Stephen F. Austin was born in the mining region of southwestern Virginia in what is known as Austinville today. He was the second child of Mary Brown Austin and Moses Austin; their first child, Eliza, lived only one month. On June 8, 1798, when Stephen was four years old, his family moved west to the lead-mining region of present-day Potosi, Missouri. Moses Austin received a "sitio" from the Spanish government for the mining site of "Mine à Breton", established by French colonists. His great-great-grandfather, Anthony Austin (b. 1636), was the son of Richard Austin (b.1598 in Bishopstoke, Hampshire, England), he and his wife Esther were original settlers of Suffield, Massachusetts, which became Connecticut in 1749.