ALS signed “Sam Houston,” three pages on two adjoining sheets (split at the hinge), 8 x 9.75, July 3, 1833. Handwritten letter to "My dear Houston," his brother John, in part: "Long has been, my silence, & many have been my wanderings, since we parted—When most distant, and estranged in person, my vagrant heart would recur, to scenes which I must always cherish,—those scenes, in which you, and your dear wife, and 'Weans' bore a part. I am now a resident of another Government, and in a few days expect to return to Nacogdoches in Texas, where I now am located...
You want to know, 'what the Devil, I am going to do in Texas?'—part I will tell you, and the balance you may guess at. I will practice law, and with excellent prospects of success. I have a retained fee, of two thousand a year—I have received fees, besides, amounting to 750$ and this in the course of a fortnight previous to my leaving Texas. With two other Gentlemen, (who furnish the capital), I have purchased about 140,000 acres of choice land, in which I am equally interested. Beside this I own, and have paid for, 10,000, that is, I think, the most valuable land in Texas: Several minor matters I am engaged in, and if I enjoy health I must make well out of them.
Jack! Texas is the finest portion of the Globe, that has, ever blessed my vision. As I hope to see you in January, or February next, I will forbear any thing like a strained description of the country, nor will I point out its advantages. It will then be time enough, to interest you in its fate & mine—if you are not already, in the latter! You will have seen that I was a member of the Convention, in Texas, and put my name to the constitution, just one day, short of the anniversary, of my flogging Stanberry! The convention rose on the 13th day of April." In a postscript on the address leaf, signed "Houston," he inquires: "What has become of the fine against me, imposed by Cranche. Get that remitted by the old chief! Salute Major Lewis, and Overton, for me." In very good to fine condition, with splitting to one of the folds, and some minor paper loss affecting a few words of text.
As Houston so cheerfully reflects upon in this letter, on the evening of April 13, 1832, on the streets of Washington, Houston thrashed Congressman William Stanbery of Ohio with a hickory cane. The assault resulted from a perceived insult by Stanbery over an Indian rations contract. Houston was soon arrested and tried before the House of Representatives. Francis Scott Key served as his attorney. The month-long proceedings ended in an official reprimand, and federal judge William Cranch ordered Houston to pay a $500 fine—the subject of the inquiry in his postscript.
In mid-1832, Houston's friends William H. Wharton and John Austin Wharton wrote to convince him to travel to the Mexican possession of Texas, where unrest among the American settlers was growing. Leaving his former life behind, Houston crossed the Red River into Mexican Texas on December 2, 1832, and began the most important phase of his career. Houston saw Texas as a 'land of promise,' representing a place for bold enterprise, rife with political and financial opportunity.
He quickly became embroiled in the Anglo-Texans' politics of rebellion. He served as a delegate from Nacogdoches at the Convention of 1833 in San Felipe, where he sided with the more radical faction under the leadership of William H. Wharton and drafted a state constitution to submit to the Mexican Congress. In September 1835 he chaired a mass meeting in Nacogdoches to consider the possibility of convening a consultation to investigate the issue with Mexico. By October, Houston had expressed his belief that war between Texas and the central government was inevitable. That month he became commander in chief of troops for the Department of Nacogdoches and called for volunteers to begin the 'work of liberty.'
An incredible, and insightful correspondence from Houston, sharing with his brother his optimism and early contributions to the Anglo-Texas government. Sam Houston's arrival in Texas during this turbulent period forever changed the course of its history.
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