The Ramon Musquiz Grant in Jackson County, Texas
The 17,354 acre tract of land that Thomas Haynes once owned in Jackson County was all in what was initially known as “The Ramon Musquiz Grant of 5½ Leagues” (to white settlers, at least; I don’t know what the Karankawas or Comanches called it.) Edward M. Glenn owned the remaining 7,000 acres. As it turns out, Thomas also bought and sold much more land in Jackson County, but the Haynes place was all within the Musquiz Grant area, so the Musquiz Grant land is the only land that is considered here.
According to the Texas General Land Office Land Grant Database, Ramon Musquiz received four land grants in Texas from the Mexican government of the State of Coahuila and Texas before the Texas Revolution (1836), and one of them was in what eventually became Jackson County for 5½ leagues of land, or approximately 24,354 acres. The land was on the west side of the Lavaca River and between it and Garcitas Creek. (The current town of Vanderbilt, where I grew up, is at the approximate center of the Musquiz Grant.) The land was professionally surveyed and mapped by the Mexican surveyor Jose M. J. Carbajal, and the grant was carefully documented by the Mexican government. The Texas General Land Office, established by President Sam Houston, eventually sent personnel to Mexico City and to Spain to study and translate the documents. In Jackson County, we were able to obtain a copy of the final application and approval of the Musquiz Grant, including the original map of the Musquiz Grant land as drawn by Carbajal, the Mexican surveyor.
Use the following links to a scanned copy of the Musquiz Grant survey and to a copy of the Jackson County deed records for the Musquiz Grant:
Survey of the Ramon Musquiz Grant Land in Jackson County
English Translation of the Ramon Musquiz Land Grant Documents (1917)
Use the following links to access the Texas General Land Office Land Grant Database of all land grant documents or to the Ramon Musquiz Grant documents:
Texas General Land Office Land Grant Database
Texas General Land Office Copy of the Ramon Musquiz Grant (in Spanish, 24 page PDF)
Use the following links to Google Maps showing the area within the Ramon Musquiz Grant:
Google Maps view of the Ramon Musquiz Grant Land
Musquiz Grant land broken down into areas of interest
According to the Texas General Land Office Land Grant Database, Ramon Musquiz received four land grants in Texas from the Mexican government of the State of Coahuila and Texas before the Texas Revolution (1836), and one of them was in what eventually became Jackson County for 5½ leagues of land, or approximately 24,354 acres. The land was on the west side of the Lavaca River and between it and Garcitas Creek. (The current town of Vanderbilt, where I grew up, is at the approximate center of the Musquiz Grant.) The land was professionally surveyed and mapped by the Mexican surveyor Jose M. J. Carbajal, and the grant was carefully documented by the Mexican government. The Texas General Land Office, established by President Sam Houston, eventually sent personnel to Mexico City and to Spain to study and translate the documents. In Jackson County, we were able to obtain a copy of the final application and approval of the Musquiz Grant, including the original map of the Musquiz Grant land as drawn by Carbajal, the Mexican surveyor.
Use the following links to a scanned copy of the Musquiz Grant survey and to a copy of the Jackson County deed records for the Musquiz Grant:
Survey of the Ramon Musquiz Grant Land in Jackson County
English Translation of the Ramon Musquiz Land Grant Documents (1917)
Use the following links to access the Texas General Land Office Land Grant Database of all land grant documents or to the Ramon Musquiz Grant documents:
Texas General Land Office Land Grant Database
Texas General Land Office Copy of the Ramon Musquiz Grant (in Spanish, 24 page PDF)
Use the following links to Google Maps showing the area within the Ramon Musquiz Grant:
Google Maps view of the Ramon Musquiz Grant Land
Musquiz Grant land broken down into areas of interest