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TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
No. 1346 1839 June 20, G. S. OLDS, SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK, TO M. B. LAMAR, HOUSTON, TEXAS 46 Saratoga Springs, N. Y. June 20th. 1839. May it please your Ex~ellency, It is in comequence of some correspondence which Dr. Joseph 0. Field who may perhap~ be known to you for the share he had in the war with Mexico that I am induced to trouble you at this time. I made inquiries of him, as a resident of some years in Texas, & presumed to be familiar with the present condition, prosperity & wishes of the community concerning the probability of success in an effort to establish a seminary of an elevated & comprehensive character. The proposition was designed to embrace eventually all that is usually inch1ded in this country, under the de- nomination of a University, with a preparatory department, together with a normal school to fit persons to become instructors of Academies or common schools, for the requisite diffusion of knowledge through society. It may be necessary to state to you as a stranger, what is well known to him by the former acquaintance of our families, that I have been for some years a professor in the superior branches. of Science, in the Colleges or Universities of the United States, as also occasionally an instructor in other departments of Literature. I was too for several years, the pastor of a church & congregation in Greenfield the County- town of Franklin County Massachusetts; & though in[ ?l consequenc•~ of a severe course of bilious fever, my health was for a time impaired it is now apparently re-establi.:hed, & I am disposed to enter upon my accustomed pursuits, with a view to the improvement of some portion of my fellow-men, as th [el good providence of God shall appear to indi- cate. I have thought of Texas as affording an opportunity to lay the foundation of an Institution to extend & perpetuate the influence of religion, virtue, science and literature among a recent, but enterprising & promising people. I believe I may venture to assure your Excellency, that if the prospect is in a tolerable degree favorable, I can procure a corps of assistants, well qualified to sustain the several parts of an un- dertaking of this magnitude & importance. Dr. Field was not prepared to give me information so definite as the occasion appears to demand. It is for this reason that I have presumed to make this application to your Excellency, to ascertain, if possible, whether public opinion in Texas will favour the enterprize; whether pupils would probably pre[sent] themselves; & whether the requisite resources can in any feasible way be provided? It is possible I have anticipated the time, "Oedunt arma togae". Your attention to the subject is respectfully requested as soon as your engagements will permit. It is on many
••A. L. S.
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