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200 Years

The Events, Battles, and people that have shaped Baxter Island.

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Send texts and voice mail messages to: 512-222-3067 or you can use the online form below.

Lets talk!

Send texts and voice mail messages to: 512-222-3067 or you can use the online form below.

Baxter Island is part of Stephen F. Austin's Mexican original land grant, surveyed by Elias R. Whightman

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Baxter Island!

28.6836005°N, -95.9874628°W

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Pioneers of the bay

Baxter Family

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William P. Baxter

Reverend William P. Baxter, Texas Pioneer, Rancher, Farmer and Stockman, was born on February 19, 1809, in Manchester, England, and died on October 20, 1895.

William received a Mexican land grant #103 for 1 league of land, situated at the mouth of Caney Creek on Feb. 6th 1833. by the Mexican government.After the Texas Revolution William Baxter sold the land to John Duncan on January 20, 1837.

Baxter fought for the Republic of Texas in the Texas Revolution of Independence. (Capt. Love's Co. 1st Regt, 1st Brigade, Texas Army, 24 October, 1836)He volunteered to serve at the Alamo, but was told he could be of greater service by helping families move east away from the path of the Mexican army during the Mexican scrape.

On August 1, 1829, the proprietors of Matagorda met and elected town officers, as their constitution had provided. They donated lots to some individuals, including William for special roles and services to the town.

In 1832 he married Esther Wightman Yeamans, daughter of Asa Yeamans and Jerusha Wightman Yeamans.

William served as secretary of the public school trustees.

William was Justice of the Peace from 1855 to 1856

He is buried in the Matagorda Cemetery. In 1832 he married Esther Wightman Yeamans, daughter of Asa Yeamans and Jerusha Wightman Yeamans. Esther was born June 22, 1813, in New York state and died December 7, 1901, and is also buried in the Matagorda Cemetery. She had six brothers: Joseph, Erastus, Elias, Daniel, Caleb and Horace, and one sister, Mary.In 1831 he had received several lots in Matagorda. Baxter sold a league of land situated at the mouth of Caney Creek to John Duncan on January 20, 1837.

William owned Baxter Island which was located across the Colorado River from Matagorda. He deeded this tract of land to his grandsons Robert and Henry, the sons of William A. and Ann Elizabeth Williams Baxter.

Henry Baxter, a brother of William P., died December 31, 1853, and William was made an administrator of that estate.

William had one sister, Elizabeth, who married James Hughson on September 8, 1846.

Esther Wightman Yeamans Baxter

Esther Wightman Yeamans, daughter of Asa Yeamans and Jerusha Wightman Yeamans.William and Esther had twelve children:
1. April 10, 1852, to Levi Miller.2. William A., born on November 25, 1835, married first Josephine Bruce on July 4, 1861 (Josephine died of yellow fever in 1826), and married second, Anna E. Williams, March 16, 1868. William died August 20, 1889.3. Demis Mariah, born April 3, 1838, married Johann Conrad Wilhelm Franz May 16, 1856 and died April 15, 1921.4. Elias, born 18393. Amanda D., born in 1840, married Joshua Fisher on May 5, 1861.4. Robert J., born in 1842.5. Alice B., born in 1844.6. Silas Dinsmore, born in 1846, married first Eliza A. McDermott on April 7, 18709, and second Susie Weatherford Hill on May 5, 1904.7. Mary, born in 1848, married I. L. Rowland on November 11, 1867.8. Paul, born in 1852.9. Henry, born in 1854.10. David Ross, born in 1856, married Carrie J. Spoor on March 30, 1881.11. Caroline S., born 1834

HISTORIC Baxter Family Cattle Brands & Marks

1837-1874

Salt Grass Cattle Ranching

1833: Mexican Land Grant

William P. Baxter's grant for 1 League of land located where the East bank of Old Caney, joins H. Curtis

Held at the Texas General Land
County: Matagorda
Abstract Number: 4
District/Class: Title
File Number: SC 000017:23 English Field Notes 5-147
Original Grantee: Baxter, William
Title Date: 06 Feb 1833
Patent No: 727
Patent Vol: 8
Certificate: Translation #273
Part Section:
Survey/Blk/Tsp: 72
Acres: 4428.4
Remarks: East bank of Old Caney, joins H. Curtis. Corrected Field Notes in GSC Box 3:6.

