THE FREE NEGRO IN THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS
*
CHAPTER I
The term "free Negro" as applied in this paper is exclusively
a legal term referring to those inhabitants of the Republic of
Texas classified as "free persons of color" and subject to the
special regulations enacted to govern them. There were never any
strictly defined categories based upon ethnological considerations
by which Negroes were segregated from whites. Among the native
Mexican population, there probably were some persons with large
percentages of Negro blood, but none of these were technically
"free Negroes."
In a census of San Antonio recorded by Morfi in 1777, includ-
ing the presidio, villa and the five missions, in a total population
of 2060 persons, 151 are classified as "'de color quebrado' [lit-
erally 'of broken color,' meaning colored]."
1 Again, Morfi refers
to the Spanish colonists of Texas as "una quadrilla de trapientos
de todos colores," literally "a ragged crew of all colors."
2
An official Spanish census of December 31, 1792, records 247
male mulattoes, 167 female mulattoes, 15 male Negroes and 19
female Negroes in a total population for Texas of 1617 males and
1375 females. An itemization of 308 household heads in San
Fernando records 30 families in which both husband and wife
were Negroes, 33 families in which either husband or wife were
Negroes, and 35 widows and bachelors of Negro blood.
3 Of 69
Negroes giving their nativity, 24 claimed San Fernando or vicin-
ity, 10 claimed Adaes on the Louisiana border, 8 claimed Saltillo,
one each claimed Guatemala, Guinea and the Canary Islands,
and the remaining 24 claimed Mexican cities, mostly in bordering
provinces.
4
The complete disappearance of this large number of Texan
Negroes and their descendants, in the short period of forty-three
years from 1792 to the declaration of Texan independence, prob-
ably cannot be explained through absorption, death or migration.
Legally, however, these de
facto
free persons of color and their
descendants disappeared with the organization of the Republic.
The fact that these persons were free Mexican citizens, owned
Spanish names and spoke the Spanish language, doubtless, was
a consideration in their classification as other than free Negroes.
The widespread admixture of Spanish, Indian and Negro blood
made accurate classification impossible and the presumption that
these hybrids considered themselves Mexicans and were accepted
by them as their relatives and countrymen, may account for the
fact that nowhere do we find Negroes of Spanish name and Mexi-
can nativity complying or forced to comply by the laws of the
Republic with the special regulations governing free persons of
color.
Another large group of persons with Negro blood, virtually free
though legally enslaved, demands some notice. The contact of
black and white races everywhere has led to some intermixture,
and Texas was no exception. The paucity of women in early
Anglo-American Texas was an additional factor in leading white
men to take Negro slaves as concubines and wives. The children
of these unions, according to the common law, took their status
from the mother and legally were slaves. Many of these children
were actually free, and some fathers made attempts to have their
progeny legally declared free persons of color.
5
Benjamin Lundy, the abolitionist, on his second trip through
Texas made note of "two brothers, named Alley . . . in-
dustrious immigrants from the State of Missouri. They have
never married. They purchased, however, a handsome black girl,
who has several fine-looking party coloured children--specimens
of the custom of some countries."
6
An incident in Frank Brown's "Annals of Travis County"
affords inferential evidence of both coneubinal and marital ar-
rangements between the races. A plantation owner offered any
Negro on his farm for the recovery of his favorite horse which
had been stolen by Indians. A young man, evidently white,
devoted to the planter's youngest daughter, Dolly, inquired
whether she was included in the offer, to which her father replied
affirmatively. In romantic fashion, the young man recovered the
horse, to the great delight of the owner, and although it is not
recorded that the youth received his reward, "Dolly was married
shortly afterward, and it is reasonable to suppose that he got her."
7
Another marriage, more definite in character, was that of John
F. Webber, the founder of Webberville. Webber had a child by
a neighbor's slave. "Too conscientious to abandon his yellow off-
spring and its sable mother to a life of slavery, he purchased
them from their owner, who, cognizant of the situation, took
advantage of it to drive a sharp bargain." Webber built himself
a fort in the unsettled prairie, "took his family home and ac-
knowledged them before the world." Noah Smithwick, a friend
md old-time partner of Webber, adds, "There were others I wot
of that were not so brave."
