251
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1838
H. G. Wickes, Twenty-Seventh Legislature and State Adm·inistration of Texas, 27-28. The Q1w.1·terly, Texas State Historical Association, XIII, 9. Lamar Papers, II, 227. Jim Dan Hill, The Texas Navy, 109, 112.
To JOHN R. Ross 1
City of Houston, 13 June 1838.
To John R. Ross Esq. Sir You are hereby appointed first clerk of the Indian De- partment, under the direction of the Executive of Texas, to hold the same during the pleasure of the President. Your salary will be at the rate of fifteen hundred dollars per annum. Sam Houston [Rubric] 1 Sa1n Houston Materials, The University of Texas Library. This orig- inal letter is the gift of Miss Virginia Williams, Austin, Texas. ~John R. Ross was evidently a son of James Ross, an old settler of Austin's colony who came to Texas in 1826. James Ross was a valiant Indian fighter, and became a captain, later a colonel of Texas troops. His son John R. followed in the father's footsteps and was also noted as a brave Indian fighter, but his service against the Indians was short lived, for he died August 9, 1838. See The Quarterly, Texas State Historical Association, VII, 48, 143, also Houston to Mrs. Ross, August 28, 1838.
To AsHBEL SMITH 1
13th June, 1838. Dear Smith Judge Goodenow,2 an old friend of mine in the Congress of the U. States, is very sick at Floyd Tavern up stairs to the left hand. He wishes me to send him a physician. Call and see him, I pray you. You will find out that he has used opium to excess. Private. Sam Houston. Dr. A. Smith [Addressed] : To Dr. A. Smith Present 1 Ashbel Smith Pcipers, The University of Texas Library. · ~Rufus King Goodenow, brother of Robert Goodenow, was born in Hanniker, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, April 24, 1790, and moved with his parents to Brownfield, Maine, in 1802. He received a limited education and followed farming as an occupation with occasional sea-faring trips to help out financially. He served as captain of the 33d United Stales Regiment during the War of 1812. He removed to Paris, Maine, in 1821. He served as clerk of the Oxford County courts from 1821 to 1837, except one term as congressman from Maine. He had during this service studied law and
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