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Partly-printed DS as governor of Texas, one page, 14.75 x 12.5, March 13, 1861. Governor Houston grants “John H. Cole…six hundred and forty acres of land, situated…in Ellis County.” Signed boldly at the conclusion by Sam Houston as governor and countersigned by Francis M. White as commissioner of the General Land Office. Matted and framed with an engraved plaque and a carte-de-visite portrait of Houston to an overall size of 22.75 x 25. In very good to fine condition, with light scattered stains, and toning and show-through from tape remnants and writing on the reverse.
Houston had been elected governor of Texas in 1859, becoming the only person to date to serve as governor of two states (he was governor of Tennessee from 1827 to 1829) and the only to be a former head of state to a foreign nation. After Lincoln's election to the U.S. presidency in 1860, the Texas Secession Convention convened, with Houston fervently opposing the state’s secession. When Texas seceded in February 1861, and Houston refused to swear an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy, the legislature declared the governorship vacant. Houston did not recognize the validity of his removal, but he did not attempt to use force to remain in office, and he refused aid from the federal government to prevent his removal. His successor, Edward Clark, was sworn in in March 1861. As such, it stands to reason that this land grant was one of the last documents signed by Houston in his role as governor.
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