James Power (empresario)

James Power (1788 or 1789 – August 15, 1852) was an Irish-born Texan empresario, politician and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, known for the land grant he received with partner James Hewetson that included the coastal area between the mouths of the Guadalupe and Nueces Rivers, as well as his founding and service as the first mayor of the Aransas City settlement. He often represented Refugio County during statewide conventions.

Power was born either in 1788 or 1789 at the small rural village of Ballygarrett in County Wexford, Ireland. In 1809, he relocated to New Orleans, where he labored as a merchant for the next twelve years. During his time in New Orleans, Power met with Stephen F. Austin, who notified him of the land grant (empresario) offerings from the Mexican government. Hoping to cash in on the opportunity, he moved to Saltillo via Matamoros in 1821, and became a citizen of Mexico. During his stay in Saltillo, he was employed in the mining equipment industry and entered into a partnership with merchant and fellow Irishman James Hewetson.

After forming the partnership, Power and Hewetson applied for an empresario with the Mexican government in 1825 to begin a colony on the Texas coast with Mexican and Irish families. The original 1826 application requested for a grant between the Nueces and Sabine Rivers, but in 1828, the Mexican government instead offered the strip of land between the Guadalupe and Lavaca Rivers. The next year, Power and Hewetson requested more land and their holdings were extended west to the Nueces River, which included Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mission. Ownership disputes with other empresarios forced Power and Hewetson to cede some land east of the Guadalupe River and the new eastern boundary was drawn at Coleto Creek.

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