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 lands and get a start in the colony as farmers or mechanics."⁴    

According to the grant, Stephen's land contained, "...four twenty-fifth (4/25) parts belongs to the class of arable land and twenty-one twenty fifths (21/25) is pasture land." He was required to "...construct permanent landmarks at each corner of the tract and...settle and cultivate it in conformity with the provisions of the law."⁵

As required, Stephen confirmed his intentions: "I entered this country to settle permanently, and having with the prior consent of the said empresario (Austin) selected a league of land on Caney Creek...I have already made improvements on it (the land) and that I offer to comply in all respects with the Colonization Law and to obey the laws that govern us."⁶

I'd previously found a Washington County historical map on the Texas General Land Office (GLO) website. I had the thought that perhaps the land office could geolocate Stephen's grant for me, and I contacted them. They could help!

1841 Map of Washington County.⁷

 

The Texas General Land Office Geospatial Team directed me to their Land and Lease Viewer on their website and provided directions on how to view Stephen's land, along with a screen shot of the results.⁸

James Steven's (sic) grant is outlined in green.⁹ 

I recreated the above map on the GLO's mapping viewer. Here's how:

• Navigate to the Texas General Land Office Land/Lease Mapping Viewer. Check the agrees to terms and conditions box and click "Ok Go." Texas is featured on the U.S. map.
• The Layer List to the right defaults to five map layers. Deselect all but "Original Texas Land Survey."
• Noting that Stephen's land was near Chappell Hill, I entered "Chappell Hill, Tx" in the Public Map search box at top left. The mapper zoomed in to that location.
• I then clicked on a parcel south of Chappell Hill. A detail box popped up with information on Stephen's land.
• Zooming in, I could easily see the modern roads which crossed Stephen's property today, giving the Hubs and I the direction we needed for our visit.

Other layers are available on this map viewer at the top right of the page, including a Basemap Gallery, where users can view map options such as community, environmental, topographical, and others. The Layer List allows users to add or subtract layers such as energy resources, archives and records, survey section numbers, and more. The image above was created using the "Firefly Imagery Hybrid" base map, and "Original Texas Land Survey" and "Other Map Layers."

After enjoying a lovely lunch in Chappell Hill, Jim and I drove across Stephen's parcel to its southwestern corner. The property now includes some housing, an RV park, and a winery, but is primarily ranch land. We stopped at the bridge over Caney Creek, where I snapped a picture of Jim, James Stephen's 4th great-grandson. 

Jim at the bridge over Caney Creek, which flows through land owned by his fourth great-grandfather, James Stephen.¹⁰

 

The Hubs and I love to include genealogical side trips whenever we are traveling near ancestral locales. Visiting James Stephen's property has long been on the checklist of places we wanted to visit. The Texas General Land Office's Land and Lease Viewer made the visit that much easier. If you have early Texas settlers, check out this great tool for yourself.

Until next time...

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2026. All rights reserved.

 

NOTES

¹ Board of Land Commissioners, Washington, Texas, File 40, Certificate #563, James Stevens (1835); digital image, Texas General Land Office (https://cdn.glo.texas.gov/ncu/SCANDOCS/archives_webfiles/arcmaps/webfiles/landgrants/PDFs/1/0/2/8/1028301.pdf : accessed 18 April 2026).

² Joan Kilpatrick, Beverly Robinson, "Washington County," 1976, detail; imaged, Texas General Land Office (https://historictexasmaps.com/collection/search-results/77451-washington-county-general-map-collection : accessed 18 April 2026); citing General Map Collection, Texas General Land Office, Austin.

³ "Sello Tercero: Dos Reales," ("Third Stamp: Two Reales"), Spanish Collection, Box 6, Folder 47, pp. 242-245, land grant petition of James Stephen, 26 February 1831; citing Texas General Land Office, Austin.

³ Gaylen Greaser, translator, "Third Stamp: Two Reales," 2; citing Texas General Land Office, Austin.

⁴ Eugene C. Barker, "The Government of Austin's Colony, 1821-1831," The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 3, Jan. 1918, 237; imaged, JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/stable/30234752 : accessed 17 April 2026).

⁵ Greaser, "Third Stamp: Two Reales, 3. 

⁶ Ibid, 1. 

⁷  M.A. Clampitt, draftsman/compiler, Washington County, 1841; imaged, The Portal to Texas History (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth89052/ : accessed 18 April 2026); citing University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History; crediting Texas General Land Office, Austin.

⁸ Daniel Gao, Texas General Land Office, Austin [e-address for private use,] to Nancy Casey, email, 11 March 2026, "Geo locate a Spanish land grant?"; Stephen Research Gmail file, privately held by Casey, [(e-address) and address for private use,] Tioga, Texas, 2026.

⁹ Texas General Land Office, Land and Lease Mapping Viewer, results for Original Texas Land Survey for James Stephen (Steven), Washington County, Texas.

¹⁰ Jim Casey at the Caney Creek, Washington County, Texas, 21 March 2026, photo by Nancy Gilbride Casey.