Political Papers and Presidential Campaigns in the Republic of Texas, 1836–1844

Abstract

During Texas's decade as a republic, its newspapers never galvanized into a truly partisan press. The newspapers of Texas were political, but rather than focusing on party principles, they opposed or supported political candidates during the republic's four presidential elections, with two-term President Sam Houston as the pivotal figure. The independence of most newspapers from party patronage and influence and their patriotic elevation of the good of the country over loyalty to any faction demonstrated that editors did not fully adopt the American style of press partisanship they experienced before moving to Texas. Elections in the republic revolved around personalities instead of policies.

Notes

1 Telegraph & Texas Register, August 11, 1841.

2 Lewis W. Newton and Herbert P. Gambrell, A Social and Political History of Texas (Dallas: Southwest Press, 1932), 192.

3 Carol Sue Humphrey, The Press of the Young Republic, 1793–1833 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996), 99–103, 109–111; Culver H. Smith, The Press, Politics, and Patronage: The American Government's Use of Newspapers, 1789–1875 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1977), 56–59.

4 Humphrey, The Press of the Young Republic, 113, 118; Si Sheppard, The Partisan Press: A History of Media Bias in the United States (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2008), 96; Smith, The Press, Politics, and Patronage, 63–72; John Tebbel and Sarah Miles Watts, The Press and the Presidency: From George Washington to Ronald Reagan (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), 75–77.

5 Humphrey, The Press of the Young Republic, 118–119.

6 Sheppard, The Partisan Press, 85–87; Smith, The Press, Politics, and Patronage; Tebbel and Watts, The Press and the Presidency, 75–85.

7 Claude G. Bowers, The Party Battles of the Jackson Period (Chautauqua, NY: Chautauqua Press, 1922), 32–34; Humphrey, The Press of the Young Republic, 114–115, 119–121; Sheppard, The Partisan Press, 85, 89–90; Tebbel and Watts, The Press and the Presidency, 67–68, 71–72.

8 Sheppard, The Partisan Press, 101–104.

9 For discussions of press coverage of the 1844 elections, see the following: Gregory A. Borchard, “The New York Tribune and the 1844 Election: Horace Greeley, Gangs and the Wise Men of Gotham,” Journalism History 33 (Spring 2007): 51–59; Sheldon Harris, “John Louis O'Sullivan and the Election of 1844 in New York,” New York History 41 (July 1960): 278–298; Erika J. Pribanic-Smith, “Partisan News and the Third-party Candidate: Press Coverage of James G. Birney's 1844 Presidential Campaign,” Journalism History 39 (Fall 2013): 168–178; Erika J. Pribanic-Smith, “Southern Values and the 1844 Election in the South Carolina Press,” Journalism History 41 (Winter 2016): 200–210.

10 William E. Huntzicker, The Popular Press, 1833–1865 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999); Susan Thompson, The Penny Press: The Origins of the Modern News Media, 1833–1861 (Northport, AL: Vision Press, 2004).

11 Robert A. Calvert, Arnoldo De Leon, and Gregg Cantrell, The History of Texas, 3rd ed. (Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 2002), 51–81; William C. Davis, Lone Star Rising: The Revolutionary Birth of the Republic of Texas (New York: Free Press, 2004); J. R. Edmondson, Alamo Story: From Early History to Current Conflicts (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000); Newton and Gambrell, A Social and Political History of Texas, 66–162; John H. Schroeder, “Annexation or Independence: The Texas Issue in American Politics, 1836–1845,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 89 (October 1985): 139–140; Joel H. Silbey, Storm Over Texas: The Annexation Controversy and the Road to Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 6–7.

12 Calvert, De Leon, and Cantrell, History of Texas, 87–109; Davis, Lone Star Rising; Edmondson, Alamo Story; Paul D. Lack, The Texas Revolutionary Experience: A Political and Social History, 1835–1836 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1992); Newton and Gambrell, A Social and Political History of Texas, 163–188; Schroeder, “Annexation or Independence”; Silbey, Storm Over Texas; Stanley Siegel, A Political History of the Texas Republic, 1836–1845 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1956), 3–37.

