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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...
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GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - FAMILY PHOTO

James, Anne and Jim Casey, Camping Trip. Photo by N. Gilbride Casey

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Family Photo - January 3rd entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.
 
by Nancy Gilbride Casey
 
Though it is not a very old photo, this one evokes fond memories of camping trips we made with Anne (here about 12), and James (about 6 years). We had a travel trailer when they were younger, and took lots of weekend trips, and wonderful several-week summer trips to the Grand Canyon, New Mexico, and one terrific trip from Texas to Ohio and back. 
 
Some of the best times while camping were the four of us all crowding onto our full-size bed in the evening to watch whatever TV station we could manage to get reception for, in whichever tucked-away town we were staying near. This looks like one of our winter trips, and it was probably raining and cold too. What better to do then snuggle up together, with neither chores nor obligations nagging, with your favorite people in the whole world? It was lovely.
 
COMING TOMORROW - Photo of family heirloom
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