Moses Austin
Fun Facts
1.) Moses became founder and principle of St.Louis Bank, but due to the bank failing because of the Panic of 1819, he lost the bank.
2.) Moses' son name was Stephen F. Austin, which was named after his brother, Stephen.
3.) Moses' son, Stephen F. Austin, never had a wife or kids after his father died
2.) Moses' son name was Stephen F. Austin, which was named after his brother, Stephen.
3.) Moses' son, Stephen F. Austin, never had a wife or kids after his father died
Alex Sanson
January 11, 2015
Block 3
Moses Austin
Moses Austin was born on October 4, 1761 in Durham, Connecticut. He was the youngest of nine children born to Elias Austin and Eunice Phelps Austin. He went to a small school where he grew fond of reading books. Moses' life was normal until the age of 15, where both of Moses' parents had died. Soon after his parents death, he moved to Middletown, Connecticut where he joined his brother, Stephen, to start a merchant shop.
As a merchant, he developed the sense on how to judge the value of traded items and began a lifelong practice of buying and selling credit. After making enough money, he started his own business near his brothers shop in Philadelphia. There he fell in love with Mary Brown. Moses soon married Mary Brown on September 28, 1785 after opening a branch of his business in Richmond, Virginia.
Moses and Stephen both became partners in a mine in the Virginia frontier. The became very successful when the project initially began. They were so successful, that they convinced the U.S. Congress to raise taxes on U.S. lead, which persuaded people to buy American lead. More good news came in 1793, where Stephen F. Austin, Moses son was born.
Moses and his brother bought more land to expand around the mine, built a town called Austinville and improved transportation for the workers. However, this only caused extreme debt. In 1794 they tried to sell the mine but could not find a buyer. Moses then read an account that about the territory that Spain had controlled. Seeing that Spain's Louisiana Territory had mining potential, Moses Austin started planing a trip after his daughter, Emily, was born in 1795.
On December 8, 1796, Moses Austin and one of his workers set out on a two thousand mile trip through wilderness that is now southeast Missouri. In Missouri, Moses met John Rice Jones, a man who became his business partner and translator helped Austin do business with French settlers. John rice led Moses to rich lead deposits. When seeing how rich the mine deposits were, he soon requested the land from the Spanish government.
After settling business with the Spanish, he returned to Virginia in March 1797, only to find that the price of lead had dropped by half because Congress had lowered its tax on foreign lead. Moses dropped out of partnership with Stephen, who had gone bankrupt. After Moses received permission from the Spanish, he left to Missouri in June 1798, taking his family, women, men, children, and slaves with him.
Business at the mine boomed. Moses profited from mining the rich ore, renting land to other miners and selling goods. Moses Austin also employed new technology that washed impurities and smelters that were so efficient that miners would pay Moses to smelt their ore for them. In 1802 about thirty Osage Indians attacked Moses settlement. When Moses called upon the help of the French the did not help. Moses, a proud man know for his temper, never forgave the French.
In 1807 was the beginning of his money setbacks. First, the price of lead went down about forty percent. Then large amounts of lead transports were delayed due to series of events. After the business and financial problems, Moses planned to leave Missouri. He sold the mine for a little over $2,000 and used the money for a trip to Texas.
In October 1820, Moses had reached Texas and requested to petition from the Spanish but was denied. However, Moses met with an old friend that had connections with the Spanish government. This allowed Moses to meet with the governor once more, who allowed Moses petition.
On the way back to Missouri, they found a traveler, Jacob Kirkhim, who was selling illegal livestock. Jacob then took them deep in the wilderness and left them stranded, taking their horses and supplies. That night, Moses was attacked by a panther. Although they survived the attack, both Moses and Richmond caught pneumonia. After finding help from a frontier cabin, they were bedridden for weeks. Moses eventually recovered and heard that Spain had allowed him to colonize in Texas.
Moses never fully recovered from the pneumonia and was very sick when he was dealing with his financial affairs. Moses was bedridden for several days, and on his deathbed, he passed the responsibility to colonize Texas to his son.
Moses Austin was an entrepreneur and a very good business man. He built a huge business from a simple merchant shop which is amazing to me because when he was dealing with problems, he had business partners and friends to help Moses out. Moses was dealing with money problems the most, which lead to his downfall, but he always had connections. As a business management and technology academy student, I feel that a good business man needs these in order to get yourself out of bad situations.