13 Donald Braider, Solitary Star: A Biography of Sam Houston (New York: Putnam, 1974); Calvert, De Leon, and Cantrell, History of Texas, 88–93; Marshall De Bruhl, Sword of San Jacinto: A Life of Sam Houston (New York: Random House, 1993); Clifford Hopewell, Sam Houston: Man of Destiny (Austin: Eakin Press, 1987). Stanley Siegel argued that Houston was not a hero at all; propaganda created and perpetuated that belief among the Texas public. See Siegel, A Political History of the Texas Republic, 38.

14 Calvert, De Leon, and Cantrell, History of Texas, 93; Herbert P. Gambrell, Anson Jones: The Last President of Texas, 2nd ed. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964); Siegel, A Political History of the Texas Republic, 182, 236–241.

15 Calvert, De Leon, and Cantrell, History of Texas, 91–93; Herbert P. Gambrell, Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar: Troubadour and Crusader (Dallas: Southwest Press, 1934); Jack C. Ramsay Jr., Thunder Beyond the Brazos: Mirabeau B. Lamar, a Biography (Austin: Eakin Press, 1984); Stanley Siegel, The Poet President of Texas: The Life of Mirabeau B. Lamar (Austin: Jenkins, 1977); Siegel, A Political History of the Texas Republic, 100–182.

16 Siegel, A Political History of the Texas Republic, 93–98; Leslie H. Southwick, “The Texas Presidential Election of 1838: Peter Grayson and James Collinsworth,” Houston Review 13 (July 1991): 59–83; Leslie H. Southwick, “The Texas Presidential Election of 1838: Robert Wilson,” Houston Review 13 (January 1991): 3–20.

17 Davis, Lone Star Rising, 241–299; Mary Whatley Clarke, David G. Burnet: First President of Texas (Austin: Pemberton Press, 1969); Dorothy Louise Fields, “David Gouverneur Burnet,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 49 (October 1945): 215–232; Lack, Texas Revolutionary Experience, 96–109; Siegel, A Political History of the Texas Republic, 33–54, 98–99, 148, 173–182.

18 Ron Hunka, “The Financial Folly of the Republic of Texas,” Financial History 95 (Fall 2009): 32–35; Newton and Gambrell, A Social and Political History of Texas, 210–214.

19 Newton and Gambrell, A Social and Political History of Texas, 199–207; Ralph A. Wooster, “Texas Military Operations against Mexico, 1842–43,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 67 (April 1964): 465–484.

20 H. Allen Anderson, “The Delaware and Shawnee Indians and the Republic of Texas, 1820–1845,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 94 (October 1990): 231–60; Calvert, De Leon, and Cantrell, History of Texas, 1–10; William W. Newcomb Jr., The Indians of Texas: From Prehistoric to Modern Times (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1961); Newton and Gambrell, A Social and Political History of Texas, 49–51, 189, 207–210; Michael L. Tate, “Military Relations between the Republic of Texas and the Comanche Indians,” Journal of the West 13 (January 1974): 67–77; Bobby D. Weaver, “Relations between the Comanche Indians and the Republic of Texas,” Panhandle–Plains Historical Review 53 (January 1980): 17–33.

21 Ephraim Douglass Adams, British Interests and Activities in Texas, 1838–1846 (Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1963); Eugene C. Barker, “The Annexation of Texas,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 50 (1946): 49–74; Nancy Nichols Barker, “In Quest of the Golden Fleece: Dubois de Saligny and French Intervention in the New World,” Western Historical Quarterly 3 (Fall 1972): 153–168; Newton and Gambrell, A Social and Political History of Texas, 217–232.

22 Fields, “David Gouverneur Burnet,” 232; Siegel, A Political History of the Texas Republic, 178; Southwick, “The Texas Presidential Election of 1838: Robert Wilson,” 5–6.

23 Though written in Nacogdoches, Texas, Gaceta actually was printed in nearby Natchitotches, Louisiana. Kathryn Garrett, “The First Newspaper of Texas: Gaceta de Texas,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 40 (January 1937): 200–215. Ike Moore asserts that El Mejicano, also issued at Nacogdoches, was the first newspaper in Texas, but John Wallace indicates that El Mejicano actually was the second issue of Gaceta, which had only one number. Ike H. Moore, “The Earliest Printing and First Newspaper in Texas,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 39 (October 1835): 83–99; John Melton Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette: A Check List of Texas Newspapers, 1813–1846 (Austin: University of Texas, 1966), 15.

