Early Tehuacana, Texas History (Before 1870)

EARLY EXPLORATION & THE TEHUACANA TRIBE

The Tehuacana or Tawakoni people occupied the land north of the Old San Antonio Road (OSR) and south of the Comanche Trail in Central Texas. Philip Nolan explored the area between 1797 and 1800. A significant Tehuacana village was destroyed by the Cherokee in 1830; its archaeological rediscovery in the 1960s became known as the "Vinson Site." In 1835, a conference was held with the Tehuacana at Tehuacana Spring, and in 1838, a survivor of the Battle Creek Fight took refuge at the spring. The signing of a peace treaty in 1844 opened the area to permanent Anglo-American settlement. 

Pictured: Archaeological work was led by Dee Ann Story (1931-2010) at the Vinson Site at Tehuacana in 1964. From the Bulletin of the Texas Archaeological Society, Volume 64 (1993).

MAJOR JOHN BOYD’S LAND GRANT AND SETTLEMENT

Major John Boyd (1796–1873), born in Tennessee, received a land grant of one league on July 13, 1835, from the government of Coahuila y Tejas. Three labors (531 acres) were in cultivation, and 22 labors (3,896 acres) were in pasture. Boyd and his family moved to Sabine County, Texas, in 1835, and he represented the county in the first two Congresses of the Republic of Texas. His Limestone County land remained unsettled until the 1844 treaty reduced conflict with Indigenous peoples. Boyd arrived on his land in October 1845, then part of Robertson County, which became Limestone County in 1846. By 1850, Boyd and his sons operated farms valued at thousands of dollars in real estate.

Pictured: 1835 Boyd Land Grant, courtesy of the Texas General Land Office.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION (1850–1870)

Boyd was a leading agricultural producer in Limestone County. In 1850, with 140 acres in cultivation, he led the county in wheat production (350 bushels) and was among the top dairy producers, also growing corn, oats, sweet potatoes, and making butter and cheese. By 1860, he shifted to a diversified mix of crops including rye, barley, and potatoes, wine production, and large-scale sheep ranching for wool. In 1870, his focus narrowed mainly to corn and livestock. Notably, he never grew cotton, unlike many contemporaries. Boyd’s farming relied on both family labor and enslaved workers; he enslaved multiple individuals in 1850 and 1860, occasionally supplemented with enslaved labor hired from neighbors.

RESIDENCE AND ARCHITECTURE

Boyd initially lived in a log house before building a substantial two-story Greek Revival home, one of few antebellum examples in the county. The house stood near the Tehuacana Spring, in a community that developed around Boyd’s land and included a store, school, and cemetery. The house was demolished in the 1930s.

Pictured: The Boyd House circa 1870, courtesy of Elizabeth Huth Coates Library Special Collections & Archives, Trinity University.

CAMPAIGN TO MAKE TEHUACANA THE STATE CAPITAL (1849–1850)

Late in 1849 and early in 1850, Boyd campaigned vigorously to make “Tawakanah Hill” the state capital, touting its central location, water supply, building materials, and land he would donate to the state. Neighboring landowners pledged thousands of additional acres. In the 1850 statewide vote mandated by the Constitution of 1845, Austin received a majority of the 15,088 votes cast, but Tehuacana placed a strong second. The official returns, opened on June 3, 1850, were as follows:

  • Austin – 7,679 (50.9%)

  • Tehuacana – 3,142 (20.8%)

  • Palestine – 1,884 (12.5%)

  • Huntsville – 1,216 (8.1%)

  • Washington – 1,143 (7.6%)

  • Others – 24 (0.1%)

Although John Boyd's campaign to establish Tehuacana as the new capital of Texas ultimately failed, it achieved surprising success. Voters in Bowie, Dallas, Denton, Fannin, Grayson, and other northeastern Texas counties resoundingly supported Tehuacana as their next capital. In Dallas County, the margin was especially striking—338 votes for Tehuacana and only one for Palestine.

Pictured: Boyd campaigned for "Tawakanah Hills" to become the next capital of Texas in newspapers supportive of his effort, such as Charles DeMorse's Clarksville Herald in January 1850. View the full editorial here.

TEHUACANA SPRINGS & THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIANS
(1850–1870)

For two decades, Tehuacana functioned as a small settlement with springs, a post office, church, school, and store. Boyd, converted to the Cumberland Presbyterian faith during a camp meeting, supported the establishment of educational institutions there. By 1852, Tehuacana Academy opened under Dr. Franklin Yoakum and Rev. Daniel Gideon Molloy, both prominent Cumberland Presbyterians. Although this early school did not last, it laid groundwork for later efforts to establish a college at Tehuacana in the post-Civil War period.

Pictured: "Tahuacana Springs" as seen on Pressler's Map of Texas, 1858. General Land Office Map #76232.