156:. Kerr obtained a deed from John Hamilton on October 27, 1851, for the entire league, minus 600 acres (2.4 km) on the west side, which Hamilton had sold earlier. Kerr then leased to the government all of the league west of Hamilton Creek, including the land where Fort Croghan was located. Under the provisions of the agreement, if the government gave up the lease, Kerr would receive title to all of the improvements that had been made on the land.
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Hamilton would be chosen county seat. Kerr soon amassed a sizable fortune as a result of his land dealings and cattle enterprise. When the government abandoned Fort
Croghan in December 1853, he sold 617 acres (2.50 km), including the Fort Croghan site, for $ 6,000. In a letter to his brother in Pennsylvania in 1858 he estimated his holdings at $ 50,000.
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Kerr died on
November 21, 1861, and was buried in an unmarked grave in the northwestern section of the Old Burnet Cemetery. Three days before his death he established a will leaving all of his property except his land and $ 23,499.99 in notes due him to his nephew, William S. Carothers. The land was
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In 1852, Kerr began laying out the townsite of
Hamilton (later Burnet) on the east side of Hamilton Creek and selling the lots. When the county was organized later that year, he donated ten lots for a courthouse square and 100 acres (0.40 km) east of town to the county in order to ensure that
62:, where he established a mercantile business. He was listed in the census of 1826 as a merchant with three servants. Soon thereafter his plans to marry a Spanish girl were thwarted when he was robbed on a trading expedition among the
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Kerr obtained a charter ship, which was soon wrecked in a storm. Kerr received insurance money for his ship and bought a hack and a pair of horses, which were in turn wrecked the first time he put them into use. After a trip to
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drove a herd of horses to New
Orleans and sold them in exchange for merchandise for the Texas trade and for arms and munitions for the Texas army. The provisions were loaded onto the ship the
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to be sold after ten years to establish Peter Kerr
College at Burnet. Carothers contested the will and had it annulled. The city of Burnet received two acres (eight thousand m²) for a
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ordered Kerr's arrest on charges of spreading false news and of having befriended the
Mexicans. The charges resulted from Kerr's delivery of the news of
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granted Kerr 320 acres (129 ha) of land and twenty-four dollars for his services as interpreter. From 1846 to 1848 he was a justice of the peace in
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further down the Texas coast. Her father broke the contract because the robbery left Kerr penniless.
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124:. Although Kerr spoke the truth, Houston could take no chances of a panic among his men.
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Kerr and his partner, William Kerr, received title to a league of land now in
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Darrell Debo, Burnet County
History (2 vols., Burnet, Texas: Eakin, 1979).
136:, Houston appointed Kerr interpreter for the Texas army. The Fourth
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and Kerr was able to redeem his property by paying half its worth.
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and obtained a contract with the government to furnish beef to
82:, and put it on a ship to Texas. The ship sailed without him.
19:(September 12, 1795–November 18, 1861), also known as
54:, on August 10, 1824. At some point in 1824, he landed at
148:. In 1849 he leased part of the Hamilton league in
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105:), a Texas privateer, recaptured the
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93:, which was captured by the Mexican
258:People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania
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43:Peter Kerr or Carr was born in
1:
128:Entrepreneur and Civic Leader
23:, was one of the founders of
268:American emigrants to Mexico
112:On March 24, 1836, General
31:, the original settlers in
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58:and proceeded overland to
253:People from Burnet, Texas
87:José María Jesús Carbajal
47:, on September 12, 1795.
52:Washington County, Texas
263:People of Mexican Texas
45:Carlisle, Pennsylvania
27:, and a member of the
132:After the battle of
33:Stephen F. Austin's
85:In 1835, Kerr and
208:Handbook of Texas
142:Republic of Texas
120:'s defeat in the
29:Old Three Hundred
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122:battle of Coleto
107:Hannah Elizabeth
91:Hannah Elizabeth
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224:Further reading
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118:James W. Fannin
99:William Robbins
74:he returned to
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25:Burnet, Texas
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211:, retrieved
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200:Kemp, L.W.,
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154:Fort Croghan
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248:1861 deaths
243:1795 births
140:of the new
134:San Jacinto
114:Sam Houston
101:(later the
76:New Orleans
237:Categories
213:2007-10-07
203:Peter Kerr
172:References
39:Early life
21:Peter Carr
17:Peter Kerr
138:Congress
60:Victoria
35:colony.
103:Liberty
64:Indians
97:. The
95:Bravo
80:still
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206:,
180:^
168:.
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