Nacogdoches (Texas) Committee of Vigilance and Safety

The Nacogdoches, Texas, Committee of Vigilance and Safety was established in 1835 as a means to organize and collect arms and provisions to be used in the Texas Revolution. It was one of a number of local quasi-governmental associations formed in various Texas cities around the time of the impending Revolution. Samuel Houston, commander in chief of troops for the Department of Nacogdoches, chaired a mass meeting in September 1835 to consider the possibility of war between Texas and the federal government and to discuss convening a consultation. He then served as a delegate from Nacogdoches to the Consultation of 1835, after which he was appointed major general of the Texas Army. Henry Rueg, political chief of the Department of Nacogdoches, 1834-1836, founded the committee in 1835, appointing Frost Thorn and Thomas J. Rusk, among others, to serve on it.

Sources: Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Nacogdoches County, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/NN/hcn1.html (accessed July 27, 2010).

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Henry Rueg, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/fru7.html (accessed July 27, 2010).

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Samuel Houston, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/fho73.html (accessed July 27, 2010).

The Nacogdoches, Texas, Committee of Vigilance and Safety was established in 1835 as a means to organize and collect arms and provisions to be used in the Texas Revolution.

It was one of a number of local quasi-governmental associations formed in various Texas cities around the time of the impending Revolution. Samuel Houston, commander in chief of troops for the Department of Nacogdoches, chaired a mass meeting in September 1835 to consider the possibility of war between Texas and the federal government and to discuss convening a consultation. He then served as a delegate from Nacogdoches to the Consultation of 1835, after which he was appointed major general of the Texas Army. Henry Rueg, political chief of the Department of Nacogdoches, 1834-1836, founded the committee in 1835, appointing Frost Thorn and Thomas J. Rusk, among others, to serve on it.