CERTIFYING W.L. HENING'S RIGHTS TO 1280 ACRES OF LAND IN SAN AUGUSTINE COUNTY, REPUBLIC OF TEXAS, 1838.
Single sheet, 17 x 21 cm. Old fold lines and wear at margins, a few small holes affecting a word or two. Partly printed document, completed in manuscript: "No. [722] Class 2. Republic of Texas, County of San Augustine. This is to certify that [W.L. Hening] has appeared before us, the Board of Land Commissioners for the County of San Augustine, and proved according to law, that [he] arrived in this Republic subsequent to the Declaration of Independence [and previous to October 1837] and that [he] is a man [of family and] is entitled to [Twelve Hundred and Eighty acres] of Land to be surveyed after the first day of August, 1838." Signed June 25, 1838, by Chichester Chaplin, President, John C. Brooke, and Nath'l. Hunt, Associate Commissioners. On the verso of the document, is a manuscript deed of sale from Washington L. Hening to E.W. Cullen "in fee simple the within certificate for 1280 acres of land," for the sum of $500, Republic of Texas, San Augustine County, [no date]. Item #65049
The Republic of Texas declared itself to be an independent, sovereign state on March 2, 1836. The convention which established the Republic also required their male citizens ages 17 to 50 to serve in the military, offering land bounties of 320 to 1280 acres as incentives.
San Augustine County, established that same year, was among the first counties created by the Texas Republic. The town of San Augustine became the county seat in 1837, and incorporated in June of that year. Chichester Chaplin (1800-1874) and Nathaniel Hunt (1783-1849) both served as members of the San Augustine County Board of Land Commissioners in 1838. Both were in Texas before 1835 and were awarded a Mexican land grant of a league in the area of San Augustine County. Along with John C. Brooke (1795-1879), the three served the county as Justices during the period of Texas Independence. E.W. Cullen, who purchased Hening's claim, is likely Ezekiel Wimberly Cullen (1814-1882), veteran of the siege in Bexar, a member of the Third Congress from November 1838 to January 1839, and later a judge and Associate Justice on the Republic of Texas Supreme Court. His house in San Augustine, designed by Augustus Phelps, architect of several other homes in the town, is still standing.
Price: $1,250.00