8 Webber continued to live in Texas
throughout the whole period of the Republic, but because of in-
creasing social pressure, was finally forced to sell out and move
to Mexico in 1851.
9 Mrs. Webber and her children probably
retained their legal status as slaves, for at no time did they com-
ply with the laws governing free persons of color.
In addition to the Texan-born slave children of white men,
there were those of immigrants. William Primm, a white man,
emigrated to Texas in 1835 from Louisiana and settled on an
estate in Fayette County. He brought with him a part of his
family, including five mulatto children, whom he owned as his
natural offspring, but who were legally slaves.
10
All the Negroes in the cases thus far examined, in the broad-
est sense, might be considered as free Negroes. Legally, however,
the first group were Mexicans, the second, slaves.
The origin of legally free Negroes, with which the body ot
this paper is concerned, may be attributed to many sources but
falls conveniently into four divisions: (1) purchase of freedom
by the slave; (2) manumission by the master; (3) escape of the
slave from the master; (4) immigration of the Negro already free.
A clear case of purchase was that of Tomas Morgan, a negress,
who came to Texas as a slave in 1832 and "purchased her free-
dom with the proceeds of her own labor sometime during the
vear 1834."
11
A note in Benjamin Lundy's diary indicates an indirect pur-
chase of freedom by a Negro slave, who, for the price of his free-
dom, either served his master's term in a debtor's prison, or per-
haps paid his debts.
[August 24, 1833]. . . . There lives here in Bexar, a free
black man, who speaks English. He came as a slave first from
North Carolina to Georgia, and then from Georgia to Nacog-
doches, in Texas. There his master died, and the heirs sold him
to another person. This new master, being apprehended for debt,
offered the slave his freedom if he would take him out of prison.
The slave complied, but the master dying soon after, an attempt
was made to re-enslave the man, which however proved unsuc-
cessful. He now works as a blacksmith in this place. I have
been [in] converse with him, he having seen me at Nacogdoches
last summer, and knowing me again when he met me here. . . .
Though he is jet-black, he says the Mexicans pay him the same
respect as to other laboring people, there being no difference made
here on account of color. . . .
12
The second group of free Negroes had its origin in manumis-
sion. A common cause for manumission was the blood or con-
cubinal tie existing between owner and slave. Such manumis-
sions, granted to relatives, were common throughout the South
during the whole period of slavery. A grant of this kind in early
Texas was recorded by Lundy on July 18, 1834.
I became acquainted with a white man, named David Town, who
originally resided in Georgia. Thence he removed to Louisiana,
taking with him a black female slave, who was in fact his wife.
She was a very capable woman, and had several likely children.
Eight years ago, Town removed to Nacogdoches, where he eman-
cipated his wife and children, who, up to that period, had been
slaves, in the eye of the law. They all live together in harmony,
are quite industrious, and make a very respectable appearance.
The daughters are as fine looking as can be seen almost any-
where, and are free, in their whole demeanor, from the degrading
restraint, so observable among coloured people in our country.
The Mexican ladies of Nacogdoches are very sociable with them.
13
The scarcity of labor in early Texas served to minimize manu-
mission for meritorious services, but at least one such case is
known. William McFarland brought his slave Fannie McFar-
land to Texas in 1827, and granted her freedom eight years later.
Her four children, however, were held as slaves. Fannie lived
at San Felipe and lost all her possessions there during the revo-
tion. In 1837, she moved to Houston and by "industry, pru-
dence and economy" gathered together a little property.
14
A third group of free Negroes, had its origin in the successful
runaway slave. The fact that Texas was under Mexican rule, in
which the fugitive slave law was inoperative, probably induced
many runaway slaves to head for Texas. There, on account of
the scarcity of labor, they were welcomed without searching ques-
tions, and even protected against recapture by the friendly Mexi-
can officials and the populace.
