1817 - 1889 (Bulk: 1829 - 1855)

Manuscript Collection: MC010

Size: .2 linear feet

Boxes: 1

OCLC No: 46636450

Acquisition: James L. Britton, 1983.

Restrictions on Access: None

Terms Governing Use: Open for research by appointment.

Processed by: Sarah Canby Jackson, 2001

Publication Rights: Copyright has not been assigned to the San Jacinto Museum of History. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Jacinto Museum of History as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Citation: [Identification of Item], James L. Britton Collection, MC010, San Jacinto Museum of History, Houston, Texas.

Calendar:

Correspondence, financial and legal documents, printed materials, and a photograph (1817 – 1889) comprise this collection of Texana accumulated by James L. Britton and donated to the San Jacinto Museum of History in December of 1983. Documents are arranged according to series and then chronologically.

Correspondence

1829, 09/26   ALS from Gaspar Flores, Mexican Land Commissioner, to Stephen F. Austin's colony directing that the Mission San Jose and eleven sitios of land be surveyed and suitable buyers be found to acquire it. Spanish.

1829, 10/25   ALS from Ramon Musquiz, Mexican Political Chief of Texas to the Governor of Coahuila and Texas regarding Mexican land claims in Texas. Spanish

1835, 10/12   ALS from Henry Foley to J. Robertson & Son. According to Simpson’s this is" the finest revolution letter yet seen."  The letter reports the Mexican invasion, and describes the Texas army at San Antonio. "Within the past three weeks the people of Texas have been unexpectedly called to arms for the defence of their natural rights."

1836, 01/27   ALS from John G. McCall to his mother, Sarah McCall. REsident in Mexico during the Texas Revolution, McCall describes conditions in Mexico while Santa Anna was attacking Texas. "The Government is without money to meet expenses of the war against Texas."

1836, 02/20   ALS from John G. McCall to his mother, Sarah McCall. Resident in Mexico during the Texas Revolution, McCall describes conditions in Mexico, "there must be little hope of avoiding war. This will hurt us considerably as intercourse with home will be cut off."

1836, 03/29   ALS from Thomas Jefferson Rusk to Colonel James Morgan regarding spies along the Texas coast and Rusk’s order that they be arrested and prevented "from being of service to the enemy."

1836, 06/10   ADS by Ira Ingram. His recollection of the loss of his horse to the Mexicans at Gonzales. He terms Houston’s departure from Gonzales "a retreat" and reveals his later dispatch by Houston to the United States on "public business."

1836, 09/17   ALS from Andrew Jackson Davis to Colonel James Morgan regarding the urgent need of lumber and the removal to Galveston of the sick Mexican prisoners captured at San Jacinto.

1839, 07/25   ALS from T. F. McCaleb to Samuel Rhoads Fisher, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Secretary of the Navy. The letter regards business matters in Nashville.

1841, 07/01   ALS from James W. Robinson, Provisional Governor of Texas and hero of the Battle of San Jacinto, to William and August Jones, victims of a notorious Texas land fraud. In 1840, Benjamin Duncan, a swindler, sold several tracts of Texas land which he did not own, then fled the Republic. The Joneses were among the victims. They surrendered possession of the land to Robinson as a result of this "notice."

1853, 02/03   ALS from Rodman Price to Senator Sam Houston, at that time Chairman of the Select Committee to investigate Congressional Corruption. Rodman reports that several Congressmen demanded shares of stock before voting on a bill needed by a named company and of the necessity of a Senate investigation.

1855, 12/10   ALS by Hugh McLeod, Adjutant General of Texas, Commander of the Santa Fe Expedition, regarding his release from Perote prison after his capture during the ill-fated Expedition. Appended are letters from Waddy Thompson, U.S. Minister to Mexico who arranged the release and G. B. Lamar who provided funds for the return of the surviving prisoners to Texas.

Financial

Public Debt Certificates:

1851, 07/15   Second Class Public Debt of the late Republic of Texas, issued to Alson McCaleb (and endorsed by him on the reverse) "for services on the Somervell Campaign."

1851, 09/01   Second Class Public Debt of the late Republic of Texas, issued to C. W. Strickland "for services on the Vasquez Campaign" and signed by John M. Swisher.

1855, 08/01   Second Class "B" Public Debt of the late Republic of Texas, issued to John Finch (deceased) "for services on the Woll Campaign."

Republic of Texas Bonds:

1840, 10/01   Republic of Texas $100 Bond, signed by David G. Burnet, First Provisional President of the Republic of Texas.

1841, 01/01   Republic of Texas $100 Bond, signed by Mirabeau B. Lamar, President of the Republic of Texas.

Receipts:

1828, 08/16   DS San Felipe de Austin by Florence Stack for payment of eleven pesos by the Ayuntmento of Austin for the public burial of two slaves. According to Simpson’s in 1983, "this is the earliest record of public burial in Texas."

1829, 03/19 :  ADS by Samuel May Williams, Stephen F. Austin’s secretary. A receipt issued to Harry Harrison in the amount of $5 for a deed on Mexican stamped paper.

1835, 11/28   ADS by John Bird in Gonzales. A receipt issued for a horse pressed into service for the army. Dated a week before the Siege of Bexar and corresponding to Bird’s skirmish with the Mexicans at San Antonio, this document stands as the earliest Texas Revolution related paper.

