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Haden
Edwards
by
Archie P. McDonald | |
Haden
Edwards helped influence the Anglo settlement of East Texas almost
as much as Stephen F. Austin, but the state capitol and a couple of
universities are not named for him. Here's why.
Edwards was born in Virginia in 1771 and moved with his parents to
the western part of the state that became the state of Kentucky in
1796. Edwards' father, a land speculator and one of Kentucky's first
U.S. senators, helped sons Haden and Benjamin Edwards begin their
own successful land speculation ventures in Mississippi.
Learning about Moses Austin's land activities in Texas, Edwards shifted
his interest to Texas. He traveled to Mexico City early in the 1820s
to join Stephen F. Austin, Robert Leftwich, and others in lobbying
successive Mexican governments for permission to colonize Texas. Because
of Edwards' wealth, he supported Austin financially because Austin
had already established a relationship with authorities. Their efforts
resulted in the Constitution of 1824, which left land matters up to
Mexican states, and the Coahuiltecan Colonization Law of 1825, which
opened Texas to settlement by recognized empresarios—such as
Austin and Edwards.
Edwards received permission to settle up to 800 families around Nacogdoches
in East Texas—an area southward to modern Jasper
and Woodville,
west to the Trinity River, east to the Sabine, and north as far as
the Red River.
Like all empresarios, Edwards had to honor previous grants in the
area from Spanish or Mexican governments. Unfortunately for Edwards,
only his area had a significant number of such grants and the grantees
had no way to prove their claims because all records were in Spain.
Edwards' order that he would regard all the land as his produced protests,
strains with the government, and, late in 1925, the forfeiture of
Edwards' grant.
By his testimony, Edwards had invested $50,000 in his Texas venture
and did not want to lose it. As a result, he led something called
the Fredonia Rebellion in 1826, in which he proclaimed his grant area
independent of Mexico as the Fredonia Republic. It lasted only until
the arrival of Mexican troops, less than a year.
Edwards fled to Louisiana, but returned to Nacogdoches
even before the revolution in 1836. Family descendants lived there
for many decades.
The Fredonia Rebellion alarmed Mexican nationalists about the ultimate
goals of their new Anglo residents, prompting efforts to stop further
immigration—and, ultimately, the Texas Revolution. Perhaps we ought
to name something after Edwards after all.
© Archie P. McDonald
All
Things Historical
July 9, 2007 column
A syndicated column in over 70 East Texas newspapers
This column is provided as a public service by the East Texas Historical
Association. Archie P. McDonald is director of the Association and
author of more than 20 books on Texas. |
Books by Archie
P. McDonald
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