Runaway slaves were often successful in resisting capture and
they doubtlessly received the aid of their employees in their
efforts. On August 2, 1834, Lundy records the following:
I reached the Trinity river, and having crossed it, I put up at
the house of Nathaniel Bobbins, who has on his farm a number
of coloured people that are claimed as slaves, by a person in
Louisiana, named Mays. Mays is at present in Nacogdoches,
where he made up a party of nine men, a few days since, and
came here to take the coloured people, vi
et
armis.
Instead of
succeeding, however, he and his whole band were taken prisoners.
The . . . slave-shooter, Williams, was among the number;
and it is said that he was the most easily captured of all.
15
Some slaves who escaped, enlisted in the Mexican army and so
insured their continued liberty. Colonel Bradburn, a Mexican
officer, harbored two runaway slaves from Louisiana, enlisted
them in his detachment and refused to surrender them on the
owner's demand.
16
One case of an Alabama slave who fled to Texas before the
declaration of independence indicates that others were not uncom-
mon. W. E. Primm, a slave owner of Alabama, in order to regain
control of his man, Cuggoe, prayed the Texas legislature for the
passage of A law . . . that all persons of color that was
slaves Before they came to Texas Eather By absconding or Run-
ing away from the legal owner and came to Texas Before the
Declaration of Independence of Texas shall Be Delivered up to
the Legal owner with Damage and Satisfactturoy proof that such
negro was Realy A Slave Before he came to Texas and that his
Being in Texas before the Independence shall not Be so construd
as to give him his freedom.
17
Not all the successful runaway slaves came from the United
States. Some slaves owned by American colonists in Texas were
equally successful in making good their freedom by running
away to Mexicans who harbored and protected them. One case
is revealed by Lundy when he stopped at the Gonzales home of
Francis Berry, "who was originally from Virginia, and came last
from Missouri." "He has no slaves," Lundy wrote, "all he for-
merly had having run away, as he [Berry] states, 'to the Span-
iards.'" Berry was philosophical enough to think himself "best
off without them."
18
The fourth and chief origin of the free Negro in the Republic
of Texas, however, was emigration from the United States.
Essentially, this migration was a part of the general westward
movement of population. It is difficult to determine with any
accuracy, the time at which this immigration began but it is rea-
sonable to suppose that the purchase of Louisiana gave it sharp
acceleration. An entry in Lundy's diary, written in San Antonio
on September 29, 1833, would place the date as early as 1807.
I walked out this forenoon with Matthew Thomas, to see the
cane patch, ground, &c., of his father-in-law, Felipe Elua, a black
Louisiana creole, who was formerly a slave, but who had pur-
chased the freedom of himself and family. He had resided here
twenty-six years, and he now owns five or six houses and lots,
besides a fine piece of land near town [Bexar]. He has educated
his children so that they can read and write, and speak Spanish
as well as French. They are all fine looking smart black people.
He has a sister, also residing in Bexar, who is married to a
Frenchman. The sugar cane, of which there is a patch of about
an acre on Elua's land, looks as well as that which grows in
Hayti, and the land is evidently well adapted to it. ...
Besides the cane, we saw some fine looking cotton, a large patch
of sweet potatoes, together with beans, and other garden vege-
tables, the property of the same black man, and all in beautiful
order.
19
William Goyans was living in Nacogdoches at least as early as
1821. Eleven years later, when Lundy became acquainted with him,
Goyans was married to a white woman, a native of Georgia. Accord-
ing to Lundy, they appeared "to live happily together, are quite
wealthy, and are considered as very respectable." Two brothers of
Mrs. Goyans, who, like their sister, were white, came to visit her
during Lundy's stay. "They appeared well satisfied with their col-
oured brother-in-law, whom they had not seen before; and they
took a very friendly leave of the family. . . ." Goyans was
of considerable help to Lundy on his trips to Mexico for the pur-
pose of establishing a free Negro colony in Tamaulipas.
