Born November 3, 1793

Wythe County, Virginia

Died December 27, 1836

Columbia, Texas

Diplomat and colonizer of Texas

Stephen Austin. (Reproduced from the Collections of the Library of Congress.)

"I make no more calculations except to spend my life here, [whether] rich or poor, here (that is in this colony) I expect to remain permanently."

Stephen F. Austin earned the title "Father of Texas." For almost two decades, Austin worked, to the exclusion of almost everything else, to create an American colony in Texas. But unlike other western heroes, Austin was not a hardy soul using his muscle strength to carve out civilization. Instead he was a slight man who suffered severe depression and continual bouts of sickness and who won his fame as a savvy diplomat. Austin shrewdly nurtured friendships with people of various political leanings who could push through the policies he wanted. The result of...