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| Burnet
Timeline
1806
- Goes to Venezuela on the filibustering expedition
of Francisco de Miranda
1810
- Mexican struggle for independence from Spain begins
1811
- First steamboat travels the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers
1812
- Gutierrez-Magee filibustering expedition into Texas
1812-14
- Ohio is major battleground in War of 1812
1817
- Moves to Natchitoches, Louisiana, spends the next
two years trading with the Indians
1817-20
- Pirate Jean Lafitte occupies Galveston Island
1819
- Spain cedes Florida to the United States, retains
ownership of Texas
1821
- Mexican independence
1822
- Stephen F. Austin founds first American colony in
Texas
1826
- Receives empresario grant
1827
- Spends a year in Texas before returning home to
recruit colonists
1830
- Sells colonization rights to the Galveston Bay and
Texas Land Company
1830
- Marries Hannah Este
April
4, 1831 - Arrives in Texas, becomes sawmill operator
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David G. Burnet
A Life on the Move
At age 17, Burnet began his quest
for adventure and success. He signed on as a lieutenant
in a filibustering expedition to Venezuela. Filibusters
were private military expeditions that were illegal but
commonplace during this era. The crumbling Spanish empire
provided an especially attractive target, and filibusters
often teamed up with Latin American revolutionaries. Young
men like Burnet joined up in hopes of striking it rich in
land, pay, privateering, and other enterprises.
The expedition was a failure, the
first of many that would dog Burnet's life. His youth would
pass without finding success. Illness may have played a
role. By age 29, Burnet was expected to die from a serious
lung ailment. Seeking a cure, he moved to the warmer climate
of Louisiana and moved in with a friend at a trading post
at the headwaters of the Brazos River. Burnet became fascinated
with the Comanches who came to the post and spent much time
learning their customs and language. The gentler weather
and interesting work led to an improvement in his health,
and he returned to Ohio.
In 1826, Burnet found himself 38
years old but still broke and obscure. But a new enterprise
seemed certain to make him rich. Mexico was seeking colonists
for the province of Texas. Burnet traveled to Mexico City
to petition the Mexican government for an empresario grant,
which would allow him to start a colony. Burnet must have
been elated when he received permission to settle 300 families
in the area north of the Old Spanish Road and around Nacogdoches.
The hoped-for riches never materialized.
Back in Ohio, Burnet was unable to find colonists or financial
backing to develop his hard-won grant. He was forced to
sell his rights to a group of northeastern investors. Despite
the setback, Burnet was now convinced that his future was
in Texas.
Shortly after selling his empresario
rights, Burnet married 30-year-old Hannah Este of New Jersey.
The couple used the money from the sale to buy a steam-powered
sawmill. By April 1831, David and Hannah had moved to Texas
and settled near Lynchburg in a simple home they called
Oakland. The couple soon started a family with the birth
of two sons, William and Jacob.
Burnet operated the sawmill along
the San Jacinto River for the next four years. Unfortunately,
it proved to be a losing proposition, and he was forced
to sell it after four years of struggle.
A
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