20
Emanuel J. Hardin came to Texas in 1822, settled in Brazoria
County, evidently as a farmer, and by living an "industrious and
orderly" life, he "acquired a considerable amount of property in
the County besides supporting himself and family." Hardin mar-
ried Tomas Morgan, an "industrious and useful" negress who
had purchased her freedom and held in her own name "a consid-
erable amount of Real Estate in the Country as well as personal
property."
21
A quadroon, Jean Baptiste Maturin, by name, received a grant
from the Mexican government dated Leona Vicario, October 20,
1823, conceding to him one sitio
of land in Nacogdoches County
"about four leagues West from the Town Nacogdoches." Maturin
emigrated with his "wife and numerous family of children" at
the time of the grant and made "valuable improvements" which
enabled him to support his large family over a period of at least
fifteen years.
22
In 1827, David and Sophia Gowns came to Nacogdoches with
their six children, to whom three more were added in a short
time. Sophia Gowns was a negress, but her husband, David,
probably was a white man, as no reference is made to him as a
Negro. The two oldest daughters married and between them
added five more free Negroes to the population.
23
Robert Thompson, a Negro of "prudence and industry," came
to Texas in 1831, at a later date purchased 200 acres of good
land in Montgomery County for which he paid $600 "in par
money," stocked it with a considerable number of horses, cattle
and hogs, and found himself so situated that he could live "inde-
pendent and happy."
24
In 1832, at the age of sixty, James Richardson came to Texas
from Philadelphia. A man of "industry, sobriety and correct
deportment," he made his living from the "habit of entertaining
travellers between Velasco and San Luis" and he was guaranteed
a monopoly of the business on this thoroughfare since he was in
"a location where a white person equally serviceable could not be
expected to reside." He was without descendants and without a
wife, if he ever had one. The entertainment he provided con-
sisted of serving "oysters and refreshments," the exact nature of
the latter being undetermined.
25
Samuel McCullough, a white man, came to Jackson County in
1835, bringing with him two Negro women, Peggy and Rose;
his three daughters, Harriet, Jane and Mahaly; a son, Samuel
McCullough, Jr., and another member of his family, a free Negro
girl named Ulde. Samuel McCullough, Jr., was handicapped in
life "by reason of an unfortunate admixture of African blood,
which he is said, without any fault of his, to inherit from a
remote maternal ancestor." No mention of the mother of this
family was made, unless she was either Peggy or Rose.
26
Moses Ashworth came to San Augustine previous to the decla-
ration of independence, bringing with him four sons and a daugh-
ter. Moses was a white man but his children were free Negroes
and described as "people of mixed blood though nearly white."
His daughter was married to Elisha Thomas, a Negro.
27
John Bird, his son Henry, and his son-in-law, Edward Smith,
together with their three large families, emigrated to San Augus-
tine County previous to the declaration of independence, "believ-
ing they would be received as citizens under the colonization laws
of Mexican United States." John Bird claimed to be the grand-
son of General Bird of Virginia. He had previously lived in
Logan County, Kentucky, and later at Courtland, Alabama, where
for "many years" he was known to be a "truly honest man."
28
At least three free Negroes were accepted by Stephen F. Austin
as colonists, two of whom definitely received title to their land.
Lewis B. Jones, "a man of Color the Descendant of African
Parents," emigrated in 1826 and was received by the Empresario
as a colonist. He was a farmer from Mississippi, and brought
with him his wife, Sarah, two daughters and a "dependent." In
December, 1829, he applied for a half league of land on Fish
Pond Creek to adjoin Jared E. Groce on his east boundary.
29 He
claimed to have been given a league of land on March 25, 1831,
which he selected and settled in 1834. In 1837, he was still in
possession of the land and attempting to have his title legally
recognized.
30
Greenbury Logan, a blacksmith from Missouri, arrived in Texas
in February of 1831. On December 22, of the same year, he
applied for a quarter league of land on Chocolate Creek in Bra-
zoria County, to which Stephen F. Austin granted him legal
title.
