Visiting History: James Stephen's Texas Land Grant
Last month, the Hubs and I took a camping trip in south central Texas. We stayed in LaGrange and that put us just a short drive to where his fourth great-grandfather owned land back in the 1830s. Field trip time! James Stephen (abt. 1795-1857) received a Spanish land grant in 1831 after settling in the area in 1829. He was granted a league of land ( 4,428.4 acres), on the Caney Creek in Washington County by the Coahuila y Tejas government on 8 March 1831. 1 James Stevens (sic) land shown on a 1976 map. 2 At the time of Stephen's settlement, witness Samuel M. Williams, swore that Stephen was, "...married and a man of very good habits, much honesty and industriousness." 3 This endorsement met all the criteria of Stephen F. Austin's conditions for settlers, demonstrating that Stephen had "the most unequivocal and satisfactory evidence of unblemished character, good morals, sobriety, and industrious habits..." and "...sufficient means to pay for their l...
A friend who was helping me translate birth records in Slovak explained the legitimate/illegitimate notation in church records. He said it refers to the father’s membership in the church. If the father did not attend or was not himself baptized, the child was recorded as illegitimate. That notation should not be interpreted as a child not recognized or living without a father. The parents may be in a civil marriage. I thought I’d pass that on in case it helps you in the future. 😊
ReplyDeleteHello "Unknown!" Hope you are well. Thanks for reading and responding with your info. I had not heard this, although I had heard that illegitimate might also mean the father had passed away. Makes me wonder why they did that. I appreciate the tip, it will come in handy in future.
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