PREFACE
Volume I of The W1'itings of Sam Houston contains documents extending from September 15, 1813, to December 31, 1836. Vol- ume II runs from July 16, 1814, to March 29, 1842. Volume III includes the dates December 20, 1822, to January 31, 1844. This present volume extends from September 29, 1821, to February 23, 1847. The overlapping dates are explained by the fact that the publication of each successive volume has brought to light and made available numerous documents not previously acces- sible. There were two courses of procedure open to the editors for the publication of these supplementary documents: (1) all of them might be held and published in a body in the final volume; or (2) those of appropriate dates might be published in succes- sive volumes as they appeared. The editors chose the second alternative, as being more useful to scholars and readers and also more satisfactory to the donors of the supplementary docu- ments. Most donors like to see their gifts in print as soon as possible, and early publication of a gift stimulates other donors. In this volume we are happy to be· able to include important gifts received from Mrs. Jennie Decker, Mrs. Madge W. Hearne, Mrs. Margaret John, Mr. Franklin Williams, and Mr. Albert Williams, Jr., all of Houston. Mr. Albert Williams, Jr., is a great grandson of Isaac Van Zandt, who with J. Pinckney Hen- derson negotiated the treaty for the annexation of Texas which the United States Senate rejected. Mrs. Decker, Mrs. John, Mrs. Hearne, and Mr. Franklin Williams are grandchildren of Sam Houston. We include also interesting contributions from Mr. Seb S. Wilcox, of Laredo, Texas, and several documents for which we are indebted to Professor W. C. Binkley, of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Besides the documents here included from Mrs. Hearne's col- lection the following interesting Houston items we excluded from the Writings because they were not \-Vritten by Houston: (1) a letter from George Graham, acting secretary of war, appointing Houston "sub-agent for Indian Affairs in the Cherokee Nation," September 29, 1817; (2) a commission signed by Governor Joseph McMinn, of Tennessee, appointing Houston "Solicitor General of the Seventh Solicitorial District" of Tennessee, October 11, 1819; (3) another commission from Governor McMinn, Novem- ber 29, 1819, appointing Houston Adjutant General of Tennessee;
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