24 Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette. In addition to the eighty-one newspapers that were published, Wallace lists fifteen newspapers that were proposed, but no evidence exists that they ever were published. See also C. Richard King, “Newspapers That Republic of Texas Readers Didn't Read,” Texana 5, no. 2 (1967): 117–125.

25 Carol Lea Clark, Imagining Texas: Pre-Revolutionary Texas Newspapers, 1829–1836 (El Paso: Texas Western Press, 2002); Douglas C. McMurtrie, “The First Texas Newspaper,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 36 (July 1932): 41–46; Douglas C. McMurtrie, “Pioneer Printing in Texas,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 35 (January 1932): 173–193; Marilyn McAdams Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes: Texas Newspapers before the Civil War (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1983), 15–64.

26 Charles A. Bacarisse, “The Texas Gazette, 1829–1831,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 56 (October 1952): 239–253; Charlotte A. Hickson, “The Texas Gazette, 1829–1832,” Texana 11, no. 1 (1973): 18–29; Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette, 8–9, 44–45.

27 Michael Buchholz, “Racial References in the Texas Press, 1813–1836,” Journalism Quarterly 67 (Autumn 1990): 586–591; Michael Buchholz, “Social Responsibility of the Texas Revolutionary Press,” Journalism Quarterly 65 (Spring 1988): 185–189; Clark, Imagining Texas; Andrea Kokeny, “The Construction of Anglo-American Identity in the Republic of Texas, as Reflected in the Telegraph and Texas Register,” Journal of the Southwest 46 (Summer 2004): 283–308; Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes, 65–84.

28 The Telegraph began in San Felipe de Austin in 1835 but moved, along with the seat of government, to Harrisburg and then Columbia before settling in Houston, where it published from 1837–1877. Buchholz, “Racial References in the Texas Press”; Buchholz, “Social Responsibility of the Texas Revolutionary Press”; Clark, Imagining Texas; Mike Cox, “Telegraph and Register,” in The News in Texas: Essays in Honor of the 125th Anniversary of the Texas Press Association, ed. Wanda Garner Cash and Ed Sterling (Austin: University of Texas, 2002), 7–14; Andrea Kokeny, “The Construction of Anglo-American Identity in the Republic of Texas”; Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes; Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette, 38–40. For biographical essays on the Telegraph's longtime publisher Jacob Cruger and its founder Gail Borden (better known as the inventor of condensed milk), see Madeleine B. Stern, “Jacob Cruger: Public Printer of Houston,” in Imprints on History: Book Publishers and American Frontiers (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1956), and Joe B. Frantz, Gail Borden, Dairyman to a Nation (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1951).

29 W. T. Block, “Hamilton Stuart and Benjamin Chambers Stuart: A Century of Distinguished East Texas Journalism and History,” Texas Gulf Historical & Biographical Record 33 (November 1997): 2–11; Ben C. Stuart, “Hamilton Stuart: Pioneer Editor,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 21 (April 1918): 381–388 (Note: Ben Stuart was Hamilton Stuart's son); Ernest Wallace, Charles DeMorse: Pioneer Editor and Statesman (Lubbock: Texas Tech Press, 1942). Though he published newspapers throughout the republic era, Samuel Bangs garners attention mostly for his printing in the Spanish colonial period; see Lota Spell, “Samuel Bangs: The First Printer in Texas,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 35 (April 1932): 267–278, and Lota M. Spell, Pioneer Printer: Samuel Bangs in Mexico and Texas (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1963).

30 Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes. See also Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette.

31 Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes, 3–4.

32 Ibid., 10–11, 98–103, 109–110, 113–115.

33 A detailed explanation of what newspapers were studied accompanies discussion of each election.

34 Davis, Lone Star Rising, 228–241, 295–299; Lack, The Texas Revolutionary Experience, 75–95, 256–259.

35 For the full ballot, see Telegraph & Texas Register, August 30, 1836.

36 Two other newspapers—the Texean and Emigrant's Guide (Nacogdoches) and Texas Republican (Brazoria)—were in publication at the start of the year, but they ceased in January and March, respectively. Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes, 73–81; Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette, 47, 51.

37 Telegraph & Texas Register, August 9, August 16, August 23, August 30, 1836. Editorials were unsigned and often untitled. Typically, if someone other than the editor wrote an unsigned item, language in the editorial alerted the reader (though it usually would not name the writer).

