Texas (Republic). Dept. of State.

See separate record for agency history.

From the description of Financial records of the Department of State, Republic of Texas, 1837-1845. (Texas State Library & Archives Commission). WorldCat record id: 696419604

The Secretary of State is a constitutional officer of the executive branch of state government, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term concurrent with the governor's (a two-year term at first, a four-year term since 1974). The office was first created by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836 (Article VI, Section 10), and has been continued by each succeeding Constitution.

The only duty of the Secretary of State specified by the Constitution of 1836 was to receive returns of all elections for officers who are to be commissioned by the President (General Provisions, Section 2). The 1st Congress approved a Joint Resolution on December 13, 1836 defining the duties of the heads of departments of the government. However, the duties of this cabinet (composed of the Secretaries of State, War, Navy, and Treasury, and the Attorney General) were expressed in extremely vague terms, i.e.: to conform to and execute the instructions of the president, whether general or particular; and to give respectively and collectively, such needful aid and counsel whenever required so to do by the chief magistrate of the republic, as may be requisite to a firm, wholesome and harmonious administration of the government. Much of our knowledge of what the Secretary of State did during the Republic period derives from the existing records themselves. Although never so stated in law, obviously a major function of the Secretary of State under the Republic of Texas was diplomatic, a function unique to Texas' history as an independent nation.

During the next nine years of the Republic's existence, Congressional acts added little in the way of explicit duties: to receive from the chief justices of the county courts a description of their county boundaries, and such other information and observations relative to the same, as they may conceive conducive to the convenience of their citizens (December 17, 1836); to furnish Texan consuls with instruction for the proper regulation of foreign trade (December 18, 1837); to contract for the printing of the laws and journals of the Republic of Texas, and to arrange for their distribution (December 18, 1837 and later dates); to contract for the translation and compilation of Republic laws into Spanish ( the Castilian language ) (December 18, 1837 and January 12, 1842); to become the depository for a Library purchased for the Republic of Texas (January 24, 1839); to create a Patent Office, as a bureau of the office of Secretary of State, and to grant patent rights for any new and useful art, machine, instrument or composition of matter, liberal arts, sciences or literature, books, maps or charts, or any new and useful improvement of the same . . . invented or discovered (January 28, 1839); to draw from the war department funds appropriated to run a boundary line between the Republic of Texas and the United States (November 26, 1840); to assume the duties of the Postmaster General, appointing and supervising a clerk for a bureau called the General Post Office, and to receive from the former Postmaster General all records of the abolished Post Office Department (January 18, 1841); to issue writs of election to fill certain vacancies in counties (December 7, 1841).

Except for its diplomatic duties, most of the functions of the Secretary of State under the Republic were apparently continued during the period of early statehood following annexation. An act of the 1st Legislature (approved May 9, 1846) to define the duties of Secretary of State included the following: to maintain a register of all official acts of the governor, and to provide the same to the legislature when required (this duty had also been spelled out by the first state Constitution, 1845); to keep a complete register of all officers appointed and elected in the state; to commission all such appointed and elected officers when not otherwise provided for by law; to record depositions and affirmations required by law to be made by resident aliens wanting to hold real estate in Texas; to arrange and preserve all books, maps, parchments, records, documents, deeds, conveyances, and other papers belonging to the State, that have been or may be properly deposited there, and sealed with the state seal (which copies shall be considered admissible as evidence in the state's courts of law); to attend every legislative session to receive bills which have became laws, and to bind and maintain such bills and enrolled joint resolutions in the office of the Secretary of State; to deliver a certified copy of these laws (with indices and marginal notes) to the public printer, and to edit and correct them after printing; to distribute the printed laws and journals to a list of state, local, and federal officials specified; and to furnish forms to county election officials for election returns, and to receive certified election returns from these officials for members of the legislature (this last duty included in an act regulating elections, approved May 11, 1846).

An act of February 11, 1854 created a Board of Commissioners composed of the Secretary of State, the Comptroller, and the Attorney General, to superintend the arranging and filing of the archives of the late Republic of Texas and of the State Legislature, and also the recording of the Journals of the said Congress and State Legislature ... to be deposited in the General Land-office of the State. An act of December 14, 1863 made the Secretary of State the custodian of the records of the Senate and House of Representatives. And an act of March 25, 1887 provided that the entire archives of the late Republic of Texas, ... together with the records, books, and journals of said Congress would be deposited in the Office of the Secretary of State, and declared to be Archives of said office.