31
Samuel H. Hardin brought his family to Texas from some part
of the United States, arriving in March of 1822. On March 12,
1831, he applied for a half league of land in Austin's colony.
Samuel M. Williams, Austin's agent, reported that Hardin had
lived in Texas nine years with his family, that Austin had ac-
cepted him as a colonist with permission to select a half league
of land, that Hardin had always conducted himself well, that he
was very industrious and active, and that he was worthy of the
land. On April 25, 1831, Hardin was given title to half a league
of land in Waller County.
32
Immigration of single free Negro women was not uncommon.
Harriet Newell Sands, a free woman of color, emigrated from
Michigan in 1834, with a Mr. Manton and remained in his em-
ployment, and in that of Edward Manton, his son, during which
time she gave birth to two mulatto girls and a black boy.
33
Zelia Husk, a "good and industrious" negress, emigrated from
Richmond County, Georgia, previous to the declaration of inde-
pendence. Her location up to 1838, is unknown, but in that
year she was living in Houston, "peaceably earning her liveli-
hood" by "exercising the Industry of a washerwoman."
34
Diana Leonard emigrated to Texas in 1835 and gained em-
ployment with Colonel James Morgan for a year, after which she
also "exercised the industry of a washerwoman" in Houston, so
supporting herself and her child.
35
That there were other free Negroes in Texas previous to the
formation of the Republic is adduced largely from evidence pre-
sented by them in later years to establish their right to special
residence privileges which were extended to early Negro settlers.
Little else is known about the early activities of many of them
except that they came to Texas previous to the declaration of
independence. In view of the lack of census figures, their num-
ber can only be estimated. Men, women and children, the free
Negro population at the time of Texan independence was in the
neighborhood of 150 persons.
In addition to the Negroes for whom there is some account,
many of whom had a large percentage of white blood, it is possi-
ble that there were others who were able to pass the color line.
Few places afforded a better opportunity for success than the
frontier, and along that frontier in no place was it easier of
accomplishment than in Texas with its large Mexican population.
Negroes who intermingled with persons of Spanish ancestry, as
we have seen, were accepted by the Mexicans as their countrymen
and relatives, and were likewise accepted by the Anglo-American
settlers. It is not to be inferred that Negroes from the United
States would encounter no difficulty in passing the color line
among the Mexicans, but the difficulty would be considerably less.
If any of them were wholly successful in passing the color line,
necessarily there would be no evidence. Noah Smithwick, in an
account of the marriage of David Holdeman, "Bastrop's principal
merchant," to Sam Craft's stepdaughter, reveals a partially suc-
cessful attempt of two Negroes to pass as white men. "This
[wedding] being an extraordinary occasion, all the elite in the
country were invited, and few regrets were sent."
There were a couple of strangers present who attracted a good
deal of attention—an elderly man, with a professional handle to
his name, and his son a lad of twenty or thereabouts. They had
money for which they were seeking investment. Both of them
were well dressed sporting gold watches and shirt studs, and the
young man was cutting a wide swath among the girls, laying us
buckskin boys quite in the shade. But by and by old Aunt Celie,
a mulatto woman who was looking on through the open door,
beckoned to her young mistress, Miss Harriet Craft, and taking
her aside said:
"Miss. Ha'it, wat you in dar dancin' wid dat niggah fo'?"
"Hush, Aunt Celie; that isn't a nigger," said Miss Craft.
"He is niggah, Miss. Ha'it; he jes as much niggah as I is. Look
at his ha' and his eyes," urged the indignant old woman.
. . . Later developments proved the keenness of the old
woman's perception.
36
No planned Negro immigration from the United States ever
materialized, but a number of schemes to colonize free Negroes
in Texas was suggested by Anglo-Americans, Mexicans and
Negroes.
The chief exponent of such proposals was Benjamin Lundy,
who contemplated the establishment of a colony of free Negroes
in Texas as early as 1830. His chief purpose was to demonstrate
that the cultivation of sugar, cotton and rice could be engaged
in profitably by the use of free labor. To this end, Lundy hoped
and worked for the repeal of the law of April 6, 1830, which
prohibited emigration from the United States to Texas, but
finally, upon the advice of Almonte, Texas Commissioner of Col-
onization from Mexico, shifted his efforts to Tamaulipas, and
there received a large grant of land, which, however, he was never
able to develop.
37
Lundy's plan received publicity, if not encouragement, in both
northern and southern newspapers, and apparently it was a sub-
ject of discussion and debate among white men as well as Negroes.
The
New
York
Commercial
Advertiser
of April 27, 1833, accord-
ing to the African
Repository,
"holds the following sensible lan-
guage in regard to . . . this visionary scheme" of coloniza-
tion in Texas:
It is understood that the delegates [to a proposed Convention
of Free People of Colour] are generally, if not altogether op-
posed to the Colonization Society--adverse to going to Liberia--
and that they have in contemplation to plant a colony in Texas.
. . . if it can be clearly
shown that a settlement in Texas
would answer the purpose of the blacks, we would not lay a straw
in their path. We are quite certain, however, that they will find
[a number of] obstacles in their way, much more difficult to over-
come than a settlement in Liberia. [These obstacles are as
follows:]
[1] . . . a conveyance to the Texas [sic] would be more
expensive, on an average, than a passage to Monrovia. . . .
[3] . . . they must conform to the Catholic religion (if
they would have any religion at all) whatever may be their par-
ticular creed, or they will live in constant inquietude, as well
from the jealousies of the Government, as of their neighbors
around them.
[4] . . . very few of our colored people are acquainted
with the Spanish language, and this they must acquire if they
would hold any intercourse with the present population of that
region. . . .
[5] . . . admitting all these difficulties susceptible of re-
moval, there is another which we presume will be found to be
insurmountable. The presumption is founded upon the belief that
their purpose will be to emigrate over land; for if they should
proceed by water, the navigation would be almost as long, and
altogether more dangerous than the voyage to Liberia. If they
over take [sic] it over land, how will they get to Texas? They
must pass through Louisiana, which is a slave State, and will
never suffer any facilities to be given for the establishment of a
black colony on her borders. Laws would be passed to seize them
on their way, and thus to frustrate their object. Indeed there is
such a community of feeling among all slaveholding States, that
we are much inclined to think that in the apprehension of the
Texas colony becoming a refuge for runaways, they would con-
trive ways and means to prevent their emigration even by sea.
At all events the . . . embarrassments we have alluded to
are such that we trust the Convention will ponder the matter
well, in all its bearings, before they venture upon a measure
fraught with so many obvious and appalling discouragements.
38
The
Richmond
Whig,
in the same vein, declared:
It can never be shown that Texas will answer the purpose of
the free people of colour of this country. The country does not
exist, which from its social and political conditions, is more un-
suitable for the location of the blacks. Already entered by great
numbers of adventurers from the United States, and the refuge
of all who avoid justice from Mexico, the blacks will stand as lit-
tle chance for peace, quiet, and the protection of laws, among a
population thus fierce, turbulent, and often lawless, as the lamb
for quarter in the fangs of the wolf. Can they contend with the
treacherous Spaniard and Creole, or those hardy and law despis-
ing adventurers who are sure to be found on the skirts of civiliza-
tion? They cannot, and a brief space would see their settlement
invaded, their possessions rifled, and themselves expelled from
their chosen city of refuge. . . .
39
Efforts to secure land for Negro colonization nevertheless con-
tinued, and they were not confined to Lundy nor to white men.
In April, 1834, Nicholas Drouett, a mulatto and a retired Mexi-
can army officer, who, for a time, was associated with Lundy in
his efforts to gain a land grant in Tamaulipas, came to Texas
seeking the privilege of introducing five hundred Negro families
from New Orleans, where he had many relatives and friends.
40
After several conferences with Drouett and two of his aids,
Almonte decided that the project was impractical, since the greater
part of the Negroes in New Orleans were artisans, and would
not be permitted to live in the cities because of the peculiar aver-
sion Texans had for Negroes. In a letter to the Minister of Rela-
tions at Mexico City, Almonte outlined his reasons for rejecting
the land grant, and at the same time informed the minister that
he had heard of two conventions of free Negroes held in New
York City and Philadelphia in which they endorsed emigration
to Texas, but lacked means to transport themselves. He believed
this immigration to be advisable and suggested that the matter
be taken up with the charge
d'affaires
in Washington.
41
Colonization projects were warmly discussed, although usually
rejected by Negro conventions. The third annual convention for
the improvement of the free people of color, held in Philadelphia
in June, 1833, to which Almonte alludes, was originally called
"for the purpose of giving aid and encouragement to a settlement
of coloured people in the province of Upper Canada, in conse-
quence of the revival of certain oppressive acts of the Legislature
of the State of Ohio."
42 Contrary to the expectations of the news-
papers and the belief of Almonte, the convention neither pro-
posed nor endorsed any colonization plan. The committee on the
Canadian report gave as its opinion that "there is not now, and
probably never will be actual necessity for a large emigration of
the present race of free coloured people, they therefore refrain
from recommending any emigration whatever, but would respect-
fully say to such as may be desirous to go, that the fertile soil of
Upper Canada holds out inducements far more advantageous than
the desolate regions of Africa, where the scorching rays of a
meridian sun, blasts by its withering influence the enlivened
growth of successful vegetation."
43 This committee proposed two
resolutions which were unanimously adopted:
Resolved,
that this Convention most respectfully Eecommends
to their constituents, to devote their thoughts and energies to the
improvement of their condition, and to the elevation of their
character, in this their native land, rejecting all plans of coloni-
zation any where.
Resolved,
that should any State by Legislative enactments, drive
our brethren from its jurisdiction, we will give them all the aid
in our power to enable them to remove and settle in Upper Can-
ada, or elsewhere, that they may not be compelled to sacrifice
their lives in the insalubrious climate of Liberia, provided for them
by the American Colonization Society.
44
A communication from Benjamin Lundy relative to his pro-
posed colony in Texas was read at the convention and ordered to
be printed in The
Genius
of
Universal
Emancipation,
but no
endorsement was given to the plan.
45
All this discussion did not occur without official recognition by
the Mexican Government. Three months previous to Almonte's
suggestion to the Minister of Kelations to encourage Negro im-
migration, the Mexican charge
d'affaires
at Washington had
already been informed by his government of the desirability of
such immigration to Texas. He was ordered to make it known
to all Negroes in the United States that equality of rights was
guaranteed them in Texas, that lands and tools were available
for cultivation, and that protection would be given them in order
that they might pursue their work peacefully.
46 The develop-
ment of the Texas Revolution prevented this plan from being
put into operation. Whether or not it would have had any great
effects is problematical but improbable.
At any rate, none of these plans succeeded in organizing Negro
immigration to Texas, or in planting a separate Negro settlement
within its borders. But even the limited publicity and encour-
agement resulting from them, may have influenced individual
Negroes and their families to move to Texas. Long before any
plans were conceived, however, some free Negroes from the United
States were, as we have previously seen, already settled in this
Mexican province.
The migration of Negroes westward took on the same sponta-
neous and individualistic character as the westward movement of
their white brethren, and their motives were probably very sim-
ilar. Negro immigrants to Texas were a cross section of free
Negroes in the United States. They came from the East and the
South, from slave states and free states without distinction. Rich
and poor, old and young, bachelors, spinsters, families and whole
groups of related persons trudged their way west. Free-born
Negro, self-emancipated slave, manumitted slave, and runaway
slave came side by side. Many of them made intermediate stays,
often for periods of years, as they came, and then resumed their
march westward. White men and black men often came hand in
hand. Farmer, housewife, blacksmith, stockman, laborer, washer-
woman, merchant and servant, free Negro immigrants included
them all. Negro, mulatto, quadroon and octoroon, all shades they
came, with varying degrees of proof that they were close to the
civilization they had adopted as it was marching west.
