Partly-printed document, one page, 8 x 12.25, October 16, 1830. Early Texas scrip certificate for "one labor of land"—containing roughly 177 English acres—granted to Stephen Whitney, featuring a map showing the East Texas empresario in which the property was located. Signed at the conclusion in ink by three trustees. Nicely mounted, matted, and framed with a map and plaque to an overall size of 26 x 24. In fine condition.
The Galveston Bay & Texas Land Company was founded in New York in 1829. Its purpose was to promote the colonization of lands from the Vehlein-Burnet-de Zavala empresario grants, located immediately to the east of the Austin Colony between the San Jacinto and Sabine Rivers. The company sold scrip which allowed the buyers to locate on one labor (just over 177 acres) or one sitio (about 4428 acres). The price was five cents an acre, and sales were brisk. However, these sales were of dubious worth and likely were outright fraudulent. One of the earliest obtainable Texas cartographic items.
