De Witt Colony - Establishment

Establishment

In 1822, Dewitt petitioned the Mexican government for permission to settle colonists in Texas but was denied. After gaining the support of Stephen F. Austin, an influential Texas empresario, Dewitt's second petition, in 1825, was granted. He was given permission to settle 400 respectable, industrious, Catholic families in an area bounded by the Guadalupe River, San Marcos River, and Lavaca River. This colony was southwest of Austin's. Dewitt hired James Kerr as his surveyor.

In the summer of 1825, Kerr, along with Deaf Smith, Brazil Durbin, Geron Hinds, John Wightman, James Musick, and a Mr. Strickland, searched for a suitable location for the colony. Kerr chose to place the capital, called Gonzales after Rafael Gonzales, provisional governor of Coahuila y Tejas, at the confluence of the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers. The original location was 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the present city of Gonzales. To create the new town, several cabins were erected. In July 1826 Francis Berry and his family became the first family to reside in the Dewitt Colony.

In July 1826 Gonzales was raided by Indians who were looking for horses. One colonist, John Wightman, was killed in the raid. Most of the settlers fled temporarily to Austin's colony. Although the colonization laws specified that settlements should not be established within 10 leagues of the coast, DeWitt gained permission from the Bexar authorities to establish a temporary settlement, which they called Old Station, on Matagorda Bay near the mouth of the Lavaca River. The settlement would be allowed until enough colonists had arrived to be able to see to their own safety in Gonzales. By October 1826 40 people lived in Old Station, including Dewitt and his family. DeWitt recruited most of the settlers from Missouri. He obtained a four year contract with a schooner called Dispatch, captained by William Jarvis Russell, and with this he made his way down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana.