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WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1823
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supposed. I think he gains strength daily, and will continue to gain. The General is calm, dignified, and makes as polished a bow as any man I have seen at court. But he has not forgotten his Tennessee notions; for tho' he has been here for some ten or twelve days, he has not yet been in the Rep's Hall. He will not do anything out of his fixed course. He is much courted, by the Great as well, as the sovereign folks. On my way to this place I pass'd by Maj..Reid's/ and saw Miss Sophia. She was vei·y well and has grown, and improved much in her appearance. She is quite as tall as her Ma-ma; and expressed great anxiety-to see home again. Maj. Reid stated to me that she wou'd return in the Spring to Tennessee- very much against his wishes. I had not time to make a long stay there, as I wished to have done. You will please do me the honor to make my best respects to Mrs. Maury & family. I will soon write to your son Abram, and will be greatly obliged if you will do me the favor, to write to me, as often, as you may find convenient. Sam Houston. Maj. A. lVIaury 3 [Addressed] : Maj Abram Maury Franklin Tenn. .[Endorsed]: Sam Houston 13th Deer 23. 1 Jackson MS., Original in the U.S. Congressional Library. Photostat, The University of Texas Library. 2 1.lajor John Reid (1784-January 18, 1816) was born in Bedford Countr, Virginia, and died at Franklin, Tennessee. He received a thorough classical education and by profession became a lawyer. In 1807 he moved to Tennessee and set up his law office at Franklin. On the advice of Thomas H. Benton, also a citizen of Franklin, Tennessee, General Jackson appointed Major Reid as his aide and military secretary. He served with Jackson throughout the New Orleans campaign and until December, 1815. Major Reid died Janu- ary 18, 1816. His father, Major Nathan Reid, lived in Virginia, and it w~s there that Houston visited on his way to Washington. Major John Reid married Elizabeth l\Iaury, daughter of Major Abram Maury. The young daughter, "Miss Sophia," was at her grandfather's for school advantages. See S. G. Heiskell, Andrew Jackson ctnd Ea,·ly History of Tennessee, II, 64-S2- 3Abrarn Maury, Sr., was one of the first settlers at Franklin, Tennessee. He was the father of Abram Poindexter Maury, later a representative front Tennessee, and of Mrs. John Reid. He was a soldier of the Revolution, 8 member of the Tennessee militia and had attained the rank of major. Little biographical data can be found concerning him.
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