WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1842
201
Therefore, be it known, that I, Sam Houston, President of the Republic of Texas, by the authority vested in me by law, do, by these presents, order and direct, that an election for Senator to fill the said vacancy, be held in the said Counties of Matagorda, Jackson, and Victoria on Saturday the 17th day of December next ensuing; and it is further ordered that the Chief Justices of the aforesaid counties give notice of said elections; and that the Chief Justices of Jackson and Victoria Counties make due re- turns of said election, in their respective counties to the Chief Justice of Matagorda County, who will give the member elect the proper certificate of election. [ SEAL] Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the Republic, at the Town of Washington, the 22d day of November, A. D. 1842, and of the Independence of Texas the seventh. By the President: Sam Houston Anson Jones, Secretary of State. 1 Proclamations of the Presidents, Republic of Texas, Texas State Library. 2 See Houston to William Henry Daingerfield, April 1, 1842.
To ALEXANDER SOMERVELL 1
Washington, November 23, 1842.
To Gen. A. Somervell : Dear General - Your favor of the 14h. instant reached me after some delay. As the Acting Secretary of War was engaged in making out a communication to you, I referred the intelligence to him. The fact of the American you speak of being in camp in a destitute condition, and as having resided for years among the Mexicans on the frontier, I should deem suspicious - no matter under what guise he might present himself; and as for the Mexi- cans which you took, I should regard them as spies. The fact that they have in Texas so universally escaped any regular pun- ishment, would embolden them in telling you any story which might be calculated to mislead or draw you into an ambuscade. If you advance to the Rio Grande, you have not indicated the point on which you design making an impression. It seems to me that, unless your information is much better than mine, the Presidio, is much out of the way. It may, however, be proper, as I do not know your particular object, further than to distress
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