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WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1845
To E. A. CANNON AND OTHERS 1
New Orleans, 27th May 1845 Gentlemen- Your invitation of the 26th inst. to a Public dinner, has been received, and I sincerely thank you for the honor conferred upon me. I regret to assure you that it will not be within my power to comply with your request. Having already accepted an invitation to address a meeting of the citizens of New Orleans on Wednes- day evening the 28th, but little time will be left me to prepare for my departure on Thursday for the Hermitage. Were it not for the reasons assigned, it would be most grati- fying to me, Gentlemen, to meet you individually in the way pro- posed, as well as other friends whom I would have the pleasure. of greeting on the occasion. Sam Houston To E. A. Canon, C. Roselius, S. W. Downs, R. H. Chinn, and others. 1 From the original owned by Mrs. Madge W. Hearne. The letter appears also in the Texas National Register, June 5, 1845.
To JAMES K. POLK 1 Hermitage, June 8, ·1845, 12 o'clock at night.
My Dear Sir,-In deep sorrow I address you this hasty note. At six o'clock this evening General Jackson departed this life. He retained his faculties to the very last hour. I lament that I was denied the satisfaction of seeing him in his last moments. I was unfortunately delayed in ascending the Mississippi, so that I did not reach Nashville till half-past six this evening. I im- mediately procured a conveyance and came out with my family,- having understood that the General's health was exceedingly precarious, and being anxious to administer, if I could, some comfort in the closing scene of his eventful life. On my way a few miles from the City, I met the family physician, who in- formed me that the General was no more. About three hours before his departure he conversed for some time with his family, and took an effectionate leave of them, as also of his domestics. His physician represented the scene as most affecting, and remarked that he departed with perfect
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