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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 - Seeing Double

James, dwarfed by a Union Pacific engine.


 
James' grandpa, James Casey, Sr. enjoys his time on a train.

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Seeing Double -  January 25th entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.  

by Nancy Gilbride Casey


What is it about little boys and trains? Our son James was enamored of trains from the day he first noticed them as a tiny little guy. 

Whenever we saw one, he would want me to slow down the car so we could watch it, or roll the car windows down so that he could hear the train whistle. He collected Thomas the Tank Engine cars and track. I read him Thomas the Tank Engine books, and we watched the TV show too. With every library trip we took, we looked for any book with a train theme. I'm sure there was a train-themed birthday party at some point too.

James also loved a trip to the train museum with his Papa (James D. Casey, Sr.), or visiting other train exhibits in local small towns. Imagine his thrill when we took a ride on the actual Thomas the Train one year in Grapevine, Texas!

The love of trains must run in the family line: proven by this wonderful black and white photograph of James' Papa, standing on a train stairs when he was a little man. It wonderful to see shared interests passed through generations.


NEXT UP: Wartime Letter III

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