465
THE AUSTIN PAPERS
her have three thousand doilars (2450 of it is in a draft on Orleans pay- able 1 of May next) and she can have $550 in cash when she starts Regulate this matter as you both think best with the understanding that the above mentioned three thousand dollars is for her- One thing is very certain-I would sell all I have at any sacrifice rather than she should con- tinue in the unhappy and fretful slate she has been in ever since I returned home- She must spend next Summer in the U. S. It will restore l1~r health and spirits, and correct the fretful habit which sickness and hard- ships have produced- I will be down before long- I send some chest- nuts to plant-do not neglect them. If Emily needs it I can let her have four thousand-you must not let her persuade you to sacrifice your land- s. F. AUSTIN
AUSTIN TO M. B. LAMAR 1
Columbia December 5 th 1836
To THE HoN. PRESIDENT oF THE SENATE oF TEXAS SIR
Having understood that the subject of the upper, or "Robinson's [Rob- ertson's] Colony" as it is commonly called has been brought before Con- gress, I deem it a duty to present a short historical statement of facts, so far as I have had any direct personal connection or agency in this matter, which I respectfully request you will lay before the Senate. An exposition of the several contracts, decrees, orders, etc., of the Gov- ernment of the State of Coahuila and Texas as to said Colony has been presented to Congress, by Mr. S. H. Jack the Agent of Austin and Williams, explaining the legal rights of the parties concerned. I therefore shall not touch upon t~at branch of the subject, except so far as may be necessary to bring into view its great importance. It appears by said exposition that on the 15 th day of April 1825 a colo- nization contract was made by the State of Conhuila and Texas with Robert Leftwich to colonize a section of country on the River Brazos above the San Antonio or upper road, which was transfered by Leftwich to a Company in Nashville Tennessee. A transfer or sale of a colonization contract of this description to for- eigners was not recognized as legal or obligatory on the State, and it was contended by the Governor, that it forfeited the contract in toto for the reason that the Ernpresario is nothing more than a special agent of the Government, without power to transfer or sell his contract, without the 1 Translations of Empresario Contracts, 236-241, General Land Office of Texns. For the history of the Robertson Colony Controversy, see Barker, The Life of Stcph~n F. Au.stin, Chapter XI.
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