38 Telegraph & Texas Register, August 9, August 16, August 23, August 30, 1836.

39 Telegraph & Texas Register, October 12, 1836.

40 Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes, 85–87.

41 H. Bailey Carroll, “Texas Collection,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 47 (April 1944): 420–24.

42 One issue each remains of the Chronicle (February 28, 1838), the Banner (April 25, 1838), and The People (April 18, 1838); no extant issues remain of the Civilian for 1838.

43 For mentions of Rowe, see Matagorda Bulletin, August 30, 1838, and Telegraph & Texas Register, July 21, 1838.

44 Telegraph & Texas Register, March 31, 1838. See also Telegraph & Texas Register, April 7, 1838.

45 A Citizen, “For the Telegraph,” Telegraph & Texas Register, July 28, 1838. Though editors generally knew their writers' true identities, correspondents often provided pseudonyms for publication.

46 Telegraph & Texas Register, June 30, 1838. See also Telegraph & Texas Register, July 28, 1838.

47 Singleton, “To the Editor of the Telegraph,” Telegraph & Texas Register, April 18, 1838.

48 Matagorda Bulletin, April 11, 1838.

49 Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes, 97–100.

50 Matagorda Bulletin, August 9, 1838.

51 Horton became Texas's first lieutenant governor after statehood. Matthew Ellenberger, “Illuminating the Lesser Lights: Notes on the Life of Albert Clinton Horton,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 88 (April 1985): 363–386.

52 Matagorda Bulletin, August 9, 1838. See also Matagorda Bulletin, August 30, 1838.

53 Matagorda Bulletin, July 20, 1838.

54 Matagorda Bulletin, June 28, 1838.

55 “Gen. M. B. Lamar,” Matagorda Bulletin, March 28, 1838. See also Matagorda Bulletin, June 28, 1838.

56 Telegraph & Texas Register, June 9, June 30, 1838.

57 Telegraph & Texas Register, July 14, July 21, 1838.

58 Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes, 96–97; Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette, 29–30.

59 Telegraph & Texas Register, May 26, 1838. For examples of items in the Telegraph supporting Grayson, see “Correspondence,” Telegraph & Texas Register, May 26, 1838; “Communicated,” Telegraph & Texas Register, June 9, 1838; Nicholas Lynch et al., “For the Editor of the Telegraph,” Telegraph & Texas Register, June 9, 1838; Telegraph & Texas Register, June 16, 1838.

60 Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes, 85; Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette, 6.

61 Telegraph & Texas Register, June 9, June 23, 1838.

62 Telegraph & Texas Register, June 30, 1838; San Jacinto, Telegraph & Texas Register, June 30, 1838; Telegraph & Texas Register, July 14, 1838.

63 San Jacinto, Telegraph & Texas Register, June 30, 1838.

64 Telegraph & Texas Register, June 30, July 14, September 8, September 29, 1838.

65 Telegraph & Texas Register, April 25, May 9, June 30, 1838; “Spirit of the Independent Press,” The People, reprinted in Telegraph & Texas Register, May 16, 1838.

66 Telegraph & Texas Register, July 21, 1838.

67 Matagorda Bulletin, June 28, 1838.

68 See Telegraph & Texas Register, June 30, July 14, 1838.

69 Five newspapers were in Austin, eight in Galveston, four in Houston, one in Matagorda, two in San Augustine, one in San Luis, and one in Washington-on-the-Brazos. Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette, 71–74.

70 Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes, 114–117, 120–127.

71 Texas Centinel, May 13, 1841; “Gen. Edward Burleson,” Texas Centinel, June 17, 1841; “Vice Presidency,” Texas Centinel, August 12, 1841; Telegraph & Texas Register, May 19, July 21, August 11, 1841.

72 Sibley, Lone Stars and State Gazettes, 122–124.

73 Austin City Gazette, June 2, 1841.

74 Austin City Gazette, May 5, May 26, June 2, 1841; “One of the People,” Austin City Gazette, June 2, 1841; Aristides, “The Vice Presidency,” Austin City Gazette, July 28, 1841.

75 Morning Star, May 20, August 26, 1841; Texas Centinel, June 17, June 24, 1841. For G. K. Teulon's denial, see Austin City Gazette, July 28, 1841.

76 “Satan Reproving Sin,” Colorado Gazette, August 28, 1841; “The Civilian,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 18, 1841.