Republic of texas bounty

William received a 640 acre bounty from Barron Bastrop after the Texas Revolution for his service to the Republic of Texas.

County: Travis
Abstract Number: 118
District/Class: Bastrop Bounty
File Number: 000166
Original Grantee: Baxter, William P
Patent Date: 01 May 1849
Patent No: 457
Patent Vol: 4
Acres: 640

Mr. Baxter goes to San Felipe

April 17th 1833

A future with wildlife

Wildlife management

The coastal prairie region is a unique and biodiverse ecosystem that has been significantly impacted by human development, leading to the loss of critical habitats and wildlife populations.The loss of Texas' coastal prairie habitat has had a profound effect on the wildlife populations that once thrived in the region. Migratory and year-round species of waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds, including iconic species like brown pelicans, peregrine falcons, white-tailed hawks, and seaside sparrows, have faced challenges due to habitat destruction and fragmentation. These birds rely on the coastal prairie for nesting, feeding, and resting during their migrations, making the preservation of this habitat crucial for their survival.We are focused on improving wildlife habitat at Owen Acres properties. Providing supplemental food and water and restoring the native vegetation by removing non-native plants and promoting the growth of native species like yellow Indian grass, switchgrass, and big bluestem grasses are just a few of our current projects.We hope our efforts will create a more resilient and biodiverse habitat that supports a wide range of wildlife on Baxter Island and the Owen Acres ranches.

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historic

Matagorda, Tx

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Matagorda, Tx

Austin

The Father Of TExas

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Matagorda Bay

While Civil War era county issues are available from Matagorda, the same cannot be said for this Republic of Texas era municipal note. Matagorda is the third oldest town in Texas, having been established in 1827 when Stephen F. Austin received permission from the Mexican government to establish a town to protect incoming settlers. This note was issued in 1840 and is the only example of this design that we are aware of today in the collector community. A second example is locked away permanently in the Rowe-Barr Collection of Texas Currency at Southern Methodist University. This $2 note has interesting vignettes of a youth on horseback, a sailing ship, and a maiden standing in front of what appears to be a hybrid Texas flag - the Stars and Stripes with a single large star. By intent or coincidence, this was the design of the Texas naval flag (adopted 1836) as well. We suspect that a stock vignette with the Stars and Stripes was simply modified by the printer C.C. Wright, D. Felt & Co., of Stationers Hall, NY. PMG mentions that the note has a tape repair and pieces replaced. The most obvious of these impairments is a piece of the left vignette that has been replaced with a non-original piece and is backed with a strip from an 1862 Texas Treasury Warrant (Cr. 1 Medlar 100/Cr. 2 Medlar 101). Having made this disclosure, it really probably does not make much difference for a note of this rarity. Do you have one in better condition? Probably not, and that is the point. This note definitely will not come around very often, so knowledgeable collectors will undoubtedly seize the opportunity presented here.