(Sources include: the Secretary of State Republic of Texas records appraisal report (December 1998); and the enabling legislation (1836-1887).)

From the guide to the Financial records of the Department of State, Republic of Texas, 1837-1845, (Texas State Archives)

The Secretary of State is a constitutional officer of the executive branch of state government, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term concurrent with the governor's (a two-year term at first, a four-year term since 1974). The office was first created by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836 (Article VI, Section 10), and has been continued by each succeeding Constitution.

The only duty of the Secretary of State specified by the Constitution of 1836 was to receive returns of all elections for officers who are to be commissioned by the President (General Provisions, Section 2). The 1st Congress approved a Joint Resolution on December 13, 1836 defining the duties of the heads of departments of the government. However, the duties of this cabinet (composed of the Secretaries of State, War, Navy, and Treasury, and the Attorney General) were expressed in extremely vague terms, i.e.: to conform to and execute the instructions of the president, whether general or particular; and to give respectively and collectively, such needful aid and counsel whenever required so to do by the chief magistrate of the republic, as may be requisite to a firm, wholesome and harmonious administration of the government. Much of our knowledge of what the Secretary of State did during the Republic period derives from the existing records themselves. Although never so stated in law, obviously a major function of the Secretary of State under the Republic of Texas was diplomatic, a function unique to Texas' history as an independent nation.

During the next nine years of the Republic's existence, Congressional acts added little in the way of explicit duties: to receive from the chief justices of the county courts a description of their county boundaries, and such other information and observations relative to the same, as they may conceive conducive to the convenience of their citizens (December 17, 1836); to furnish Texan consuls with instruction for the proper regulation of foreign trade (December 18, 1837); to contract for the printing of the laws and journals of the Republic of Texas, and to arrange for their distribution (December 18, 1837 and later dates); to contract for the translation and compilation of Republic laws into Spanish ( the Castilian language ) (December 18, 1837 and January 12, 1842); to become the depository for a Library purchased for the Republic of Texas (January 24, 1839); to create a Patent Office, as a bureau of the office of Secretary of State, and to grant patent rights for any new and useful art, machine, instrument or composition of matter, liberal arts, sciences or literature, books, maps or charts, or any new and useful improvement of the same . . . invented or discovered (January 28, 1839); to draw from the war department funds appropriated to run a boundary line between the Republic of Texas and the United States (November 26, 1840); to assume the duties of the Postmaster General, appointing and supervising a clerk for a bureau called the General Post Office, and to receive from the former Postmaster General all records of the abolished Post Office Department (January 18, 1841); to issue writs of election to fill certain vacancies in counties (December 7, 1841).

Except for its diplomatic duties, most of the functions of the Secretary of State under the Republic were apparently continued during the period of early statehood following annexation. An act of the 1st Legislature (approved May 9, 1846) to define the duties of Secretary of State included the following: to maintain a register of all official acts of the governor, and to provide the same to the legislature when required (this duty had also been spelled out by the first state Constitution, 1845); to keep a complete register of all officers appointed and elected in the state; to commission all such appointed and elected officers when not otherwise provided for by law; to record depositions and affirmations required by law to be made by resident aliens wanting to hold real estate in Texas; to arrange and preserve all books, maps, parchments, records, documents, deeds, conveyances, and other papers belonging to the State, that have been or may be properly deposited there, and sealed with the state seal (which copies shall be considered admissible as evidence in the state's courts of law); to attend every legislative session to receive bills which have became laws, and to bind and maintain such bills and enrolled joint resolutions in the office of the Secretary of State; to deliver a certified copy of these laws (with indices and marginal notes) to the public printer, and to edit and correct them after printing; to distribute the printed laws and journals to a list of state, local, and federal officials specified; and to furnish forms to county election officials for election returns, and to receive certified election returns from these officials for members of the legislature (this last duty included in an act regulating elections, approved May 11, 1846).

An act of February 11, 1854 created a Board of Commissioners composed of the Secretary of State, the Comptroller, and the Attorney General, to superintend the arranging and filing of the archives of the late Republic of Texas and of the State Legislature, and also the recording of the Journals of the said Congress and State Legislature ... to be deposited in the General Land-office of the State. An act of December 14, 1863 made the Secretary of State the custodian of the records of the Senate and House of Representatives. And an act of March 25, 1887 provided that the entire archives of the late Republic of Texas, ... together with the records, books, and journals of said Congress would be deposited in the Office of the Secretary of State, and declared to be Archives of said office.

