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Texian Loan Signed by Stephen F. Austin, B.T. Archer ahnd William H. Wharton, as Commissioners of the Republic of Texas

Fine example of a Texian Loan, signed by Austin, Archer and Wharton on January 11, 1836 and printed by Benjamin Levy - New Orleans.

In exchange for $320, this loan entitled Roger Triplett to 8% interest per annum over five years, or Texas land at the rate of 50¢ per acre.

In order to raise badly needed funds to finance the Texas Revolution, at the behest of the (Texas) Consultation, three Texas land commissioners arrived in New Orleans in early January 1836. A meeting took place in the bar room at Bishop's City Hotel on January 6, 1836, where Austin, Archer and Wharton addressed a large gathering which included the wealthy merchant banker, Roger Triplett. Moved by the impassioned pleas of the commissioners and the prospect of Texas land at bargain prices, Triplett lead a group of investors who agreed to terms for a $200,000 loan. However, only the 10% advance ($20,000) was ever collected since the Texas government preferred to offer the best land to its soldiers fighting the Mexican Army.

After the fall of the Alamo, Triplett did negotiate another loan signed at Harrisburg on April 1, 1836 with terms of 34¢ per acre and a bonus of 142,000 acres in exchange for the right to priority locations. This second loan paid Texas the dearly desperately sum of $45,890.

This Texian Loan certificate dates to the crucial period immediately after Texas had declared its independence form Mexico. With Santa Anna's forces on the march, few believed the beleaguered Texas Army stood a chance. This investment was a long-shot to say the least. Luckily, the bet paid off after success at San Jacinto and the loans were exchanged for prime Galveston land.

As the first Empresario of Texas and eventually the Father of the Republic of Texas, Stephen F. Austin's signature on this document is the most desirable. Branch T. Archer represented Brazoria at the Convention of 1833 and participated in the Battle of Gonzales in October 1835. He was elected chairman of the Consultation in November of 1835 and eventually served as Secretary of War under Mirabeau Lamar until 1842. William H. Wharton fought in the Battle of Velasco, participated in the Conventions of 1832 & 1833 and the Consultation of 1835. He served as Minister to the United States and later in the Texas Senate.

The document transcribes as follows:

Left: GOVERNMENT OF TEXAS,flanked on each side by a vignette of a Sphinx

Right: SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY ACRES OF LAND, with ornamental décor

Top: TEXIAN LOAN. Three Hundred and Twenty Dollars. Certificate No. 113

Received, of Robert Triplett Thirty-Two Dollars, the First Installment on a loan of Three Hundred and Twenty Dollars, made by him this day to the Government of Texas for FIVE YEARS, bearing Interest at the rate of EIGHT PER CENTUM PER ANNUM, payable annually. Public Notice to be given, according to contract, when the other installments will be required, at which time they may be paid or not, at the option of the said Robert Triplett or his assignee. For the amount paid, Land in Texas may be taken at FIFTY CENTS per Acre, with the guarantees and conditions of the contract aforesaid. In Testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, and affixed our seals, in the city of NEW-ORLEANS, this Eleventh day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.

Signed: S.F. Austin, B.T. Archer, William H. Wharton, COMMISSIONERS ON THE PART OF TEXAS. Printed by Benjamin Levy-New Orleans.