Dey, Anthony, 1776-1859.

The Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company was organized in 1830 by Anthony Dey, George Curtis, and William H. Sumner. The company sold scrip which was a permit to settle on land originally granted to empresarios Joseph Vehlein, David G. Burnet, and Lorenzo de Zavala. Anthony Dey, a lawyer in New York, was the president of the company.

The Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company was organized in New York on October 16, 1830 by Anthony Dey, George Curtis, and William H. Sumner. The company was to work as agents of empresarios Joseph Vehlein, David G. Burnet, and Lorenzo de Zavala, who had grants of land east of the San Jacinto River and south of Nacogdoches. Anthony Dey (1776-1859), a lawyer in New York, was the president of the company; the other trustees were George Curtis (1799-1884), also a lawyer in New York, and William H. Sumner (1780-1861), a lawyer in Boston.

The company was the first commercial effort in the United States to emulate Stephen Austin's plans to colonize Texas, and it published some of the earliest accounts of Texas printed in English. The company owned none of the land to be colonized but instead sold scrip which was a permit to settle. The company's American agents included Jose Antonio Mexia and John T. Mason; it also had several agents in Europe soliciting recruits. Once in Texas, the settlers would have to complete the requirements of the Mexican colonization law before they could obtain title to their land. Restrictions imposed by the government of Mexico frustrated the company's efforts, and it became a strong supporter of Texas independence.

In November 1835 the General Council of the provisional government of Texas closed the land office. At that time the company had not received the premium lands (three haciendas and two labors) the Mexican government had promised to empresarios for settling 200 families. When the Republic passed a law in June 1837 that permitted empresarios to institute suit to establish their claims so long as neither aliens nor assignees of aliens should benefit by the law, the company authorized Robert Rose, successor of John T. Mason, to enter a suit. In 1848 the courts ruled that the term aliens applied to assignees of the company and that Rose was not qualified to sue. With the failure of the suit, the company went out of business. Even after this time, however, Anthony Dey continued to pursue his claims against the Mexican government in court, and was sued by other members of the company.