(Sources include: the Secretary of State Republic of Texas records appraisal report (December 1998); and the enabling legislation (1836-1887).)

From the guide to the Department of State treaties between the Republic of Texas and other nations, 1838-1844, (Texas State Archives)

The Texas Secretary of State is a constitutional officer of the executive branch of state government, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term concurrent with the governor's (a two-year term at first, a four-year term since 1974). The office was first created by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836, and has been continued by each succeeding Constitution.

The Secretary of State has a wide variety of duties and responsibilities, including the following: authenticating the publication of all laws passed by the state legislature; approving comptroller's accounts against the state prior to payment; maintaining a register of all official acts and proceedings of the governor, and all appointments to state boards and commissions; interpreting and enforcing the Texas Election Code, as the state's chief election officer; keeping the Seal of the State of Texas; maintaining many business-related filings, including corporation and Uniform Commercial Code filings.

The office of the Secretary of State is divided into five divisions: Executive, Elections, Statutory Filings, Administrative Services, and Information Services.

The Elections Division assists the Secretary of State in interpreting and applying the Election Code and other election laws. The Secretary of State, as Chief Election Officer of the State, has specific functions under the Election Code, which include receiving, examining, and filing the official certified returns of all general elections, special elections for members of the legislature, and constitutional amendment elections.

The only duty of the Secretary of State specified by the Constitution of 1836 was to receive returns of all elections for officers who are to be commissioned by the President (General Provisions, Section 2). Since 1835, returns of general and special elections for district, national (for the Republic), statewide, and federal offices have usually been certified to the Secretary of State by county judges. For county and precinct offices (county judge, county clerk, district clerk, county attorney, county treasurer, county surveyor, sheriff, county tax collector, county tax assessor, county superintendent of public instruction, inspector of hides and animals, public weigher, justices of the peace, constables, county commissioners), the county judge filed a certificate of election and qualification with the Secretary of State. The 1st Legislature approved a law on May 11, 1846 requiring the Secretary of State to furnish forms to county election officials for election returns, and to receive certified election returns from these officials for members of the legislature.

From the guide to the Department of State, Republic of Texas election returns, 1835-1845, (Texas State Archives)

On October 9, 1837 by a joint resolution of the Congress of the Republic of Texas, five commissioners, jointly elected by the two houses, were to receive proposals and examine sites for the permanent seat of government. This commission reported back to Congress with a number of possible sites. On January 14, 1839 five commissioners were again elected by Congress and the search was narrowed to some point between the rivers Trinidad (Trinity) and Colorado, and above the old San Antonio Road. The town was to be called Austin. On April 13, 1839, the commissioners reported to President Lamar their selection of Waterloo on the Colorado as the seat of government.

The Secretary of State is a constitutional officer of the executive branch of state government, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term concurrent with the governor's (a two-year term at first, a four-year term since 1974). The office was first created by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836 (Article VI, Section 10), and has been continued by each succeeding Constitution. On May 9, 1846, the 1st Legislature approved an act “to define the duties of Secretary of State,” which among other things required the Secretary of State to arrange and preserve all books, maps, parchments, records, documents, deeds, conveyances, and other papers belonging to the State, that have been or may be properly deposited there.

An act of February 11, 1854 created a Board of Commissioners composed of the Secretary of State, the Comptroller, and the Attorney General, to superintend the arranging and filing of the archives of the late Republic of Texas and of the State Legislature, and also the recording of the Journals of the said Congress and State Legislature ... to be deposited in the General Land-office of the State. An act of December 14, 1863 made the Secretary of State the custodian of the records of the Senate and House of Representatives. And an act of March 25, 1887 provided that the entire archives of the late Republic of Texas, ... together with the records, books, and journals of said Congress would be deposited in the Office of the Secretary of State, and declared to be Archives of said office.

(Sources include: the Secretary of State Republic of Texas records appraisal report (December 1998); and the enabling legislation (1836-1887).)

From the guide to the Department of State seat of government papers, 1836-1842, (Texas State Archives)

Ayuntamientos were the principal governing bodies of Spanish and Mexican municipalities at the time of the Texas Revolution. They functioned as town councils, and mediated between local and central authorities. The particular ayuntamiento represented in these records is probably that of San Felipe de Austin.

Committees of Safety and Correspondence were organized by citizens in Mina (Bastrop), Gonzales, Viesca, and Columbia, and then in nearly all Texas communities by the end of the summer of 1835. They would ultimately make possible effective and organized resistance during the Texas Revolution.

The Permanent Council, composed of the Committee of Safety of San Felipe and representatives from other areas, assumed the powers of government in the absence of a quorum of the Consultation, which had been elected to meet there on October 16, 1835. It governed Texas from October 11, 1835, until a quorum arrived for the Consultation in early November. Richard R. Royall was elected President and Charles B. Stewart Secretary. During the three weeks it operated, the Council organized supplies and reinforcements for the Army, set up a postal system, ordered the land offices closed, and attempted to obtain a loan in the United States.

The Consultation, called for the purpose of determining the stance Texas should take toward the Republic of Mexico, was scheduled to meet at San Felipe on October 16, 1835, but a quorum not being present, was forced to adjourn until November 1. However, a quorum still did not arrive until November 3. When the Consultation organized on that day, Branch T. Archer was elected President. The chief accomplishments of the Consultation were the promulgation of the Declaration of November 7, 1835, in which it established the policy of remaining within the Mexican Republic and attempting to restore the Constitution of 1824, the establishment of the Provisional Government, the appointment of Sam Houston as Commander-in-Chief of the Texas Army, the appointment of Stephen F. Austin, Branch T. Archer, and William H. Wharton as agents to the United States for the purpose of obtaining a loan, and the ratifications of many of the acts of the Permanent Council. The Consultation adjourned on November 14, 1835.

The Provisional Government was created by the Consultation, which chose its members and appointed Henry Smith Governor and James W. Robinson Lieutenant Governor. It governed Texas from November 15, 1835 until March 1, 1836, operating under the authority of the Organic Law formulated by the Consultation. The legislative body of the Provisional Government was the General Council, composed of one member from each municipality, and presided over by the Lieutenant Governor as ex-officio president. Its membership was not stable however, as some men served during only a few sessions, while others attended for nearly the full duration. The number of members in attendance steadily declined, until by February 26, only two were present. During the brief existence of the Provisional Government, the Governor and General Council were in constant conflict, arising chiefly from disagreement about their relative powers and about the stance Texas should adopt toward Mexico. The dispute climaxed on January 10, 1836, when Governor Smith attempted to dissolve the Council, which retorted by impeaching Smith and naming Robinson as Governor. By February, the Provisional Government was almost non-existent as an effective government, with two claiming the office of governor and responsibility for directing the affairs of Texas, and with the Council gradually dissolving as members abandoned their posts. In spite of its uncertain authority and internal dissension, the Provisional Government accomplished several things: the founding of the Texas Navy, the appointment of Sam Houston and John Forbes to treat with the Cherokee Indians, the issuing of its instructions to Stephen F. Austin, Branch T. Archer and William H. Wharton, agents to the United States, and the calling of the Convention of 1836.

The Convention of 1836 met at Washington-on-the-Brazos from March 1 to March 17, 1836, on the call of the General Council over the veto of Governor Henry Smith. Composed of 59 delegates, it elected Richard Ellis Chairman and Herbert Simms Kimble Secretary. In the two weeks of its existence, the Convention wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the Republic, organized an Interim Government and elected its officers, and confirmed Sam Houston as Commander of the Republic military forces. Upon its hasty adjournment at the news of the advancing Mexican Army, the powers of government were immediately assumed by the Ad Interim Government, which was to serve until the Constitution could be ratified by the people and a general election held for executive officers.

The Ad Interim government served from March 16, 1836 to October 16, 1836, between the adjournment of the Convention of 1836 and the ratification of the Constitution and election of Sam Houston as the first President of the Republic of Texas. Appointed by the Convention, it contained no legislative or judicial departments. David G. Burnet was appointed President and Lorenzo de Zavala Vice-President along with Secretary of State Samuel P. Carson, Secretary of the Treasury Bailey Hardeman, Secretary of War Thomas J. Rusk, Secretary of the Navy Robert Potter, and Attorney General David Thomas. The activities of the Ad Interim government revolved chiefly around attempts to obtain financial and military assistance from foreign nations, and around organizing the citizens of Texas into a military force. Fleeing with the Texas population before the advancing Mexican Army, the temporary government was located successively at Washington-on-the-Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston Island, Velasco, and Columbia.