January 11, 2015
Block 3
Moses Austin
Moses Austin was born on October 4, 1761 in Durham, Connecticut. He was the youngest of nine children born to Elias Austin and Eunice Phelps Austin. He went to a small school where he grew fond of reading books. Moses' life was normal until the age of 15, where both of Moses' parents had died. Soon after his parents death, he moved to Middletown, Connecticut where he joined his brother, Stephen, to start a merchant shop.
As a merchant, he developed the sense on how to judge the value of traded items and began a lifelong practice of buying and selling credit. After making enough money, he started his own business near his brothers shop in Philadelphia. There he fell in love with Mary Brown. Moses soon married Mary Brown on September 28, 1785 after opening a branch of his business in Richmond, Virginia.
Moses and Stephen both became partners in a mine in the Virginia frontier. The became very successful when the project initially began. They were so successful, that they convinced the U.S. Congress to raise taxes on U.S. lead, which persuaded people to buy American lead. More good news came in 1793, where Stephen F. Austin, Moses son was born.
Moses and his brother bought more land to expand around the mine, built a town called Austinville and improved transportation for the workers. However, this only caused extreme debt. In 1794 they tried to sell the mine but could not find a buyer. Moses then read an account that about the territory that Spain had controlled. Seeing that Spain's Louisiana Territory had mining potential, Moses Austin started planing a trip after his daughter, Emily, was born in 1795.
On December 8, 1796, Moses Austin and one of his workers set out on a two thousand mile trip through wilderness that is now southeast Missouri. In Missouri, Moses met John Rice Jones, a man who became his business partner and translator helped Austin do business with French settlers. John rice led Moses to rich lead deposits. When seeing how rich the mine deposits were, he soon requested the land from the Spanish government.
After settling business with the Spanish, he returned to Virginia in March 1797, only to find that the price of lead had dropped by half because Congress had lowered its tax on foreign lead. Moses dropped out of partnership with Stephen, who had gone bankrupt. After Moses received permission from the Spanish, he left to Missouri in June 1798, taking his family, women, men, children, and slaves with him.
Business at the mine boomed. Moses profited from mining the rich ore, renting land to other miners and selling goods. Moses Austin also employed new technology that washed impurities and smelters that were so efficient that miners would pay Moses to smelt their ore for them. In 1802 about thirty Osage Indians attacked Moses settlement. When Moses called upon the help of the French the did not help. Moses, a proud man know for his temper, never forgave the French.
In 1807 was the beginning of his money setbacks. First, the price of lead went down about forty percent. Then large amounts of lead transports were delayed due to series of events. After the business and financial problems, Moses planned to leave Missouri. He sold the mine for a little over $2,000 and used the money for a trip to Texas.
In October 1820, Moses had reached Texas and requested to petition from the Spanish but was denied. However, Moses met with an old friend that had connections with the Spanish government. This allowed Moses to meet with the governor once more, who allowed Moses petition.
On the way back to Missouri, they found a traveler, Jacob Kirkhim, who was selling illegal livestock. Jacob then took them deep in the wilderness and left them stranded, taking their horses and supplies. That night, Moses was attacked by a panther. Although they survived the attack, both Moses and Richmond caught pneumonia. After finding help from a frontier cabin, they were bedridden for weeks. Moses eventually recovered and heard that Spain had allowed him to colonize in Texas.
Moses never fully recovered from the pneumonia and was very sick when he was dealing with his financial affairs. Moses was bedridden for several days, and on his deathbed, he passed the responsibility to colonize Texas to his son.
Moses Austin was an entrepreneur and a very good business man. He built a huge business from a simple merchant shop which is amazing to me because when he was dealing with problems, he had business partners and friends to help Moses out. Moses was dealing with money problems the most, which lead to his downfall, but he always had connections. As a business management and technology academy student, I feel that a good business man needs these in order to get yourself out of bad situations.
The State Historical Society of Missouri.umsystem.The State Historical Society of Missouri,N/A.Web.9 January 2015.
Texas State Historical Association.tshaonline.Texas State Historical Association,N/A.Web.26 January 2015.