462
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1860
heard of the name of Stephen Terry. 2 By enquiring, however, of Col. Robert Carothers, the present superintendent of the Texas Penitentiary, you will be able to get the desired information. Sam Houston. [Endorsed]: Letter to H. C. Burnet, Jan. 31, 1860. 1 Gove1-no1·s' Lette1·s, Texas State Library. ~A. J. Sowell, History of Fort Bend County, p. 267, lists David Stephen Terry, son of Colonel Frank Terry, as a member of a ranging company, and speaks familiarly of this man as "Dave" Terry. It is possible, though it seems hardly probable, that the man mentioned here is that "Dave" Terry. No further information has been , found.
To JosEPH ELLIS 1
[No date given, probably, 1860] · Dear Jo, Col. Ben & you, I hope, will go to Mr. Donohoo's as I requested Ben when he was leaving. I wish that you and your brother would just take a peep at the wagon which Mother has calculated upon sending as you pass General Davis's place. You can satisfy her that it is not for one horse, and will have to come to this neighborhood to be repaired, if it is done, or to be done. Write by mail, and let us hear from you, and the family all. Tell Mingo that I will write to him, and also to Chickawaw Abby. Get him to know that we parted unexpectedly and I had not time. I will enclose the paper to you by mail. Truly thy Friend Sam Houston. Col. Jo. Ellis. 1 Copied from the original in Mr. Temple Houston Morrow's Collection of Houston Materials. Because this letter has no date, and there is no indication from what place it was written, it is impossible to locate it in this collection without being liable to error. These facts, however, are cer- tain: Colonel Joseph Ellis was agent to the Alabama and Cosbatte Indians in 1860. He was a close friend of the Houston family. Mrs. Lea, mother of Mrs. Houston, made matters somewhat embarrassing for General Houston during the few early months of his administration as Governor of Texas, on account of her maternal interest in the Houston family and her sheer goodness of heart. Fearing that Mrs. Houston's family would not be able to purchase, at Austin, all the good things of which she had ~n abundance at Independence, she persistep in sending fresh sausage, fruits and other things to eat. By the time General Houston paid the trn_ns- portatiqn charges-which were very high-and suffered the loss b! spoila- tion in transit of the articles sent by Mrs. Lea, they cost him more
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