12/16/1826: Republic of Fredonia stillborn in Nacogdoches
On this day in 1826, Benjamin Edwards and about thirty men rode into Nacogdoches and declared the Republic of Fredonia, thus instituting an attempted minor revolution known as the Fredonian Rebellion.
Benjamin was the brother of Haden Edwards, who had received a grant near Nacogdoches and had settled some fifty families there. Fearing that the brothers were about to lose their land, Benjamin took the desperate step of declaring independence from Mexico. In spite of an attempt to get the Cherokees to help, the revolt was easily crushed by Mexican authorities, and Edwards was forced to flee across the Sabine. In 1837 he ran for governor of Mississippi, but died during the campaign.
12/16/1836: Texas Railroad, Navigation, and Banking Company chartered
On this day in 1836, the Congress of the Republic of Texas chartered the Texas Railroad, Navigation, and Banking Company.
The short-lived company was authorized to connect Gulf ports by canal, to construct railroads wherever desirable, and to have banking privileges as soon as one-fifth of its capital stock of $5 million had been subscribed. Though Congress approved the charter without opposition, and though the company apparently had the support of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, it became a political issue in the election of Anson Jones, who attacked the venture mainly because of the banking provision. Unable to sell its stock because of public opposition aroused by Jones and because of the panic of 1837, the company collapsed before achieving any of its ambitious goals.
Topic: December 16th, A Two Fer... (Read 22 times)