From the Annals of the Marx Brothers  –  In 1826, Benjamin Edwards and about 30 men arrived in the then Mexican village of Nacogdoches and boldly proclaimed himself as the ruler of the new Republic of Fredonia.  Edwards was the brother of Empresario Haden Edwards who had received a grant near Nacogdoches and had settled 50 families in the area.  While his brother was away in the U.S. raising money for the colony, Edwards apparently became concerned that they were about to lose their land and foolishly decided to declare independence from Mexico.  Edwards believed that many of the American settlers would support his attempt to break away from Mexico.  Accompanied by his men, Edwards seized a stone fort in Nacogdoches and declared independence for the new “Republic of Fredonia” which he claimed extended from from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande River.  The new nation would be governed under the principles of “Independence, Liberty, and Justice.”

Mexico moved quickly to suppress the rebellion forcing Edwards to negotiate an agreement with the Cherokee nation offering to share Texas in exchange for military aid.  But Edwards failed to gain much support from the local Anglo and Mexican residents of Nacogdoches. Consequently, Edwards’ ill-conceived and poorly executed revolution quickly fell apart as soon as the Mexican militia approached Nacogdoches.  He fled back to the U.S. and his brief moment in history was gone.