) requested to withdraw it –– helped his colonists evade the law by advising them to legally supplant the word "slave" with the words "workingmen," "family servants," and "laborers," and by working to pass

15618-444: The state, warned that the loss of enslaved people could leave some colonists destitute, and reasoned that freeing them would not only leave his settlers alone in the harsh Texas environment but would also expose them to the discomfort and nuisance of living amongst formerly enslaved people, who would become vagrants seeking retribution upon their former owners. While he waited for the legislature's verdict of his request, Austin went into

15755-434: The struggle and allowed despondency to triumph." Journalist Gary Cartwright claims that Williams "died a bitter and frustrated old man, emotionally, physically, and financially drained." Williams, through his business partnership with McKinney, supported the war for independence with cash, and with goods and services in-kind, including ships, mercenaries, and ammunition. Williams died in 1858, without seeing any repayment by

15892-614: The territory and moved 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, and made arrangements to study law with him. During Austin's time in Arkansas, his father traveled to Spanish Texas and received an empresarial grant that would allow him to bring 300 American families to Texas. Moses Austin caught pneumonia soon after returning to Missouri. He directed that his empresario grant would be taken over by his son Stephen. Although Austin

16029-461: The tracks to a nearby encampment and slew nineteen of them, scalped them and plundered their camp", wrote one of the participants, John H. Moore . This event became known as the Skull Creek massacre . Austin wrote that extermination of the Karankawa would be necessary, even though his first encounter with the tribe was friendly. He talked to the settlers of cannibalism and extreme violence of

16166-519: The venue changed to Sabinas while they were in transit. After arriving, an illness postponed the meetings, so negotiations did not start until December. Their counterparts, Cayetano Montero and Alexander Ybara, did not consent to the Texans' proposal that Mexico withdraw troops beyond the Rio Grande River. Williams acquired a sugar plantation in 1844. This 1,100 acre parcel was located near

16303-401: Was a part of Mexico. Moses Austin had negotiated a contract to colonize part of Texas, but his death in 1821 put the deal in limbo. As Williams first arrived in Texas, Stephen F. Austin , the son of Moses Austin, traveled to Mexico City in order to reinstate the contract and facilitate implementation of the Austin Colony. During Austin's visit, word reached Mexico City of a Mr. Eccleston, who

16440-452: Was acquired by Henry Howell Williams in 1842. After 1842, Williams worked toward establishing a bank in Texas. He briefly returned to public service when he accepted a diplomatic mission to negotiate a treaty with Mexico, which had still not recognized the sovereignty of the Republic of Texas . In the first year of Texas statehood, he ran twice for the U.S. House of Representatives, losing both times. In 1848 Williams succeeded in introducing

16577-494: Was active in promoting trade and currying the good favor of the Mexican authorities, aiding them in the suppression of the Fredonian Rebellion of Haden Edwards . Some historians consider the Fredonian Rebellion the beginning of the Texas Revolution . Although "premature ...  the Fredonian Rebellion sparked the powder for later success." For this event, Austin raised troops to fight with Mexican troops against

16714-780: 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 died in 1821, Stephen Austin won recognition of

16851-535: Was at the home of George B. McKinstry, near what is now West Columbia, Texas. He was 43. Austin's last words were, "The independence of Texas is recognized! Don't you see it in the papers?..." Upon hearing of Austin's death, Houston ordered an official statement proclaiming: "The Father of Texas is no more; the first pioneer of the wilderness has departed." Originally, Austin was buried at Gulf Prairie Cemetery in Brazoria County, Texas . In 1910, Austin's body

16988-539: Was conscious of his own standing in Galveston when he ran for the Congress of the Texas Republic in 1839. Leading up to the election, McKinney and Williams offered favorable exchange rates for Texas treasury notes compared to their local business rivals, which Cartwright suggests was a successful attempt to buy votes. Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836)

17125-493: Was guarded by two artillery pieces. McKinney recruited a group of men to recapture the archives, and Allen surrendered them without incident. Williams chaired the finance committee for the lower house, and served as a member of the naval affairs committee. Williams allied with Sam Houston 's faction against President Mirabeau Lamar 's spending proposals and his Indian policy. He issued a finance report and proposal on January 12, 1840, which included two Hamiltonian recommendations:

17262-490: Was incarcerated at San Antonio , but escaped on horseback in a plot engineered by his friend, José Antonio Navarro . Williams arrived in San Felipe de Austin as an enemy of Santa Anna and Cos. At the same time, his actions in Monclova made him unpopular with Anglos in Texas. Williams went on a tour of the eastern United States in order to raise capital for his bank. Williams was selling stock in New York when he read about

17399-527: Was instrumental in the formation of the Grand Chapter of Texas, Royal Arch Masons, and, on December 30, 1850, he was elected its first presiding officer. Thomas McKinney managed the construction of Williams's house and his own on a large nearby suburban lots outside of Galveston, a project he started in 1839. The family took residency sometime in 1840. The large tract included a pasture, a vegetable garden, and several outbuildings. They kept henhouse and

17536-527: Was literate in English, Spanish, and French. By late 1823, Austin had returned to Texas and met Eccleston, who had established a local reputation by clerking and teaching school. Austin hired him in November. This is around the time that Williams reverted to his birth name. For a time both Williams and Austin had lived and worked in the same area of New Orleans, but there is no direct evidence that they had known each other prior to their meeting in 1823. Williams

17673-518: Was moved from prison to prison. He was released under bond in December 1834 and required to stay in the Federal District. He was entirely freed under the general amnesty in July 1835 and, in August 1835, left Mexico to return to Texas via New Orleans. In his absence, several events propelled the colonists toward confrontation with Santa Anna's centralist government. Austin temporarily commanded

17810-466: Was president of the first incorporated bank to operate in Texas. The Commercial and Agricultural Bank opened in Galveston on December 30, 1847, and later established a branch in Brownsville , as well as agencies in New Orleans, New York City, and Akron, Ohio . Williams continued as the bank's president until his death. Williams exploited his latent 1835 Mexican bank charter and an old resolution from

17947-944: Was reinterred at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin . Austin never married, nor did he have any children. He bequeathed all his land, titles, and possessions to his married sister, Emily Austin Perry . While Stephen F. Austin and his sister Emily have each been the subject of a biography, they are descended from several generations of noteworthy people, including: Moses Austin (father—biography published by Trinity University Press), Abia Brown (grandfather), Joseph Sharp (great-grandfather), Isaac Sharp (great, great-grandfather), Anthony Sharp (great, great, great-grandfather—biography published by Stanford University Press). Accordingly, history records noteworthy social contributions in each generation of Stephen's family dating back to

18084-511: Was rejected. In 1826, when a state committee proposed abolishing slavery outright, 25 percent of the people in Austin's colony were enslaved. Austin's colonists, mostly pro-slavery immigrants from the south, threatened to leave Texas if the proposition passed, while prospective Southern immigrants hesitated to come to Texas until slavery was guaranteed there. Austin conceded that his colony's success depended on slavery. Without enslaved people,

18221-400: Was reluctant to carry on his father's Texas venture, he was persuaded to do so by a letter from his mother, written two days before Moses's death. Austin boarded the steamer Beaver and departed to New Orleans to meet Spanish officials led by Erasmo Seguín . He was at Natchitoches, Louisiana , in 1821 when he learned of his father's death. "This news has effected me very much, he was one of

18358-710: 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

18495-544: Was then the official in charge of enforcing the 1848 banking act. McKinney took over as chairman of a special investigations committee, which determined that Hamilton had failed to report "widespread corruption". After the legislature passed a reform bill to change the office of Attorney General into an elected one, McKinney campaigned for the election of Ebenezer C. Allen, Williams's lawyer. Liquidity in Galveston conferred an advantage for local business interests to finance large infrastructure projects. The C & A bank financed

18632-457: Was to be forwarded to Mexico City, nothing more was heard. By 1828, the ruling faction in Mexico feared the liberal elements in Texas might try to gain their independence. Fully aware of the political philosophies of American Freemasons, the Mexican government outlawed Freemasonry on October 25, 1828. In 1829, Austin called another meeting, where it was decided that it was "impolitic and imprudent, at this time, to form Masonic lodges in Texas". He

18769-531: Was with Austin when the new empresario selected a location for his colonial headquarters, San Felipe de Austin . Austin first hired Williams as a translator and clerk, whose language skills, both in English and Spanish, were necessary to fulfill his responsibilities. Another critical skill was his handwriting. In an era when all documents were written by hand, the ability to write legibly was critical to properly reading them later. Williams' knowledge of Mexican culture and Spanish business practices were also assets. In

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