Despite the long subjection of their race to slavery, these Negroes
certainly partook of the pioneering spirit in full measure. They
were a part of the vanguard and it is evident that they easily
learned methods of solving the problems of frontier life. In fact,
they learned the lessons of frontier life in Texas so easily and
well that they often were able to live in places where Anglo-
Americans could not be expected to survive. They were encour-
aged in their efforts by white men who often helped them migrate,
employed them as laborers and mechanics upon their arrival,
accepted them as farmers and colonists, and by these means
advanced and strengthened this thin but significant stream of
Negro pioneers.
FOOTNOTES:
of the University of Texas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the M. A. degree.
Agustín Morfi, Missionary, Teacher, Historian. Translated, with Bio-
graphical Introduction and Annotations, I, 99.
para la Historia de México, Series 3, Vol. 1, 459.
File 15, January 11, 1848. Texas State Library.
Journeys to Texas and Mexico; with a Sketch of Cotemporary Events,
and a Notice of the Revolution in Hayti, 41. Benjamin Lundy was born
in Hardwick, N. J., on January 4, 1789. While yet in his twenties he
organized an anti-slavery society, and in January, 1821, began the pub-
lication of an abolition paper, The Genius of Universal Emancipation.
During the next decade he became deeply interested in the colonization
of the Negro in some place more accessible and suitable than Liberia.
He spent much time trying to find such a place to plant a colony, mak-
ing two journeys to Hayti, one to Upper Canada, and three to Texas in
1830-31, 1833-34, and 1834-35. On the last trip he secured a large grant
of land in Tamaulipas. Lundy intended to proceed with his settlement
there and had "a large number of respectable persons in different States
who proposed to accompany" him. But the Revolution in Texas caused
him "to defer it a little" and subsequent events resulted in his abandon-
ment of the grant. During the Revolution Lundy took the opportunity
presenting itself of exposing, with the co-operation of John Quincy
Adams, what they both regarded as a slaveholders' "vile project" of
wresting Texas from Mexico. Meanwhile, after an uncertain and irreg-
ular existence, The Genius had expired toward the end of 1835, and for
his new purpose Lundy began the publication in Philadelphia of The
National Enquirer and Constitutional Advocate of Universal Liberty which
he published from August, 1836, until March, 1838, when he sold out to
John G. Whittier, who changed the name to the Pennsylvania Freeman.
The following summer Lundy left for Illinois, where he revived The Genius
and published twelve more issues before a brief illness resulted in his
death on August 22, 1839. The essence of his vitriolic attack on the
Texas revolutionists is preserved in his pamphlet, The War in Texas, pub-
lished in 1836. Life of Lundy, passim; Dumas Malone (editor), Diction -
ary of American Biography, XI, 506-507.
Library.
Readings in Texas History, 165.
No. 999, Texas State Library. Senate Journal, Fourth Legislature, 340.
in the Land Office.
the man to whom Benjamin Lundy refers as David Town.
1841. House Journal, Fifth Session, 35. Harriet Smither (editor),
House Journal, Sixth Session (manuscript in preparation for publication).
Called Session, 65.
ber 20, 1836.
Austin.
Office.
1022.
cember 11, 1841. In the 1841 petition her name is given as Zylphia Husk.
164, 167, 168, 183, 188, 189.
pacho de Relaciones de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, April 13, 1834.
University of Texas transcripts, Dept. of Fomento, Leg. 8, Exp. 65.
provement of the Free People of Colour in these United States Held by
Adjournment in the Guy of Philadelphia, from the 3d to the 13th of
June inclusive, 1833, p. 22.
No record of a free Negro convention in New York City previous to
April, 1834, has been found.
tion, Vol. III, No. 8, third series.
uary 17, 1834. University of Texas transcripts, Dept. of Fomento, Leg.
8, Exp. 66.
How to cite:
Harold Schoen, "Free Negro in the Republic of Texas", Volume 39, Number 4, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v039/n4/contrib_DIVL3766.html
[Accessed Mon Nov 23 8:06:39 CST 2009]