Elias R. Wightman's Compass

Matagorda Geodetic Survey Disk - 1931

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• Source: Heritage Auctions

Town of Matagorda Lot/Block Certificate Signed

Image Courtesy of Heritage Auctions

One partially-printed page, 8" x 10", Matagorda, September 16, 1832, granting permission to "Thos. Decram to take posession [sic], occupy, settle, and improve . . . Lot No. 3 in Block No. 3 . . . the improvements to be completed by the first day of March 1833." Signed by Ira Ingram as president of the board of proprietors and his brother, Seth Ingram, as secretary. Docketed on the verso. Weakened folds are separating at the edges, which show moderate toning. Areas of ink burning have caused some loss of paper. Ink ghosting in places.Ira Ingram (1788-1837) arrived in Texas in January 1826 as a member of Austin's Old Three Hundred where he settled in what is now Waller County. In the Convention of 1832 he served as a representative for the Mina District and for San Felipe during the Convention of 1833. He was the first alcalde of Matagorda in 1834 and authored the Goliad Declaration of Independence the following year. During the Texas Revolution, he first was involved in the capture of Goliad and later served in the Matagorda Volunteers. By April 1836 he was a major in the Texas Army ordered on a recruiting mission to the United States by General Sam Houston. After the war, he served as the first speaker of the House for the Republic of Texas.Seth Ingram (1790-1857), the younger brother of Ira Ingram and a veteran of the War of 1812, was also a member of Austin's Old Three Hundred and worked for Stephen F. Austin as a surveyor where he laid out the town of San Felipe de Austin (late 1823-early 1824). He spent sixteen months of imprisonment for the killing of John G. Hotham, who had accused his brother Ira of being a "coward, a rogue, and a man without honor," and was finally released in January of 1832. He was arrested a second time for murder shortly after, but was acquitted a few months later.Reference: Streeter 18.2.

Matagorda Texas Constitution

Stephen F. Austin's island

Stephen F Austin to Elias Wightman, 03-13-1830

Summary: Instructions for surveying Memorandum for Mr. Weigh[t]man SurveyorYou will lay off four quarters of a League next below H. H. League on the west side of colorado and the balance on both sides of the river below Betts on the east side, and below the above mentioned quarters on the west will be laid of in League tracts—each League will not have more than two thirds of a League in width in a straight line front on the river, and the quarters in propor- tion to their area I also wish the exact quantity ascertained in each of the large islands including the prairie island between the east and west fork—The Leagues on Trespalacios must join those on the colorado where it can be done so as not to reduce the fronts on each river to less than three thousand varas— should there be a vacancy in the middle it can be laid off in quarters, or in Leagues as may best suit.I think it will be the best plan to lay off on one connected plot all the meandering and then lay down all the tracts on colorado and on the east side of Trespalacios, the west side of Trespalacios may remain for the present, as there are no tracts taken there at this timeThe land on prairie creek and Cany below Peyton and Curtis and also on the bay east of this you can lay off in conformity with the printed regulations and in quarters or Leagues as it may be wanted.Please send up the notes of all the colorado tracts as soon as possible for they are generally all taken up and I wish to finish the deeds.Matagorda March 13. 1830S. F. Austin [Rubric]You will of course be particular that there is no interference with the Colorado and prairie Creek tracts and regulate the fronts accordingly should it be necessary to vary from the rule above laid down to avoid an interference.A district can be laid off for surveying on San Jacinto to commence at the Mouth of Buffalo Bayou, thence up the same, north side to its head, thence northwardly so as to include all the waters of San Jacinto on the west side of its main branch up to its headMr Weightman can have this district if he wishes it by applying to me or to Williams at my office should I be absent within six weeks from this timeMatagorda March 13. 1830S. F. Austin [Rubric]The above is subject to the approval of the Commissioner generalS. F. Austin [Rubric]Source
Eugene Barker, ed., Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1919: The Austin Papers, (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1924), 3 vols., Vol 1, Part 2, pp. 341-342

Sephen F Austin to Elias Wightman, 03-13-1830

Elias R. Wightman

Summarized from Scraps of Early Texas History by Mary Sherwood Helm.

Benjamin Wightman was a Baptist minister. Elias was a school teacher in New York married a student, Mary Sherwood. In 1826, Wightman petitioned Austin for permission to build a town at the mouth of the Colorado River on Matagorda Bay.

According to Austin Colony records, Wightman arrived in Texas by Jul 1825 and received title to a league of land on 28 Oct 1830 as one of the "Old 300" original colonists.

