WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1836
491
·I will take leave to mention that the sooner they are despatched to the United States the better they will be enabled to arrange the loan so soon as the Bonds can be prepared for them to act upon. They will have time to enter into an extensive corres- pondence which will be important to a knowledge of the money market, either in the United States or in Europe, if it should be necessary to extend the operations of the loan beyond the limits of North America. Sam Houston 1 E. W. Winkler (ed.), Sec1·et Jom-,wls of the Senate, Republic of Texas, 1896-1845, p. 26. "Messages of the Presidents," Congressional Papers, Texas State Library. 2 Michael Branamour (also spelled Brindamour) Menard (December 5, 1805-September 2, 1856), founder of the City of Galveston, Indian trader, man of affairs. For biographical sketches, see Dictionary of Ame1·ica11 Biogmph.y, XII, 528-529. Fulmore, The History a11d Geography of Texas as Told in Connt,y Nmnes, 61-62. Johnson-Barker, Texas a11d Texans, II, 682-683. Lewis Publishing Company (1895), History of Texas, 281-282, 673-674. S. H. Dixon, i1'Jen Who Made Texas Free, 283-286. Baker, Texas Scrap Book, 280. 3 Andrew Janeway Yates (April 20, 1803-August 8, 1856), son of the Reverend Andrew_Yates and Mary Austin Yates, was born at Hartford, Connecticut. He was an M.A. graduate of Union College, and was a mem- ber. of the Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity. Before he came to Texas in 1835, he had not only won recognition as a lawyer, college professor, and author, but had also acquired a considerable fortune (see E. C. Barker (ed.), A u.stin Pcipe1·s, III, 365). When he came to Texas in the early days of 1835, he applied for and received a headright of land in De Zavala's Colony. It was located near the town of Liberty. He soon won the confidence of Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, the Whartons, and other leaders of the country. When the Texas Revolution broke out he joined the army, but late in December (1835) he was appointed Loan Commissioner, and served under Austin, Archer, and Wharton, the Commissioners to the United States. His especial business was to attend to the legal and clerical details of the loan negotiations, and to purchase boats, munitions, and other sup- plies for the Republic of Texas. When the Revolution was over, Yates returned to Texas and lived at Liberty, later at Galveston, where he pub- lished a weekly and daily newspaper, and practiced law. He always took an active part in the civic enterprises of his city and country. He was probably the best informed and the best trained man in Texas for the profession of an educator. He was the first signer of a memorial peti- tioning Congress to establish a system of popular education. He drew up and presented to President Lamar an elaborate but sensible plan for a complete system · of schools, directed by trustees, and financed by public lands. This plan provided for the training and certification of teachers and outlined a course of study from primary to graduate work. In January, 1851, Yates moved with his family to San Jose, California, where he continued the practice of law until his death. See Opal R11sso11,
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