An official document issued by the Galveston Bay & Texas Land Company, Scrip No. 802, issued in New York City on October 16, 1830, the day the real estate firm was founded. 1p, measuring 7.875" x 12.5". The scrip allocated one sitio of land (the equivalent of approximately 4428 acres) to one Rodman Moulton. Partly printed and partly handwritten on fine, onion-skin paper with deckled edges. Signed by company trustees and attorneys: Anthony Dey (1776-1859), lawyer and president of Galveston Bay & Texas Land Company; lawyer and historian William H. Sumner (1780-1861); lawyer and historian George T. Curtis (1812-1894); and company secretary W.M. Wilson. Endorsed by land recipient Rodman Moulton verso. Light expected wear including folds and wrinkles. Isolated stains and uneven edges, else near fine. 

Galveston Bay & Texas Land Company (GB & TLC) documents allocating land in sitios are more rare than similar documents granting tracts in labor (a unit of measurement corresponding to approximately 177 acres). The rarer sitio documents are appreciated by discriminating collectors. Besides the obvious difference of the land being quantified in another unit of measurement, there are other subtle differences in verbiage and graphic elements between the two documents. To illustrate just a few of these differences, for example, sitio documents name Matagorda Bay; the area corresponding to the Caddo in the northeast is shaded on the map; there is a dashed line immediately west of the Guadalupe River; and the word "North" is in a larger font. All of these differences collectively make sitios more prized than labor, and this sitio is a superb example.

The document reads in part:

"This certifies. That the Subscribers as the Trustees and Attorneys of Lorenzo de Zavala, Joseph Vehlein and David G. Burnet, have given and do hereby give to Rodman Moulton and his legal representatives the bearer hereof, their consent to the location of, and holding in severalty, one sitio, of Land within the limits of four adjoining tracts of land in Texas…for colonizing the same according to the terms of the said grants, and the laws of the United States of Mexico, and the state of Coahuila and Texas…"

The Galveston Bay & Texas Land Company was established in October 1830 to promote colonization in territory corresponding to East Texas, east of the San Jacinto River, and north of Nagodoches. The land was owned by three influential empresarios: Mexican political activist Lorenzo de Zavala (1788-1836), Texan politician David G. Burnet (1788-1870), and Joseph Vehlein, a German merchant from Mexico City. Actual land ownership was not transferable, since land was owned by the trio, but GB & TLC sold scrip to individuals, companies, or as shares to subscribers, permitting settlers to occupy the land. During this time, Texan colonization was a hot-button issue. GB & TLC encountered numerous legal difficulties in gaining access to the land. After GB & TLC land sales were officially closed by the Texas provisional government in 1835, suits were filed on behalf of the company; litigation dragged on until 1848. Yet by 1849, the number of GB & TLC stockholders was increasing, the company was profitable, and settlement continued.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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