WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1837
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I hope you will find Colonel Thruston,8 and Captain Hewes,9 useful to the cause. Don't fail to send us all the news from New Orleans, and touch- ing the acts of Mexico. I rely upon you much!!! Treat me candidly in all things! ! Sam Houston. To Thomas Toby Esqr [Addressed]: To Thomas Toby Esqr Texas Agent New Orleans Louisiana [ Endorsed] : 1837 Private. Sarni Houston Columbia Dated, 27th Jany Rec. 4th March Ansd 10th do. 1 Bryan--Toby Letters, Cons11la1· Co1·1'espondence, Texas State Library. 2 For Jackson's message (December 21, 1836), see Richardson, 1vlessages and Papers of the Presidents, III, 265. 8 Henry M. Morfit. In 1836, the President of the newly organized Texas Republic sent James Collinsworth and Peter W. Grayson to Washington to negotiate for the recognition of the independence of Texas by the United States. President Jackson, during the summer of 1836, sent Henry M. Morfit to Texas to investigate the conditions of affairs there. In a series of letters to the Secretary of State, written from Velasco from August through September, 1836, Morfit reviewed practically every phase of the history of the ne,v Republic, and gave his opinion thereon. On the whole his report was favorable, but because of the threat of a new Mexican invasion with the consequent check of immigration to the new nation, he advised against immediate recognition of its independence. His report, however, is still valuable because of its review of past and present conditions of Texas up to the date of his letters. On the whole his statements are fairly accurate. He gave the entire population at 65,000 inhabitants, about 45,000 of whom he designated as Anglo-Americans, 12,000 Indians, from 3,000 to 3,500 native Mexicans, and 5,000 negroes. See U.S. House Executive Doc., 24th Cong., 2d Sess., No. 35, Ser. No. 302; also U.S. Senate Ex. Doc., 24th Cong., 2d Sess., No. 20, Ser. No. 297. See also Brown, History of Texas, II, 97, and Thrall, A Pictorial History of Tlixas, 286. fSee Houston to James Collinsworth, March 15, 1836. 5 George Washington Wheelwright, commander of the war schooner, Independence. See Brown, Histo,·y of Texas, II, 1823-1824, for an account of his bringing his ship to Texas, April, 1837. Jim Dan Hill, The Texas Navy, 74-77, also recounts the story. oCaptain Jeremiah Brown was captain of the schooner Invincible, See Brown, History of Texas, II, 85; also Jim Dan Hill, The Texas Navy, 44, 50, 51, 52, et passim. rcaptain Norman Hurd, was commander of the Bn-'ti1s. See Brown, Histo1'1f of Texas, II, 85; and Jim Dan Hill, Navy of Texas, 26, 28, 38, 39, 43, to 110 passim. ssee Houston to Thomas Toby, Janul\ry 20, 1837. osamuel Hewes was the Texas commissioner of purchases. See Rous· ton to Toby, January 20, 1837.
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