Elias R. Wightman, one of the founders of Matagorda and a Stephen F. Austin Old Three Hundred colonist, was born early in 1792 in Herkimer County, New York, one of eleven children of Esther (Randall) and Baptist minister Benjamin Wightman.

Wightman was involved in establishment of the town of Matagorda where he operated a salt factory and was a teacher. In Oct. 1829, he surveyed the town of Marion on the Brazos River.He married Mary Sherwood who married Meredith Helm after his death in 1841.Wightman was an official surveyor commissioned by Austin in 1830 and was probably in the DeWitt Colony during the 1828 census in that capacity or on a cattle trading mission (he held 30 head of cattle at the time of census.).In 1828 Elias returned to New York to recruit settlers for Matagorda and with 39 persons, many of them relatives, came to the site of the proposed town of Matagorda.Beginning Nov 1828 at the head of the Alleghany River, the party journeyed down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. Reaching New Orleans just before Christmas, they chartered the schooner Little Zoe to Matagorda Bay reaching the mouth of the Colorado River on 27 Jan 1829. Austin commissioned Wightman as a surveyor in Dec 1830 and on the 6th, he was appointed municipal surveyor for the District of Mina.Wightman's homeplace was on the Matagorda Peninsula to the east of Caney Creek. His field notes and map shows the town of Manhattan at the mouth of Caney Creek and what is known presently as "East Bay" was shown as "Manhattan Bay."

Elias R. Wightman's Compass

Wightman lived in Matagorda County until 1841, serving as a surveyor of the county and and taking part in the life of the young Republic. He died in Covington, Kentucky, in 1841. The Colorado Gazette and Advertiser, Matagorda, December 18, 1841, reported his obituary: We regret to learn that our old friend, Elias R. Wightman, Esq. died a few weeks since, in Covington, Kentucky, whither he had gone to take possession of an extensive property, for which he had sold his residence in this county. Judge Wightman came to Texas as a surveyor to the first band of colonists brought out by Stephen F. Austin, and continued a resident of this county until within a month or two of his lamented death. He has left a large circle of relatives and friends among us, who feel this sad dispensation of Providence most sensibly. [inscription on Monument] ELIAS R. WIGHTMAN Died October 26,1841 Age 49 years 9 months Being born in 1792. He had a heart to contrive A heart to conceive A hand to execute Angels could do not more.

The field notes written by Elias R. Wightman during the year 1838 consists of surveys and notes of practically all land in Matagorda County.

