WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1844
389
the same having been advanced by the President to said De- partment.
Sam Houston Dr.
Republic of Texas
To W. D. Miller
To extra services in Executive office, under direction of the President -------------------------· -----·-------------·--------------------$240 Correct. W. D. Miller 1 Financial Ajfairs, Texas State Library. 'Ebenezer Allen was a native of Maine. He arrived in Texas during the early days of the Republic; and being an able and successful lawyer, as well as a man of good judgment and energy, he came to hold various public offices. In December, 1844, Anson Jones appointed him Attorney General; in 1849, during the administration of Governor Bell, he held that same office under the state of Texas. While serving as Attorney General under President Anson Jones, he performed also the duties of Secretary of State and conducted an interesting correspondence with A. J. Donelson, the envoy of the United States to Texas. After the expiration of his term as Attorney General of the state in 1853, Ebenezer Allen retired from official life and resumed the practice of law. He afterwards became deeply interested in the construction of railroads in Texas, and we find him as one of the projectors and early managers of the Texas Central Railroad. When political troubles that resulted in the Civil War were brewing, Allen forgot his northern birth and rearing and became aggt·es- sive for Southern 1·ights. He was among the state's most radical secession- ists. He entered the Confederate service, and died in Virginia in 1863. See E. W. Winkler (ed.), Secret Journals of the Senate, Republic of Texas, 1836-1845, 308; James Lynch, Bench and Ba1· of Texa.s, 204-207; Garrison (ed.), Diplomatic Co1·1·esponde11ce of the Revublic of Texa.s, II, 1682; Thrall, A Pictorial Histo,·y of Texas, 471. ADDRESS UPON BEING PRESENTED TO A. J. DONELSON 1 [December, 1844] Mr. Minister :-In rece1vmg you as the accredited represent- ative of that great and mighty people from which you come, I am proud to acknowledge that the pleasure is much enhanced by the recollection of the early and abiding friendship to which you have so kindly alluded; and if anything could increase the satisfaction which your appointment affords me, it is that you have been the intimate friend and pupil of the illustrious patriot and sage of the Hermitage, and you are a citizen of that state to whose people I owe so deep a debt of affection and gratitude.
Powered by FlippingBook