On October 13, 1830, Joseph Vehlein, David G. Burnet, and Lorenzo de Zavala established the Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company in New York in order to sell land in their Texas colonies. The company sold scrip to individuals as well as companies, which in turn sold the scrip to subscribers. John T. Mason became the company’s agent in 1831 and George A. Nixon its land commissioner three years later. By 1835, the company was establishing hotels and warehouses in New Washington, Texas, and employing laborers from Bermuda. In November 1835, the provisional government closed the company, which still hadn’t received lands for all the families who purchased scrip. Mason’s successor, Robert Rose, unsuccessfully brought suit against the state of Texas for reimbursement for the land in 1848. In 1851, however, the United States and Mexican Claims Commission compensated the company for the land.
Source:
The Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company Certificates, 1830, contains two certificates deeding land near the San Jacinto River to J. Moreau, Jr., and Stephen Whitney from the Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company.
This collection is open for research use.
Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company Certificates, 1830, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.