77 Nearly every issue of the Austin Gazette contained evidence of dislike for the Centinel. See, for example, Austin City Gazette, July 7, August 4, August 11, September 1, 1841. See also Colorado Gazette, July 10, September 4, 1841.

78 Austin City Gazette, April 28, May 5, 1841; “Spirit of the Texian Press: Presidential Election,” Tarantula (Washington), reprinted in Austin City Gazette, May 26, 1841; “To the Electors of Texas,” Austin City Gazette, August 25, 1841; “More Falsehoods,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 4, 1841.

79 Austin City Gazette, February 3, March 24, May 5, August 11, 1841; Vote, “Mr. Editor,” Austin City Gazette, January 30, 1841; “Honor to Him to Whom Honor Is Due,” Austin City Gazette, March 17, 1841; “To the Electors of Texas,” Austin City Gazette, August 25, 1841; Colorado Gazette, May 1, May 22, June 12, July 10, July 24, August 2, August 7, 1841.

80 Telegraph & Texas Register, June 30, August 18, 1841; “More Falsehoods,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 4, 1841; “For the Consideration of the Tax Payers of Texas,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 11, 1841; “Hand-bills,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 18, 1841; Texas Centinel, February 4, February 18, April 22, 1841; “Policy of the Present Administration,” Texas Centinel, February 11, 1841; “Slanders against Judge Burnet,” Texas Centinel, August 19, 1841; Texas Centinel, September 2, 1841.

81 Texas Centinel, May 20, 1841.

82 Telegraph & Texas Register, July 21, August 18, 1841.

83 Texas Centinel, May 27, 1841. See also Texas Centinel, July 22, 1841.

84 Telegraph & Texas Register, August 25, 1841; “Big Drunk,” Texas Centinel, June 24, 1841; Texas Centinel, June 24, July 22, 1841; Germinus, “To the Voters of Texas,” Texas Centinel, August 26, 1841.

85 “Gen. Houston and the Removal of the Seat of Government,” Texas Centinel, August 26, 1841; Telegraph & Texas Register, May 26, 1841; Texas Centinel, May 6, May 20, 1841; “The Seat of Government and General Houston,” Texas Centinel, August 5, 1841.

86 Austin City Gazette, August 25, 1841; Colorado Gazette, August 2, February 20, September 1, 1841; “A Letter from Gen. Sam Houston,” Colorado Gazette, September 4, 1841.

87 Curtis Bishop, “Franco-Texian Bill,” Handbook of Texas Online, <http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ugf02> (accessed May 11, 2015). Parts of the bill were printed in Austin City Gazette, July 27, 1841.

88 Texas Centinel, July 7, September 2, 1841; “The Franco Texienne Bill Again,” Texas Centinel, August 5, 1841; “The Franco Texienne Bill,” Texas Centinel, August 19, 1841; “Bill of Abominations,” Telegraph & Texas Register, July 1, 1841; “The Franco Texienne Bill,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 4, 1841; “Come and Let Us Reason Together,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 18, 1841.

89 “The Controversy between the Administration at Austin and M. De Saligny the French Minister,” Colorado Gazette, June 19, 1841; Austin City Gazette, July 21, July 28, 1841; Desultory, “Mr. Editor,” Austin City Gazette, August 4, 1841.

90 “The Controversy between the Administration at Austin and M. De Saligny the French Minister,” Colorado Gazette, June 19, 1841; Colorado Gazette, September 4, 1841.

91 “Reformation,” Telegraph & Texas Register, July 28, 1841; Telegraph & Texas Register, August 18, 1841; Veritas, “Mr. Editor,” Texas Sentinel, January 23, 1841; “Whipping the Devil round the Stump,” Texas Centinel, July 5, 1841; “Gen. Houston's Reformation,” Texas Centinel, August 12, 1841; “Presidential Election,” Texas Centinel, August 12, 1841.

92 “Come and Let Us Reason Together,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 18, 1841; Telegraph & Texas Register, August 11, August 25, 1841; Texas Centinel, August 26, 1841.

93 “The Challenge,” Telegraph & Texas Register, May 26, 1841; Telegraph & Texas Register, June 30, 1841; “At His Dirty Work Again,” Texas Centinel, July 5, 1841; Texas Centinel, July 22, September 2, 1841; “Infamous Falsehood,” Texas Centinel, August 5, 1841; Germinus, “To the Voters of Texas,” Texas Centinel, August 26, 1841.

