Robertson's Colony

Robertson's Colony was an empresario colonization effort during the Mexican Texas period. It is named after Sterling C. Robertson, but had previously been known by other names. It has also been referred to as the Nashville Colony, after the Tennessee city where the effort originated, the Texas Association, the Upper Colony, and Leftwich's Grant, named after early colonizer Robert Leftwich. The eventual contract spread over an area that includes all or part of thirty present-day counties in Texas.

The original 1824 contract secured by Robert Leftwich included all or part of seventeen present-day Texas counties. The 1827 transfer of the contract from Leftwich to the Texas Association added territory that included all or part of an additional thirteen counties.

On March 2, 1822, a group of seventy individuals known as the Texas Association met in Nashville, Tennessee to draft a letter to the Mexican government, petitioning for colonization. This group included Dr. Felix Robertson, president of the association, Sam Houston, Ira Ingram, Robert Leftwich, Andrew Erwin and Sterling C. Robertson. The association advanced Leftwich and Erwin a total of $4,000 to be used for expenses in presenting the petition to the Mexican government. After escorting Leftwich to Mexico City, Erwin returned to Tennessee. Leftwich stayed in Mexico City to pursue the colonization effort.

In the two-year wait in Mexico City before the passage of its General Colonization Law, Leftwich had depleted the monies advanced to him by the Texas Association. On October 20, 1824, Leftwich used his personal funds and petitioned the government in his own name, for settlement of 800 families. His petition to settle the families along the Brazos River was granted on April 15, 1825. The present-day Texas counties covered by this original Leftwich grant were Bastrop Bell, Brazos, Burleson, Burnet, Comanche, Coryell, Falls, Hamilton, Lampasas, Lee, Limestone, McLennan, Milam, Mills, Robertson, and Williamson. In exchange for an additional $14,000, Leftwich sold the colonization contract to the Texas Association on August 8, 1825. The deal retained Leftwich as the empresario agent between the association and the Mexican government. Dr. Felix Robertson and a group of advance men made an exploratory trip to Texas to lay the groundwork for the colonization. Leftwich dropped out of the colonization effort due to health issues.

...
Wikipedia