Peters Colony
The Republic of Texas, in the latter half of 1841, entered into the first of several contracts with a land company known as the Peters Colony. By January 1843 there were four contracts which gave the land company control of the land settlement in 26 counties in North Texas. This territory could be roughly described as beginning at a point on the Red River at the northeast corner of Grayson County, then extending due south to a point in Ellis County about ten miles south of the Dallas county line, then due west to a point in the north part of Callahan County, then due north to the northwest corner of Wilbarger county on the Red River, and then eastwardly along the Red River to the point of beginning. Wilbarger County is just west of Wichita County and Wichita Falls is its county seat.
In exchange for bringing in 100 heads of households, the land company was to receive 10 sections for its own account and for 100 single persons, it was to receive five sections. A head of household was entitled to a certificate for 640 acres and a single person was entitled to 320 acres. A claimant had to select his land, survey it, and patent his title. The first agent for Peters Colony set up his office at Farmers Branch in February 1842.
On September 28, 1843, the Treaty of Birds Fort was signed with the major Indian tribes in the area. General Sam Houston attempted to meet with the Indians at Grape Vine Springs, but their meeting did not materialize. After waiting a few days, he returned to Austin, and when the Indians did arrive several weeks later, the meeting was held at Bird’s Fort. General Tarrant signed the treaty for the Republic of Texas.
James Gibson and John Hallford came from Missouri in 1844 and scouted the Peters Colony area. They returned to Missouri and then came back in 1845 with about a dozen families known as the “Missouri Group,” and they located in the Grapevine area. In addition to the Gibson and Hallford families, others in the group included the Leonard, Foster, Anderson, Suggs, Throop, Mulliken, Mahan, Freeman, Knight, Harris, Medlin, Eads, Hill, Allen and McDonald families. They settled along Denton Creek and its branches to the north and west of Grapevine.
In 1852, William Dooley acquired 320 acres which did include the Main Street area. He soon sold his land to E. N. Hudgins. A second wave of settlers began to arrive about 1860. This group was known as the “Jenkins Group” led by Eli Jenkins and included the Bushong, Yates, Estill, Zachary Wall, Morehead and Dunn families. Another group to come was the “Lipscomb Group” which included the Weatherly, Stewart and Morrow families. Other early families to arrive here were the Giddens, Starr, Andrew Wall and Lucas families.
Today, in 2007, many of the descendants of these first settlers still live in the Grapevine area and are active community leaders!