DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — the story of Moses Austin, as recorded in Bexar County. Now, some men are born restless, and Moses Austin was born that way on October fourth, 1761, in Connecticut. He didn't stay long.
By 1783 he'd moved to Philadelphia. By 1785, Virginia had him. Missouri after that.
The man was always moving, always looking at the horizon like it owed him something. And then came the biggest move of all. On December 23, 1820, Moses Austin arrived in San Antonio.
Christmas Eve eve. He had come a long way, and he had come with a purpose. Right here — right on this ground — Moses Austin petitioned the Spanish authorities for the right to bring three hundred families to Texas.
Three hundred families. He laid out his vision, made his case, and then turned around and rode back to Missouri to wait for the answer. That journey, though.
That Texas journey took something out of him that he could not get back. Exposure. Exhaustion.
The road had been long and the land had been hard, and by the time word reached him that his petition had been granted — that the Spanish had said yes — Moses Austin had only days left. He died in Missouri on June tenth, 1821. He never saw what he had set in motion.
But here's the thing about a man of vision — the vision doesn't die with him. With his last breath, Moses Austin made one request: that his son Stephen should carry out his plans. Should take that dream of three hundred families and see it through.
The marker calls Moses a man of vision, enterprise, industry, and indomitable energy. And then it says something that lands quiet but cuts deep — that he most fittingly bequeathed the realization of his plans to his more deliberate, patient, tactful, and diplomatic son. In other words, Moses Austin had the fire to start it.
Stephen had the temperament to finish it. And between the two of them, standing right here in San Antonio on a December night in 1820, Texas as we know it began to take shape.
What the marker says
(Front) Born in Connecticut, October fourth 1761; moved to Philadephia in 1783. Thence to Virginia in 1785 and to Missouri in San Antonio on December 23, 1820. Died in Missouri June 10, 1821. (Right) Moses Austin here petitioned the Spanish authorties for the right to bring three-hundred families to Texas and returned to MIssouri to wait the answer. (Back) Exposure and exhaustion during his Texas journey caused his death a few days after receiving notification that his petition had been granted. His dying request was that his son Stephen should carry out his vision. (Left) A man of vision, enterprise, industry and indomitable energy...he most fittingly bequeathed the realization of his plans to his more deliberate, patient, tactful and diplomatic son. (1936)