Elias R Wightman was a surveyor in Texas for Stephen F. Austin in the early days of the Austin colony circa 1827. He is enumerated among the "Old 300" shoe were the initial colonists of the Moses & Stephen F. Austin colony in what was then the State of Coahuila & Tejas in Mexico. The following is excerpted from a Texas State Historical publication cited below.WIGHTMAN, ELIAS R. (1792–1841).Wightman taught school in New York, eventually marrying one of his students, Mary Sherwood (see HELM, MARY S.W.), whose book, Scraps of Early Texas History (1884), includes gleanings from her husband's surveying field notes. Wightman was in Texas as early as 1824, and by July 1825 he had been appointed by Stephen F. Austin as one of the appraisers of goods damaged on the schooner, Lady of the Lake.In August 1826 Wightman and several other persons petitioned Austin for the establishment of the town of Matagorda, and Wightman himself petitioned for a league of land on the east side of the Colorado River. As one of the Old Three Hundred colonists, he received title to a sitio of land in the area of present Matagorda County on May 25, 1827.In 1828 Austin sent Wightman and David G. Burnet to the United States to help recruit settlers for his colony. Wightman went to New York, beginning his return journey south in November 1828 with approximately fifty to sixty colonists, including his parents, whose 1830 burials, the first in the Matagorda Cemetery, are commemorated by a Texas Historical Commission historic marker. Traveling by wagon train, river, and finally from New Orleans on the schooner Little Zoe, they reached the mouth of the Colorado and the small fort built there for the protection of the incoming settlers in late January 1829.Wightman may have been at an 1829 meeting in San Felipe de Austin to discuss the founding of a Masonic lodge there, and by August 1829 he had been elected surveyor for Matagorda, where he had built his home. By that October he had surveyed the town of Marion on the Brazos River. Around that time he was also corresponding with Austin about operating a salt works and had agreed to teach school at Matagorda for a year. Wightman was working for Austin as a surveyor in 1830, and the Austin Papers contain voluminous correspondence between the empresario and the surveyor.The Wightman family participated in the Runaway Scrape in 1836. In 1837 Wightman was among the first justices of the peace elected in newly organized Matagorda County and the following year was involved with the Caney Navigation Company, a group organized to improve transportation on Caney Creek by clearing its channel and adding connecting canals.In October 1840 Wightman and other citizens of Matagorda signed a letter to Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar recommending John Delap as successor to Silas Dinsmore as county judge. Wightman died on October 26, 1841, shortly after he had sold his Matagorda County land and moved to his new property in Covington, Kentucky. In the 1980s some of Wightman's field notes were housed at the Matagorda county clerk's office and in the Matagorda County Museum in Bay City.BIBLIOGRAPHY: Eugene C. Barker, ed., The Austin Papers (3 vols., Washington: GPO, 1924–28). Eugene C. Barker, ed., "Minutes of the Ayuntamiento of San Felipe de Austin, 1828–1832," 12 parts, Southwestern Historical Quarterly 21–24 (January 1918-October 1920). Lester G. Bugbee, "The Old Three Hundred: A List of Settlers in Austin's First Colony," Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association 1 (October 1897). Charles Adams Gulick, Jr., Harriet Smither, et al., eds., The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (6 vols., Austin: Texas State Library, 1920–27; rpt., Austin: Pemberton Press, 1968). McAllister Junior Historians, Research Papers on Historic Matagorda (Bay City, Texas, 1973). Matagorda County Historical Commission, Historic Matagorda County (3 vols., 1986–88) Info courtesy of LinnR (#47874140)

Wightman, Elias R. (1792–1841).Elias R. Wightman, one of the founders of Matagorda and a Stephen F. Austin Old Three Hundred colonist, was born early in 1792 in Herkimer County, New York, one of eleven children of Esther (Randall) and Baptist minister Benjamin Wightman. Wightman taught school in New York, eventually marrying one of his students, Mary Sherwood (see HELM, MARY S.W.), whose book, Scraps of Early Texas History (1884), includes gleanings from her husband's surveying field notes. Wightman was in Texas as early as 1824, and by July 1825 he had been appointed by Stephen F. Austin as one of the appraisers of goods damaged on the schooner, Lady of the Lake. In August 1826 Wightman and several other persons petitioned Austin for the establishment of the town of Matagorda, and Wightman himself petitioned for a league of land on the east side of the Colorado River. As one of the Old Three Hundred colonists, he received title to a sitio of land in the area of present Matagorda County on May 25, 1827. In 1828 Austin sent Wightman and David G. Burnet to the United States to help recruit settlers for his colony. Wightman went to New York, beginning his return journey south in November 1828 with approximately fifty to sixty colonists, including his parents, whose 1830 burials, the first in the Matagorda Cemetery, are commemorated by a Texas Historical Commission historic marker. Traveling by wagon train, river, and finally from New Orleans on the schooner Little Zoe, they reached the mouth of the Colorado and the small fort built there for the protection of the incoming settlers in late January 1829.Wightman may have been at an 1829 meeting in San Felipe de Austin to discuss the founding of a Masonic lodge there, and by August 1829 he had been elected surveyor for Matagorda, where he had built his home. By that October he had surveyed the town of Marion on the Brazos River. Around that time he was also corresponding with Austin about operating a salt works and had agreed to teach school at Matagorda for a year. Wightman was working for Austin as a surveyor in 1830, and the Austin Papers contain voluminous correspondence between the empresario and the surveyor. The Wightman family participated in the Runaway Scrape in 1836. In 1837 Wightman was among the first justices of the peace elected in newly organized Matagorda County and the following year was involved with the Caney Navigation Company, a group organized to improve transportation on Caney Creek by clearing its channel and adding connecting canals. In October 1840 Wightman and other citizens of Matagorda signed a letter to Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar recommending John Delap as successor to Silas Dinsmore as county judge. Wightman died on October 26, 1841, shortly after he had sold his Matagorda County land and moved to his new property in Covington, Kentucky. In the 1980s some of Wightman's field notes were housed at the Matagorda county clerk's office and in the Matagorda County Museum in Bay City.

