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WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1850
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had business with. Mr. L. refers you to those who have known him for many years, and I doubt not but what you will find, should you confide in him, that your confidence has not been misplaced. Sam Houston [Rubric] Gov. P. H. Bell, Texas [Endorsed]: Sam Houston to Gov. P. H. Bell, Washington, Aug. 26, 1850. Recommending R. W. Latham, esq., of that City as fiscal agent for the State of Texas. Rec'd at the Exec. Dept. September 20th, 1850. 1 Goven1.ol''s Letters, Texas State Library. Peter Hansborough Bell (March 11, 1808-March 8, 1898), soldier, Governor of Texas, Congressman, the son of James Madison Bell and Elizabeth (Hansborough) Bell, was born near Fredericksburg, Virginia. When the news of the outbreak of the Texas Revo- lution reached Virginia, Bell set out and reached Texas in time to participate in the Battle of San Jacinto. He became assistant adjutant general of the Texas forces in 1837, and inspector general in 1839. As captain of the Texas Volunteer Rangers, he served in the Mexican War (1845-1846) and as lieutenant colonel of the Mounted Volunteers, and colonel of the Volun- teer Regiment in 1848-1849. He was Governor of Texas from 1849 to 1853, and was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Thirty-third and Thirty- fourth United States Congresses (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1857), but did not ask for reelection in 1856. In 1857 he married Mrs. Ella Reeves Eatons Dickens, and went to live on her plantation in North Carolina. The Civil War swept away all his property and left him impoverished. In 1891 the Texas Legislature granted him a pension of $100 per year for life. Mrs. Bell died, July 16, 1897; her husband, March 8, 1898. This old couple were buried near their home at Littleton, Warren County, North Carolina, but their remains were removed to the State Cemetery, Austin, Texas, in 1929. See Z. T. Fulmore, The Geog1·aphy and History of Texas as Told in County Na,nes, 177-178; The Qua,·terly, Texas State Historical Association, III, 49; and Sozithwesteni Histo1-ical Qzuwterly, XXIII, 128, XXVIII, 272-278, 280; Dictiona.ry of Ame1·ican Biogravhy, II, 160-161; Dixon and Kemp, Heroes of Sein Jacinto, 325; Memo1·ials cind Petitions, Texas State Library. Lamar Pave1·s, IV, Part 1, 198, 202; I, 445; III, 497, 592; V, 459, 494; VI, 162, 167. Biogravhical Directory of the Ame?'ican Cong1·ess, (1928), 690.
SEPTEMBER, 1850-DECEMBER, 1850
REPLY TO REFLECTIONS UPON HIS RECORD AS SUB-INDIAN AGENT, SEPTEMBER 9, 1850L Mr. President: On Friday last I gave notice that I should today claim the indulgence of the Senate, to offer a personal explanation in relation to some charges which have been pre- ferred against me. It appears from the date and the place of
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