Moses Austin (October 4, 1761 – June 10, 1821) was an American businessman and pioneer who played a large part in the development of the lead industry in the early United States, especially in southwest Virginia and Missouri.

[1] Stephen led the large group of settlers from Missouri who colonized the northern reaches of then-sovereign Mexico in 1825, and in time, the settlers demanded autonomy and later won independence from Mexico under President Antonio López de Santa Anna, thereby establishing the Republic of Texas.

After the Virginia lead business failed, Moses skipped out to avoid imprisonment and the consequences of debt, which was then customary for debtors in the U.S. under traditional English law (now being developed for U.S. federal and state codes), and looked toward the rich lead deposits in Missouri, then a part of upper Spanish Louisiana.

In 1798, the Spanish colonial government granted to Moses one league of land (4,428 acres) to undertake lead mining operations.

Enslaved African American men were used for the hard, difficult labor of digging the lead ore and processing it.

In 1821, the governor asked Austin's friend, Erasmo Seguín, to give him the news that he had been awarded a land grant and permission to settle three hundred families in Texas.

His son Stephen F. Austin carried out his colonization plan several years later, and led the three hundred families to what became the first Anglo-American settlement in Texas.

In 1885, the legality of Austin's Spanish property claims were settled posthumously by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bryan v. Kennett.

Austin failed to successfully maintain the St. Louis Bank and his financial situation suffered from unfavorable shipment deals.

Austin's desperation reached a climax in 1820 when a Missouri sheriff threatened to break down his door to collect past debts.

Moses Austin hoped the Spanish government would permit free trade with the United States so he left for Texas to try and begin a new economic venture.

On December 23, 1820, Austin arrived in San Antonio to begin negotiations with the Spanish government to establish a trading post.

On December 26, 1820, Austin and Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop presented a formal petition to Governor Antonio María Martínez.

This outdated reward system granted tracts of land to immigrants who pledged their allegiance to the Spanish crown.