History Early settlement In 1841, an act of the Republic of Texas Congress authorized President Mirabeau Lamar to enter into a contract with William S. Peters and 19 associates to promote settlement in North Texas, and paid the company with free land in exchange for recruiting new settlers. Around 600 families settled in what became known as Peters Colony from 1841 through 1844. The Peters' group advertised heavily in Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee, so many of the earliest settlers were from those states. The first group to settle in the Lancaster area was Roderick Rawlins and his family from Greene County, Illinois. They left for Texas in September 1844. Rawlins and two of his sons-in-law came ahead to select the general area where they would settle. They chose an uninhabited area south of Dallas along the north bank of Ten Mile Creek as the site of their new settlement. In December 1844, the three men went back to Lamar County near the Red River to bring the rest of their wagon train. All of the settlers had arrived by January 2, 1845, and they formed a community known as Hardscrabble. It consisted of two rows of log cabins with a street running north and south. In total, 30 men, women, and children lived in Hardscrabble.
History Early settlement In 1841 an act of the Republic of Texas Congress authorized President Mirabeau Lamar to enter into a contract with William S Peters and 19 associates to promote settlement in North Texas and paid the company with free land in exchange for recruiting new settlers Around 600 families settled in what became known as Peters Colony from 1841 through 1844 The Peters' group advertised heavily in Kentucky Illinois Missouri and Tennessee so many of the earliest settlers were from those states The first group to settle in the Lancaster area was Roderick Rawlins and his family from Greene County Illinois They left for Texas in September 1844 Rawlins and two of his sons-in-law came ahead to select the general area where they would settle They chose an uninhabited area south of Dallas along the north bank of Ten Mile Creek as the site of their new settlement In December 1844 the three men went back to Lamar County near the Red River to bring the rest of their wagon train All of the settlers had arrived by January 2 1845 and they formed a community known as Hardscrabble It consisted of two rows of log cabins with a street running north and south In total 30 men women and children lived in Hardscrabble