William A. Baxter

He was justice of the peace in Matagorda from June to December of 1869, filling in when W. H. Burkhart died. In the probate minutes, William A. Baxter was made administrator of his wife's estate, which consisted of one hundred acres of land on the Peninsula and the following children were named:

He served in the Civil War, 6th Texas Infantry. His wife, Anne Elizabeth, lived to be nearly 102, and was buried beside him.

[Republic of Texas] Matagorda Land Transaction. Four pages, 8" x 12.5", May 21, 1838, Matagorda. Containing the signatures of Thomas M. Dennis (county court clerk), Edward L. Holmes (Matagorda County representative in the Texas Congress), Seth Ingram (a member of Austin's Old Three Hundred and "President of the Board of Proprietors of the town of Matagorda"). Folds; fine.

baxter 2

He was justice of the peace in Matagorda from June to December of 1869, filling in when W. H. Burkhart died. In the probate minutes, William A. Baxter was made administrator of his wife's estate, which consisted of one hundred acres of land on the Peninsula and the following children were named:

He served in the Civil War, 6th Texas Infantry. His wife, Anne Elizabeth, lived to be nearly 102, and was buried beside him.

[Republic of Texas] Matagorda Land Transaction. Four pages, 8" x 12.5", May 21, 1838, Matagorda. Containing the signatures of Thomas M. Dennis (county court clerk), Edward L. Holmes (Matagorda County representative in the Texas Congress), Seth Ingram (a member of Austin's Old Three Hundred and "President of the Board of Proprietors of the town of Matagorda"). Folds; fine.

baxter 3

Henry grew up helping with the family ranching in Matagorda. He lived for several years in Refugio County while his father served as minister of the Christian Church at St. Mary's. During that time Henry met Mary Elizabeth "Bettie" Ellis who was born November 19, 1857, in San Saba, Texas, the daughter of Francis Marion and Martha Whitehead Melton Ellis.Henry and Bettie were married September 17, 1874, at St. Mary's by William P. Baxter. Bettie's sister Kate Ellis married Paul Baxter, Henry's brother. Her brother Stonewall Jackson Ellis married Cora Louise Baxter, daughter of Henry's brother William A. Baxter. After their marriage, Henry and Bettie made their home in Matagorda County where their four older children were born. In 1884 they moved to Bee County, bought land there, and their four younger children were born. Henry died on April 20, 1892, and was buried in Beeville, Texas. Bettie moved the family to Bay City where all of thechildren attended school. About 1907 Bettie and her two youngest, unmarried sons, Walter and Stonewall "Stonie," moved to Houston. Stonie married in 1917, and Bettie lived with him in Houston until she died on August 23, 1944.Henry and Bettie's eight children were: Martha Esther, William Francis, Birdie Lee, Florence Alice,
Mary Omega, Allen Stonewall who died in infancy, Walter Henry, and Stonewall Jackson. Martha "Mattie" Esther (1875-1967) married her
cousin, Paul Franklin "Frank" Franz, son of Conrad Franz and Demis Baxter in 1896. The were the parents of five children: Harvy Arthur, Camille Elizabeth, Mary Omega, Percival Burton, and Weldon Franklin who died in infancy.