94 “Hang Out Our Banner on the Outward Wall,” Telegraph & Texas Register, May 19, 1841; Telegraph & Texas Register, July 14, 1841; “The Election,” Texas Centinel, July 5, 1841.

95 Texas Centinel, May 27, 1841. See also Telegraph & Texas Register, June 9, 1841.

96 Telegraph & Texas Register, May 26, July 7, 1841; “To the Voters of Texas,” Texas Centinel, August 26, 1841.

97 Texas Centinel, February 25, 1841.

98 Texas Centinel, May 27, 1841.

99 “The Cry Is—Still They Come,” Telegraph & Texas Register, July 21, 1841.

100 Civilian and Galveston Gazette, quoted in Telegraph & Texas Register, July 21, 1841; “The Approaching Election of President and Vice President of the Republic of Texas,” Colorado Gazette, July 10, 1841.

101 “Honor to Him to Whom Honor Is Due,” Austin City Gazette, March 17, 1841; Colorado Gazette, August 2, 1841.

102 Colorado Gazette, August 2, August 7, 1841; “Satan Reproving Sin,” Colorado Gazette, August 28, 1841; “Another Slander,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 18, 1841.

103 Austin City Gazette, April 28, August 18, 1841; “What a Falling Off,” Civilian and Galveston Gazette, reprinted in Texas Centinel, September 9, 1841; Civilian and Galveston Gazette, cited in Telegraph & Texas Register, August 18, 1841; Colorado Gazette, August 2, 1841.

104 “Honor to Him to Whom Honor Is Due,” Austin City Gazette, March 17, 1841; Desultory, “Mr. Editor,” Austin City Gazette, August 4, 1841; Austin City Gazette, August 11, 1841; “To the Electors of Texas,” Austin City Gazette, August 25, 1841; “Judge Burnet Has Met His Match,” Colorado Gazette, August 28, 1841; “The Approaching Election of President and Vice President of the Republic of Texas,” Colorado Gazette, July 10, 1841; Colorado Gazette, September 4, 1841.

105 “An Election Fraud,” Texas Centinel, August 26, 1841; Austin City Gazette, August 11, September 1, 1841; Colorado Gazette, August 2, 1841; “Important Fact,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 18, 1841; “Hand-bills,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 18, 1841.

106 “Truth Is Powerful and Will Prevail!” Austin City Gazette, August 11, 1841; Veritas, “Houston a Coward!” Austin City Gazette, August 25, 1841; J. C. Neill, “To the Editor of the Houstonian,” Houstonian, in the Colorado Gazette, August 7, 1841; “Sam Houston,” Colorado Gazette, August 28, 1841.

107 “The Election—Its Result,” Texas Centinel, September 23, 1841.

108 Telegraph & Texas Register, September 29, 1841.

109 “Hang Out Our Banner on the Outward Wall,” Telegraph & Texas Register, May 19, 1841; Telegraph & Texas Register, June 30, July 14, 1841; “The Supporters of Gen. Houston,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 11, 1841.

110 Telegraph & Texas Register, September 15, 1841. See also Telegraph & Texas Register, July 28, 1841, August 5, 1841; “The Civilian,” Telegraph & Texas Register, August 18, 1841.

111 Samuel Wood Geiser, “Southwestern Siftings: William Douglas Wallach,” Southwest Review 29 (Winter 1944): 291–97.

112 Colorado Gazette, July 10, 1841.

113 Austin City Gazette, July 7, 1841. See also Austin City Gazette, August 11, 1841. For accusations of patronage, see Texas Centinel, May 20, June 17, July 29, August 26, 1841.

114 Morning Star, April 10, 1841. See also Morning Star, April 29, May 27, June 5, 1841.

115 Morning Star, August 19, 1841.

116 Ibid.; “The Election,” Morning Star, September 4, 1841.

117 Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette, 71–74.

118 “Presidential Election,” Western Advocate (Austin), reprinted in Telegraph & Texas Register, March 8, 1844; Telegraph & Texas Register, April 24, 1844. Teulon was editor of the Western Advocate at this time; see Wallace, Gaceta to Gazette, 69.

