Conservation in Action — Map of the Surveyed Part of Peters Colony Texas
Conservation funded thanks to $7,500 donation from the Dallas Genealogy Society.
Among the most recent conservation efforts in the Texas General Land Office Archives is an 1858 Map of the Surveyed Part of Peters Colony Texas. This rare lithograph map illustrates surveyed land grants in the North Texas Republic-era empresario colony, as well as the vast amount of territory that had yet to be settled within its boundaries. Conservation was funded by a 2017 donation from the Dallas Genealogical Society and a matching contribution from the GLO, which allowed for the conservation of additional Peters Colony contract records.
“The donation of $7,500 from the Dallas Genealogical Society last year has gone a long way in helping the GLO save an important piece of Texas history,” said Mark Lambert, Deputy Commissioner of the GLO Archives and Records. “The partnership with the Dallas Genealogical Society was responsible for one of the best conservation treatments that we’ve ever seen. Prior to conservation, the Map of the Surveyed Part of Peters Colony Texas was in fairly poor condition. Now, it’s a true work of art, and we are pleased that we will be able to preserve and provide access to it for future generations.”
To conserve the map, the GLO Archives worked with the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover, MA. The map was delivered in May 2018. The conservator’s report on its original condition notes that it was “cut into four sections and then laminated with plastic,” and that “the four laminated sections were then joined together with one-inch overlaps, but there were gaps between the cut edges.” There were indications that the laminate was curling and shrinking, and pieces of the map were missing from the outer edges and at the interior cut edges. Two reddish lines indicating exposure to moisture extended horizontally across the map in both the upper and lower sections.
Treatments performed by the NDCC were extensive. The old laminate was removed in a series of four acetone baths. Each section of the map was then washed on blotters for two hours to reduce staining, discoloration, and acidity. Facing tissues and cloth backings were removed, and the previously cut edges were realigned, with loose pieces inserted back in their places. The four sections were aligned and backed with toned Japanese paper and wheat starch paste/methyl cellulose as an adhesive. Finally, the map was mounted on linen for additional support, 1% methyl cellulose was brushed over the surface, and it was stretch-dried flat on a board.
“The members and supporters of the Dallas Genealogical Society are proud to be associated with the preservation and digitization of this historically significant map. It will be an invaluable aid to generations of genealogists and historians who are researching the early settlement of this part of Texas,” said Todd DeDecker, President of the Dallas Genealogical Society.
The map was returned to the GLO in July, where it was promptly rescanned. The new digital image replaced the pre-conservation image in the GLO’s online database, and the map was returned to its climate-controlled housing in the GLO’s state-of-the-art map vault. The conservation work combined with its stable and controlled storage will allow the map to be a useful research tool for generations of Texans to come.
The groundwork for Peters Colony was established by a law passed by the Fifth Congress of the Republic of Texas on February 4, 1841, entitled An Act Granting Land to Emigrants.[1] The law authorized the President to enter into a contract with W.S. Peters and his associates[2] “for the purpose of colonizing and settling thousands of pioneers on a portion of the vacant and unappropriated lands of the republic.” Congress reasoned that to overcome a stagnant economy, increasing immigration into the Republic would be crucial. A larger population would drive up the price of land, Texas’ primary commodity at the time, and build an increasing tax base from which the government could build its treasury.[3]
With the Peters contract, the empresario system that had helped grow Texas’ population under Mexican rule and the guidance of Stephen F. Austin and others was reinstated, and it served as the basis for future contracts under President Sam Houston. While Austin and other early empresarios were known for their meticulous attention to detail, Peters Colony was plagued with organizational chaos. Entangled business disagreements among the investors led to extensive legal battles, a lack of funding, several reorganizations, and much frustration for the colonists. The process of bringing final settlement to the colony’s land titles continued for nearly twenty years, and in the end, the enterprise created little to no income for its investors. It did, however, bring 2,205 families to Texas, distributing to them 879,920 acres of land.
The map lays out the individually-numbered 640-acre sections granted under the Peters Colony in an orderly grid and includes numbered mileposts along the boundaries of the colony, which are labeled at the map’s margins. Empty space indicates land within the colony that had not yet been surveyed or granted. County lines are not drawn, but the northeast corner of Young County is established in an unsurveyed portion of land in the upper central area of the map, and the south line of Fannin Land District is shown bisecting the colony. Peters Colony covered all or part of 26 present-day counties in North Texas.
Topographical features include rivers and creeks, many of which are named on the map, as well as hachures representing changes in elevation. Numerous roads are also identified, and several bearing lines converge north of Fort Belknap on the Brazos River.
The title block identifies Henry O. Hedgcoxe as the agent and general superintendent of surveys for the colony. A controversial figure due to his treatment of colonists’ land claims and favorability toward speculators, Hedgcoxe was run out of his office in Collin County by an armed mob of about 100 men on July 16, 1852. No one was harmed in what came to be known as the Hedgcoxe War, but Hedgcoxe escaped to Austin and the colonists seized the records of his office. The “war” resulted in a cooling of tensions between the company and the colonists, which in turn eased the process of settling title to land claims.[4]
A cornerstone of the Save Texas History Program’s mission is map and document preservation and conservation, so that generations of Texans may continue to benefit from our rich historical resources. Conservation is a detail-oriented, time-intensive, and expensive task necessary to preserve Land Office holdings. Teaming with private contractors, we examine, document, treat, and conserve the physical objects found within our Archives.
Tens-of-thousands of documents have been conserved, but many others continue to age and are in need because of continuous use and poor early storage conditions. Conservation efforts are funded solely by grants, private donations, and photocopy and map reproduction sales. No state money is appropriated for document conservation. To make a tax-deductible donation to support the Save Texas History Program’s conservation efforts, please click here.
About the Dallas Genealogical Society
Established in 1955, the Dallas Genealogical Society (http://dallasgenealogy.org) has three main areas of focus: creating, fostering and maintaining an interest in genealogy; assisting and supporting the Genealogy Section of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in Dallas, Texas; and collecting, preserving, copying and indexing information related to Dallas County and its early history.
The society conducts monthly educational presentations and supports special interest groups on a variety of topics; all of these activities are free and open to the public. Our fee-based seminars provide attendees with access to nationally known experts at a reasonable cost. Our members are also active in a variety of indexing and digitization efforts.
[1] Hans Peter Mareus Neilsen Gammel, The Laws of Texas, 1822–1897 Volume 2, book, 1898; Austin, TX. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6726/m1/558/: accessed August 9, 2018), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu. Note: the date of the act is recorded incorrectly in Gammel’s Laws as January 4, 1841. The error was subsequently corrected.
[2] The other named individuals included Daniel S. Carroll, Alexander McRed, Rowland Gibson, Robert Espie, William H. Oldmixon, Daniel Spillman, Robert Hume, John Salmon, W. Byrne, Henry Richards, Robert D. Stringer, W.C. Peters, John C. Bansamen, John Peters, William Scott, Phineas J. Johnson, H.S. Peters, Timothy Cray, and Samuel Browning.
[3] Seymore V. Connor, The Peters Colony of Texas — A History and Biographical Sketches of the Early Settlers, Austin: The Texas State Historical Association, 1959, pp. 1–23.
[4] Handbook of Texas Online, Victoria S. Murphy, “HEDGCOXE WAR,” accessed August 09, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jch01. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
