Peter Kerr

Peter Kerr (September 12, 1795–November 18, 1861), also known as Peter Carr, was one of the founders of Burnet, Texas and a member of the Old Three Hundred, the original settlers in Stephen F. Austin's colony. Early life Peter Kerr or Carr was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on September 12, 1795. Kerr and his partner, William Kerr, received title to a league of land now in Washington County, Texas on August 10, 1824. At some point in 1824, he landed at Matagorda Bay and proceeded overland to Victoria, where he established a mercantile business. He was listed in the census of 1826 at 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 Indians further down the Texas coast. Her father broke the contract because the robbery left Kerr penniless. 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 Pennsylvania he returned to New Orleans, purchased a still, and put it on a ship to Texas. The ship sailed without him.