(November 3, 1793 - December 37, 1836) Republics often point to one person whose vision and leadership led to their creation. For the Republic of Texas (1836-1845) that person is Stephen Fuller Austin. Austin, the son of Moses and Maria Brown Austin, was born on the Virginia frontier. He attended schools in Kentucky and Connecticut before opting to work in his father's mercantile business in Missouri. He served as a judge in Arkansas prior to moving to New Orleans where he worked at a newspaper and studied law. In 1821 Moses Austin was granted permission by Spain to settle 300 families in Texas. His untimely death while in Louisiana recruiting settlers left the completion of his ambitious project to his son Stephen. Although a series of Mexican leaders subsequently rejected his father's original grant, Austin persevered and successfully lobbied for the grant's continuance. He astutely governed every facet of the original 300 families' settlement in southeast Texas (1821-1825) and those of another 900 families in the area by 1832. Austin was imprisoned in Mexico after requesting separate statehood for Texas in 1833. He returned to Texas in 1835 and helped it gain independence from Mexico. Austin, chosen as the new Republic's first secretary of state, is known as the father of Texas. Stephen F. Austin Bicentennial 1793 - 1993
Austin, Stephen Fuller
The roadside stories worth pulling over for.
Austin, Stephen Fuller is a historical marker in Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County, dedicated in 1993. It is one of 94 historical markers documented in Nacogdoches County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 232 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 31.6241, -94.6500 near Nacogdoches. The nearest cataloged historic site is Austin Building (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Women's Army Corps School, Shay Locomotive No. 2005, and Karle Wilson Baker.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5347009246. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
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