Exploring San Felipe: The 1826 Census of Austin’s Colony
To understand early Anglo-Mexican settlements in the Texas frontier, like San Felipe de Austin, we must go beyond the genealogical studies and delve into the composition of the colony as a whole.
The 1826 Padrón de la Colonia de Austin, a census taken by Stephen F. Austin two years after the founding of San Felipe, gives one of those rare glimpses at the demographic make-up of the colony.
About the Census
Taken by order of the Chief of the Department of Texas, José Antonio Saucedo, the census contains a cover page, nine ledger-size pages of personal information covering each head of household, and a summary. As a whole, the padrón allows us to peek into the lives of the 1800 people in Austin’s Colony, their professions, family structure, and the basic composition of the town itself.
Of the 1800 almas -or souls- as Austin refers to them, 670 were either enslaved or indentured; the rest of the “free” population was carefully categorized into single, married, and widowed, and cross-categorized by their age: fewer than 7 years, 7 to 16, 16 to 25, 25 to 40, 40 to 50, and over 50.
One striking aspect of the town is the number of young people: of the 758 free singles in town, 548 were under the age of sixteen. In contrast, 134 free residents were over 40 years of age, in all three categories.
Women
All the free women over the age of twenty-five were either married or widowed. Despite the fact that women under Mexican law petitioned for and obtained land titles,[1] and had greater autonomy in marriage, the census lists them primarily as the secondary role of mujer (wife), su mujer (his wife), or mujer y hijos (wife and kids).
In some entries, the wife has her name (no last name) entered into the census, while in others she appears in a single line as “wife and kids.” Under Mexican custom, these women would have identified themselves by their maiden last name, even after marriage.
Heads of Household
Austin identified the heads of households primarily as labrador y criador (farmer and stock raiser). This was very important because the land had been awarded to those who would work it, with the goal of developing an agricultural and economic foothold on the frontier.
Some residents, however, are listed by their professions at San Felipe, such as carpenter, blacksmith, and surveyor. Yet, despite their professions, Austin added a note stating that they were all employed as farmers.
Heads of households used slaves and journeymen to farm the large tracts of land granted to them by the Mexican government. These journeymen, who likely included men and women but are not identified as such in the census, were listed as either alquilados (hired) or dependientes (dependents). There were 227 of them in the colony.
Infrastructure
The padrón includes a “notes” section that references the building of infrastructure in the colony. The entries for William and John Cummings have a joint note in which Austin indicated that the men “were building a water mill to grind grain and saw planks near the town of San Felipe.” If a resident was in the process of building a mill or crossing far from the town, Austin identified the river on which the project was being built. One example is John Cole’s mill on Yegua Creek. One marked difference is the entry for Christian Smith, a carpenter, who is building a schooner.
Slaves
Apart from the infrastructure projects, the side notes also include references to the importation of slaves into the colony.[2] Kinchen Holliman’s entry mentions that he had thirty slaves in Mississippi whom he would be bringing to the colony in the coming winter. James A. E. Phelps, listed as a medic, is shown having fifteen slaves; four of them, however, were still in Mississippi, which he had gone back to get. Slaves, in fact, were a great presence in Austin’s Colony. Of the 1800 souls, 443 of them were enslaved. Like the journeymen above, Austin did not record the ages, gender, or marital status of the slaves; they were simply a number.
The census’ “Summary” provides not only a numerical representation for all those counted, but it also allows us to understand why these farmers (labradores) required so many laborers, a need they filled with indentured servants and slaves.
Crops and Livestock
According to Austin, the primary crops in the colony were corn, cotton, beans, and legumes of all types. The farmers also experimented with the cultivation of sugar cane, wheat, and oats. Austin believed that all three crops would yield good returns for the farmers; he was especially pleased with the sugar cane production.
As stated, Austin made sure that the heads of household in his colony were first and foremost recognized as farmers and stock raisers, and he made this evident in the summary by listing the number of animals in the colony. By his count, the colonists had 3,500 cattle; 4,500 pigs, and 1,000 horses.
Colony Growth
Austin’s padrón reveals the intricate details of San Felipe only two years after the official establishment of the Colony.
The rapid growth of the colony indicates that many of the residents of San Felipe were already living in Mexican Texas prior to the founding of the town. Moreover, it demonstrates that even in its early years, the colonists had begun to blend the established ranching traditions of Spanish and Mexican Texas with the farming techniques they inherited in the United States to create the hybridized system that today we simply call Texan.
The 1826 Census of Austin’s Colony has been scanned and placed online. View it here.
[1] See also: ttps://medium.com/@txglo/women-as-land-owners-on-the-mexican-frontier-mar%C3%ADa-calvillo-s-story-11747a91ee6e
[2] The history of slavery in Texas has been discussed at length. A recent approach to the study of plantations includes Sean M. Kelley, Los Brazos de Dios: A Plantation Society in the Texas Borderlands, 1821–1865 (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2010).
