Individual Page

Person Info

• Name: Moses AUSTIN
• Sex: M
• Birth: 4 Oct 1761 in Durham, Connecticut ^b
• Death: 10 Jun 1821 in Hazel Run, St Francis City, Missouri ^d


Parents:

• Father:
  
• Elias AUSTIN Birth: 14 Apr 1718 in Suffield, Hampshire Co, Massachusetts (Now Hartford Co, Connecticut) Death: 14 Oct 1776 in Durham, Connecticut
Mother:

• Eunice PHELPS Birth: Abt 1721 Death: 11 Dec 1771

Family:
Marriage:

• Maria BROWN on 29 Sep 1784 at Philadelphia,Pennsylvania .^m1
  
• Maria BROWN Birth: 1 Jan 1768 in Sussex Co, New Jersey Death: 8 Jan 1824

Children:

1. Anna Maria AUSTIN Birth: 29 Jun 1789 in Richmond, Virginia Death: 1 Aug 1789 in Richmond, Virginia
2. Eliza Fuller AUSTIN Birth: 14 Apr 1790 in Richmond, Virginia Death: 4 Dec 1790 in Richmond, Virginia
3. Stephen Fuller AUSTIN Birth: 3 Nov 1793 in Austin Ville, Wythe Co, Virginia Death: 27 Dec 1836 in Peaches Point, Columbia, Texas
4. Emily Margaret Brown AUSTIN Birth: 22 Jun 1795 in Austinville, Virginia
5. James Elijah Brown AUSTIN Birth: 3 Oct 1803 in Missouri Territory Death: 24 Aug 1829 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Bibliography

Sources for birth and parent Information

date:

[Ref: Moore AUSTIN p27],

place:

[Ref: Moore AUSTIN p27],

parents:

[Ref: Moore AUSTIN p27]

Sources for death Information

date:

[Ref: Moore AUSTIN p57],

place:

[Ref: Moore AUSTIN p57]

Sources with Inaccurate death Information

date:

May 1822 [Ref: Hinman PuritanSettlers p85]

Sources with Information about marriage to Maria BROWN

date:

[Ref: Moore AUSTIN p57],

place:

[Ref: Moore AUSTIN p57],

child:

[Ref: Moore AUSTIN p57]

Research Notes:
Moses' brother Stephen was a member of the firm Manning, Merrill & Co, later known as Stephen Austin & Co, then as the Moses Austin Co. of Philadelphia. This was a dry goods business which Moses operated in 1783. The next year he became connected with a larger concern, and went to Richmond, VA, to manage a branch store. [Ref: Moore AUSTIN p57]

In 1789 he and Stephen rented a famous lead mine in southeastern Virginia and in 1791 moved there to manage the mine. At one time the brothers had a contract to roof the Virginia capitol with lead. Moses also started a little factory for molding lead buttons. Much of their mining was done with slave labor. [Ref: Moore AUSTIN p58]

Town of Austinville, VA, was started by Moses Austin in 1791, when he was 30 years old. [Ref: Moore AUSTIN p58]

In 1796, finding the miles of New River less productive than expected, and having accidently met with a person who had been in the mining district to the west of St. Genevieve, west of the Mississippi river in Upper Louisiana, and who gave it favorable prospects, determined to visit it. After much difficulty, Moses obtained the necessary passports from the Spanish minister, as at that time the Spanish possessions extended to the Pacific ocean and were closed to the admission of foreigners. During the winter of 1796 and 1797 he explored the northwestern coast of America and then went to India. [Ref: Moore AUSTIN p59]

1798: left the town of Durham as an adventurer, and went to the lead mines in Virginia, then down the Ohio River to St Genevieve, to New Spain. Moses purchased a league square of land; he laid out the city of Potosi, now the capital of Washington County [Ref: Hinman PuritanSettlers p85]

Jun 8 1798 Moses Austin, his wife, children, the Moses Bates family, and others to number 40 persons loaded nine wagons and a coach and left Austinville, taking the road to the Morris Boat Yard on Great Kanhawa. They sailed on the river, the Mississippi, and Missouri on the Richmond Packet, whose master was Capt. Fillinghost. Arrived at their destination, forty miles west of St. Genevieve, Missouri, on Sep 8 1798. Moses passed twenty years at the lead mines of Missouri, and during a dozen of these he seemed to prosper. He built a comfortable mansion and named it Durham Hall in memory of the family home in Connecticut. The War of 1812 created a good market for the shot which he manufactured in Missouri, but he could not get the shot to market because the British controlled the sea. After the war, conditions went from bad to worse. [Ref: Moore AUSTIN p58]

1819: appairs turned out unfortunate at Potosi and he became poor. Then went to Texas and obtained a large grant of land of the Mexican Government, and returned to Missouri after his family [Ref: Hinman PuritanSettlers p85]

beginning of 1820: Moses realized his business was beyond recovery, and his eyes turned to Texas. He set out for this territory in 1820, where he hoped to get land grants for planting an Anglo-American colony. He was away three months, suffering hardships on the trail that he died before his land grants were received. On his death bed he told his wife to urge their son, Stephen Fuller, to carry out his plans for the colony in Texas. [Ref: Moore AUSTIN p58]

Moses Austin had a large grant of land in Texas from the Mexican Government. General Samuel Houston was General in the Army and President of the Republic; Stephen F. Austin succeeded him. [Ref: Moore AUSTIN p57]



Pedigree of Moses AUSTIN
                            /-----Richard AUSTIN
                   /-----Anthony AUSTIN
                  |         \-----Elizabeth (AUSTIN)
          /-----Richard AUSTIN
         |        |         /-----John HUGGINS
         |         \-----Esther HUGGINS
         |                 |         /-----Henry GREEN
         |                  \-----Bridget GREEN
         |                           \-----Joan GROVES
 /-----Elias AUSTIN
|        |                  /-----Robert ADAMS
|        |         /-----Jacob ADAMS
|         \-----Dorothy ADAMS
|                  \-----Anne ALDEN
Moses AUSTIN
 \-----Eunice PHELPS



Descendants of Moses AUSTIN