Between 1821 and 1835, Stephen F. Austin shaped the course of colonial Texas. At this site he built his only home in Texas, a log cabin that also served as the colony's land office and became the center of San Felipe commerce. Following a plan begun by his father Moses, Austin received permission to settle 300 families as an empresario, or land contractor. This first colony of U.S. immigrants on Mexican soil was followed by additional contracts granted to Austin and to other empresarios. Austin had complete authority over his colony's governance, but worked to establish elected local government among his settlers. He negotiated for favorable treatment for his settlers from Mexican state and federal governments, and because of this was often away from San Felipe; at times his colonists felt he had become too loyal to Mexico. Ultimately he supported the revolution in 1835. Within months of Texas independence, Austin died in December 1836. In 1831, Austin identified his personal mottoes as "The redemption of Texas from the wilderness, Fidelity and gratitude to my adopted country, and to be inflexibly true to the interests and just rights of my settlers." In the late 1820s, Austin modified his original cabin to a two-story structure and rented it as an inn, generally known as the Whitesides Hotel. The inn hosted fiery public meetings as colonists debated whether to rebel against the Mexican government in mid-1835, including a meeting led in San Felipe in June 1835 by Robert M. Williamson, known as "Three-Legged Willie" because of his peg leg. A brick-lined well dug near Commerce Square to serve the Whitesides Hotel, later encased for protection in 1928, stands today as the last architectural remnant of colonial San Felipe. During the Texian campaign at Bexar in the fall of 1835, Austin served as commanding officer until he was called from the front lines to seek financial assistance for the Texas Revolution in the United States. Many places and institutions were later named for Austin, including Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Austin County, and the capital of Texas.