119 Morning Star, August 17, 1844; Telegraph & Texas Register, August 21, 1844.

120 “The Next Presidency and Vice Presidency,” Northern Standard, February 3, 1844; “The Next Presidency,” Northern Standard, February 24, 1844; Texian Democrat, quoted in Civilian and Galveston Gazette, June 1, 1844; Morning Star, April 4, August 31, 1844; Telegraph & Texas Register, April 10, April 24, 1844; National Vindicator, February 3, 1844; Texian Democrat (Houston), March 16, 1844.

121 Gambrell, Anson Jones.

122 John H. Jenkins and Kenneth Kesselus, Edward Burleson: Texas Frontier Leader (Austin: Jenkins Publishing, 1990).

123 National Vindicator, February 3, 1844.

124 “The Next Presidency and Vice Presidency,” Northern Standard, February 3, 1844; “Presidential Election,” Western Advocate, reprinted in Telegraph & Texas Register, March 8, 1844; Morning Star, June 27, 1844; LaGrange Intelligencer, quoted in Morning Star, March 23, 1844; Telegraph & Texas Register, July 24, 1844.

125 Telegraph & Texas Register, April 24, 1844. See also Northern Standard, March 16, 1844.

126 Morning Star, August 20, 1844, reprinted in Telegraph & Texas Register, August 21, 1844. See also Morning Star, May 23, 1844; “General Burleson,” Morning Star, May 28, 1844; Telegraph & Texas Register, May 29, August 7, 1844; Morning Star, June 8, August 10, 1844.

127 “The Next Presidency,” Northern Standard, February 24, 1844; Morning Star, April 9, July 6, August 20, 1844; Telegraph & Texas Register, April 10, July 10, August 21, 1844; “Dr. Jones upon His Own Merits,” Morning Star, July 30, 1844, reprinted in Telegraph & Texas Register, July 31, 1844.

128 National Vindicator, April 20, 1844; National Vindicator, quoted in Telegraph & Texas Register, August 7, 1844.

129 National Vindicator, February 3, 1844; “Gross Injustice,” Morning Star, May 16, 1844, reprinted in Telegraph & Texas Register, May 22, 1844; “The Cabinet,” Morning Star, June 20, 1844, reprinted in Telegraph & Texas Register, June 26, 1844; Morning Star, July 13, July 18, July 23, 1844; Telegraph & Texas Register, July 10, July 17, July 24, 1844.

130 “The Next Presidency,” Galveston News, reprinted in Northern Standard, March 2, 1844; Telegraph & Texas Register, July 24, 1844; “A Review of the Canvass,” Morning Star, September 3, 1844, reprinted in Telegraph & Texas Register, September 4, 1844; “The Next Presidency,” Northern Standard, March 9, 1844.

131 Wallace, Charles DeMorse. Once Texas became a US state, it divided quickly into American political parties. The Democratic Party—the party of annexation—remained the most popular until after the Civil War. The Whig Party never was particularly popular; many who opposed the Democrats became Know-Nothings, including Houston. Newton and Gambrell, A Social and Political History of Texas, 259–261; De Bruhl, Sword of San Jacinto, 359.

132 “The Next Presidency,” Northern Standard, February 24, 1844; “The Next Presidency,” Northern Standard, March 9, 1844.

133 Morning Star, June 1, July 18, August 6, August 10, August 29, 1844; Telegraph & Texas Register, June 5, July 24, August 7, September 4, 1844; “The Future Policy of Texas,” August 1, 1844; “Gen. Burleson, Dr. Jones, Gen. Houston, Diplomacy, Ignorance, &c &c,” Morning Star, August 22, 1844, reprinted in Telegraph & Texas Register, August 28, 1844.

134 Morning Star, July 13, 1844; Telegraph & Texas Register, July 17, 1844.

135 Northern Standard, February 17, May 18, 1843; “The Next Presidency,” Northern Standard, February 24, 1844.

136 “The Next Presidency,” Northern Standard, February 24, 1844.

137 Harrison Times, quoted in “The Next Presidency,” Northern Standard, March 9, 1844; Texian Democrat, quoted in Northern Standard, May 8, 1844; National Vindicator, April 20, 1844.

138 “Our Future Course,” Northern Standard, April 3, 1844; Northern Standard, June 26, July 15, October 30, 1844.

139 Morning Star, July 6, 1844.