From the Tuscumbia North Alabamian.
Important to Claimants of Lands, in the Texas Colony of the Nashville Company. — We are indebted to a friend for a copy of a decree of the congress of Coahuila and Texas, together with other documents, on the subject of the disputed claims between S. F. Austin and the Nashville company, to a certain scope of territory in Texas.
From the document before us it appears, that the subject was brought before the goverment (sic) by Sterling C. Robertson, one of the parties concerned in the Nashville company, and that a decision to the following purport, was obtainted (sic) on the 22th April last. That the contract entered into by that government on the 23th February, 1831, with Austin and Williams was conditional, so far as it regarded the colony delineated for the Nashville company, and in consequence of the failure on the part of the partners Austin & Williams, or rather in consequence of alleged deceptive representations, on the part of Austin, it is determined:
"1st, That the government holds the contract of the partners Austin & Williams, entered into the 25th day of February 1831, to be null so far as it comprehends the lands contracted for by the Nashville Company, of which the 2nd article of the aforesaid contract speaks. And the parties interested may deduce the rights which in both contracts have been conceded to them, and consequently the partners, Austin & Williams, or their agent may make application to have other equivalent lands designated for them in the balance of the vacant lands of the state, provided always, that those which shall remain in their colony shall not be sufficient for the introduction of the families for which they are bound.
2d. The families introduced and contracted for by the aforesaid company, before the time prefixed, may and ought to be established in said colony.
3d. The limits designated for the contract of the Nashville company, remain the same as determined by the 2d disposition dictated by this government, on the 15th day of October, 1827, in presence of the agent, citizen Stephen F. Austin.
4th. The families which may have been introduced in the above named colony, at the expense of the partners Austin & Williams, shall be represented in the possession which they may have legally acquired, and neither of the Empresarios shall count them to make up the number of families for which they have been bound, unless it be in the case they shall agree with the above named Empresarios (Austin and Williams) to move their establishments."
It should be recollected that the colony of the Nashville company comprises but a small part of the territory included in the contract of Austin & Williams which extends from the coast on the gulf of Mexico to the neighborhood of the Red river.
By the subjoined address of Mr. Robertson the particulars of this subject will be better understood.
This splendid country, known by the name of the Nashville colony, which has so long been the object of a legal contest, has at length been restored to its rightful owners; and although this interesting section of Texas has for a long time been kept a wilderness by fraud and chicanery, justice has at last bained a triumph over perfidy, and it is now open for settlement according to the private constitution of the company, the contract with the government, and the laws upon the subject, or otherwise, they will forfeit their rights, and the lands will be given to others by virtue of the laws. For settlers are crowding in, daily applications are being made, and lands will not be withheld.
As much has been said with rspect to the right which S. F. Austin has pretended to exercise over this colony, and many exertions have been made and are still making to deceive and impose upon the public by the most scandalous calumny and misrepresentation with regard to that pretended claim and the present state of that disgraceful affair, and thereby still prevent the settlement of the colony, I will briefly touch upon that subject, in order to correct any false impressions which may have been made, and place this matter in its true light.
In the month of April, 1825, Robert Leftwich, for the company, celebrated a contract with the government of this State to introduce eight hundred families into this colony, and settle them according to the law of colonization of the 24th of March, 1825. Having encountered some difficulty in settling the colony, in consequence of the law of the 6th April, a830, I engaged S. F. Austin, who had been elected a Member of Congress, to attend to the matter before the government, for the purpose of removing these difficulties, and of obtaining for the company a prolongation of the term of their contract, and he pledged himself to use his best exertions to effect these objects. He proceeded to the capital, and in violation of the pledge he made and of every principle of good faith and honor, he falsely represented to the government that no exertions had been made to settle the colony, that no families had been introduced, and that the company had abandoned its right; and in this manner he entrapped the government into a new contract, which it celebrated with himself and S. M. Williams as his partner, for the same colony, previously to expiration of our contract. On his return, ashamed of his treachery, he denied for some time having obtained the colony uner a new contract for himself and partner; and intrigued with the authorities for my repulsion from the country. The hardships and sufferings which I have been compelled to endure on account of this act of treachery, would fill a volume with their history, and I forbear to repeat them. The facts above stated are established by authentic documents and testimony of witnesses upon oath. And, having laid the whole matter before the government, and received a final hearing, the colony was restored, by a solemn, deliberate and authorized decision, to the Nashville company, its rightful owners. By the operation of the plainest principles of common sense, justice and the law; that the contract of the partners Austin and Williams was obtained on their part by fraud, and celebrated on the part of the government by error, that the company had not forfeited the colony, that the term of their contract had not expired, that the government could not grant it away whilst it belonged to the company by a contract, which had not expired, and that therefore the contract with the partners Austin and Williams was not only voidable, but null and void ab initio."
From the New York Journal of Commerce.
FROM TEXAS. — We are indebted to the Mexican Consul for Brazoria papers to Nov. 29. They bring intelligence of certain movements in that province, having for their object the erection of Texas into an independent State. These movements, however, have been discounted by the central committee of Austin's Colony — probably under the influence of a letter from Col. Austin himself, who is, and for many months past has been, confined in a prison at Mexico, and whose safety perhaps depends upon the orderly course of the colony which bears his name. The following letter will throw further light upon these proceedings:
From the Brazoria Republican, Oct. 18.
Important News. — We learn from a letter received by a gentleman in this place from San Felipe, that the last (unreadable word) brought the pleasing information that our Mexican brethren of Bexar will take the land in a plan for a State Government, and that an express from San Antonio was hourly expected. At this moment of receiving this news, we have also received (for publication) an official letter from the Political Chief of the Department of Brazos, calling upon the citizens to join in, in the accomplishment of this all-important measure. This we consider the best news that we could possibly give our readers. Now the citizens of Texas may hope speedily to realize the substantial benefits of a State Government.
An official letter from the Political Chief of the Department of Brazos, will be issued from this press, in handbill form to-morrow. The Chief calls on the citizens of Texas to take prompt measures for the formation of a State Government — we expect that a meeting will be called for the purpose of expressing the sentiments of the people of this jurisdiction on this important matter. There is no doubt, the people generally will coincide with the opinions expressed in the letter of our Political Chief.
BRAZORIA, Nov. 1. — It will be perceived by the letter of the Political Chief of Bexar, that the inhabitants of that department have taken the lead in endeavoring to form a State Government, and called on the citizens of this Department, (through their political Chief) for co-operation. It will be seen that their call has been responded to, and that an election has been ordered, to take place on the 8th instant, for the election of three Representatives from the capital, and two from each other jurisdiction, to the provisional Congress, to commence its session on the 15th inst.
The result of the Congress of November 15th is not before us, the paper next succeeding being missing from the file; but we are inclined to think little or nothing was done. The opposition of Austin's Colony probably defeated the measure.
The Nashville company had several names – the Texas Association, Leftwich's Grant, the Nashville colony, and the upper colony – and eventually came to be known as Robertson's colony.
"Important to Claimants of Lands, in the Texas Colony of the Nashville Company." National Banner & Nashville Whig, (Nashville, TN), Monday, January 26, 1835, p. 2, col. 1 & 2.