About
The Texas soldiers need to be remembered as individuals to understand the reasons Irish immigrants moved to Mexico and fought for independence from Mexico.
In the summer of 1834 Irish immigrants came to the province of Coahuila y Texas and settled in the Power-Hewetson Colony, now present day Refugio and Aransas counties. This online exhibit provides information on the importance of these Irish immigrants. This online exhibit examines the Power-Hewetson Colony’s Irish colonists to determine their significance to the history of Refugio and Aransas counties as well as the state as a whole by their participation in the Texas Revolution and subsequent regional development in order to help one understand the contrast between how this important ethnic group has been remembered in the past and how it can be interpreted in the future. Four of the six pages contain historical information on the Irish colonists as settlers and participants in the Texas Revolution. The other two pages provide a historical map and edcuational packets to viewers. The historical map page depicts all of the historical markers, monuments, cemeteries, and museum that relate to the Power-Hewetson Irish colonists on through the use of google maps and photographs. The educational packets page offers educational packets for teachers in 4th, 7th, and 8th grades. The website also contains scans or links to historical documents that relate to the Irish as settlers and participants in the Texas Revolution such as letters, deeds, bounties, and wills. The lack of discussion and explanation of these men being Irish leaves out a significant aspect of Texas history, which this website tries to correct and offers viewers a new public memory.
This site shares historical documents, photographs, stories, etc. about the Power-Hewetson Colony. To contribute to your own personal photographs, stories, and historical documents that relate to the Power-Hewetson Colony e-mail them to powerhewetsoncolony@gmail.com.
This project is part of the History M.A. Thesis "The Power-Hewestson Colony: Interpreting the Irish's Importance in Refugio and Aransas Counties and the Texas Revolution," August 2011, Stephen F. Austin State University. The project's website is http://power-hewetsoncolony.weebly.com