1836, 02/10   ADS by Thomas Gay. Gay’s original receipt issued to Bartlett Sims for money pledged to Francis W. Johnson for his use in the Matamoros Expedition. The funds arrived too late and two weeks later Johnson and four companions were the only survivors of the San Patricio Massacre.

Legal

Land Grants:

1833, 11/22   DS by Miguel Arciniega, Mexican Land Commissioner to Texas. Mexican grant for land at Villa de Gonzales. Spanish.

1848, 07/31   D. S. by George T. Wood, Second Governor of Texas, an executive grant for land in the Fannin District, Hunt County.

1852, 06/42   DS by Peter H. Bell, Third Governor of Texas, an executive land grant in the Nacodoches District, Van Zandt County.

Other:

1835, 10/07   AD by Peter W. Grayson, Gonzales. The original resolution to form "a council of war" to deal with the Mexican invasion of Texas and the resistance of the Texans to Mexican demands that they surrender their cannon. Simpson’s considers this to be the earlist document of the Texas Revolution.

1836, 05/30   AD by Moseley Baker, Captain at San Jacinto and later Brigadier General. Freeman Wilkinson contends that he lost $1,543.00 worth of tobacco during the burning of San Felipe de Austin. Appended to Williams’s petition is Captain Baker’s certification that he burned the town "by the positive and unconditional order of General Sam Houston Commander in Chief," a fact denied by Houston until his death. No other documentary evidence exists for this accusation.

1842, 03/10   ADS by William M. Eastland, his last will and testament. A hero at the Battle of San Jacinto, Eastland joined the Mier Expedition. Captured by the Mexicans, he was the first of seventeen Texans to draw a black bead. One year after signing his will, Eastland was executed under the order of Santa Anna.

1842, 08/13   ADS by John A. Swett, a Republic of Texas Admiralty jurist. Swett wrote this protest on behalf of several persons including the U.S. and British consuls to Yucatan claiming interest in the cargo of the Mexican vessel, Anna Maria, that had been captured by Commodore Moore in the summer of 1842. The ship was consequently judged of Mexican registry, and the vessel, her cargo and tackle sold at auction in Galveston.

1845             ADS by James Wilson Henderson, Fourth Governor of Texas. A legal petition written and signed by Henderson as attorney in Washington County.

1847, 04/02   DS by James Pickney Henderson, Republic of Texas Minister to France and first governor of Texas. An administrator’s bond signed by Henderson as attorney.

1850, 05/04   ADS by Thomas Green, a Texas Supreme Court rejection of appeal for reversal to the District court of Fayette County.

Printed Materials

1836             Sheet Music. "Texian Grand March, Respectfully dedicated to General Houston and his brave companions in arms," by Edwin Meyrick. New York, 1835. 7 pp.

1836, 02/24   Broadside. William Barret Travis, commandancy of the Alamo, Bexar. Travis’ last letter calling for aid and ending "victory or death."

1838, 04/28.   Report. ALCANCE AL NUM 15. De la Gaceta del Gobierno de Coahuila de sabado 28 de Abril, Leona-Vicario, 1838. 3 pp. Ministry of War and Marine report on Baron Deffaudis’ ultimatum during the siege of Vera Cruz. Spanish.

1855, 01/29 & 01/30   Samuel Houston, The Speeches of Sam Houston of Texas, on the subject of an increase of the Army, and the Indian Policy of the Government, delivered in the Senate of the United States. Washington, 1855. 20 pp.

Newspapers:

1819, 08/05   The Middlesex Gazette, Concord, 4pp. Report of the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition from "the Western side of the Sabine" announcing the victorious invasion of the Province of Texas.

1819, 12/16   The Middlesex Gazette, Concord, 14 pp. President Monroe’s State of the Union address in which the Texas Question is confronted.

1820, 10/14   Niles’ Weekly Register, Baltimore. 16 pp. James Long’s report from Texas regarding his battle with the Caranqua Indians and the establishment of a fort "on a beautiful peninsula between the gulf of Mexico and bay of Trinity."

1836, 05/18   Advocate and Sentinel, Huntingdon, 4 pp. An account of the progress of the Texas Revolution published before news of General Houston’s victory had been received.

1836, 11/22   The Lewistown Republican, 4pp. The first American printing of Santa Anna’s protest against treatment afforded him as a prisoner of the Texans. In six parts, he decries his imprisonment as unjust, cruel and violent and calls upon civilized nations and the Supreme Ruler of Mortals for justice. In this same issue is Captain James Allen’s letter describing conditions in Texas after the Battle of San Jacinto.

1845, 07/19 - 08/23   The Albion, New York, 24 pp. Percy B. St. John, "The Gold Mine of San Saba, a Record of Indian Fight." A presumably eyewitness account of James Bowie’s skirmish with the Indians at the San Saba gold mine.

Photograph

1889             Card Photograph (Cabinet). Original photograph by Washburn of New Orleans of flintlock and sword identified on the reverse as "the gun of Rezin P. Bowie and the sword of James Bowie sent to John Henry Brown by Bowie’s Grandson J. S. Moore of New Orleans 1889." The note appears in the hand of Brown.

JAMES L. BRITTON COLLECTION, 1817 - 1889 (Bulk: 1829 - 1855)