The records of the Permanent Council were turned over to the Provisional Government, which subsequently turned its records over to the Convention of 1836 pursuant to a resolution of March 10, 1836. By 1854, the Archives of the Congresses and Legislature which were required to be arranged, copied, and filed in the General Land Office, included the records of the Provisional Government. An act of December 14, 1863 made the Secretary of State the custodian of the records of the Senate and House of Representatives; and an act of March 25, 1887 provided that the entire archives of the late Republic of Texas, . . . together with the records, books, and journals of said Congress would be deposited in the Office of the Secretary of State, and declared to be Archives of said office.

The Secretary of State is a constitutional officer of the executive branch of state government, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term concurrent with the governor's (a two-year term at first, a four-year term since 1974). The office was first created by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836 (Article VI, Section 10), and has been continued by each succeeding Constitution.

The only duty of the Secretary of State specified by the Constitution of 1836 was to receive returns of all elections for officers who are to be commissioned by the President (General Provisions, Section 2). The 1st Congress approved a Joint Resolution on December 13, 1836 defining the duties of the heads of departments of the government. However, the duties of this cabinet (composed of the Secretaries of State, War, Navy, and Treasury, and the Attorney General) were expressed in extremely vague terms, i.e.: to conform to and execute the instructions of the president, whether general or particular; and to give respectively and collectively, such needful aid and counsel whenever required so to do by the chief magistrate of the republic, as may be requisite to a firm, wholesome and harmonious administration of the government. Much of our knowledge of what the Secretary of State did during the Republic period derives from the existing records themselves. Although never so stated in law, obviously a major function of the Secretary of State under the Republic of Texas was diplomatic, a function unique to Texas' history as an independent nation.

During the next nine years of the Republic's existence, Congressional acts added little in the way of explicit duties: to receive from the chief justices of the county courts a description of their county boundaries, and such other information and observations relative to the same, as they may conceive conducive to the convenience of their citizens (December 17, 1836); to furnish Texan consuls with instruction for the proper regulation of foreign trade (December 18, 1837); to contract for the printing of the laws and journals of the Republic of Texas, and to arrange for their distribution (December 18, 1837 and later dates); to contract for the translation and compilation of Republic laws into Spanish ( the Castilian language ) (December 18, 1837 and January 12, 1842); to become the depository for a Library purchased for the Republic of Texas (January 24, 1839); to create a Patent Office, as a bureau of the office of Secretary of State, and to grant patent rights for any new and useful art, machine, instrument or composition of matter, liberal arts, sciences or literature, books, maps or charts, or any new and useful improvement of the same . . . invented or discovered (January 28, 1839); to draw from the war department funds appropriated to run a boundary line between the Republic of Texas and the United States (November 26, 1840); to assume the duties of the Postmaster General, appointing and supervising a clerk for a bureau called the General Post Office, and to receive from the former Postmaster General all records of the abolished Post Office Department (January 18, 1841); to issue writs of election to fill certain vacancies in counties (December 7, 1841).

(Sources include: the Secretary of State Republic of Texas records appraisal report (December 1998); and the enabling legislation (1836-1887).)

From the guide to the Department of State records of legislative and executive bodies prior to the Republic, 1835-1836, undated, (Texas State Archives)

The Provisional Government of Texas established a provisional Post Office Department by an ordinance and decree of December 12, 1835. The 1st Congress of the Republic of Texas created the Post Office Department by an act approved December 20, 1836. Legislation over the next few years frequently dealt with the Republic’s postal service.

On January 18, 1841, Congress approved an act abolishing the office of Postmaster General, and requiring the Secretary of State to establish a bureau to be called the General Post Office; the Secretary of State appointed and supervised the chief clerk. This same act required the Postmaster General to deliver to the Secretary of State all books, documents and papers of the Post Office.

The Secretary of State is a constitutional officer of the executive branch of state government, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term concurrent with the governor's (a two-year term at first, a four-year term since 1974). The office was first created by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836 (Article VI, Section 10), and has been continued by each succeeding Constitution. On May 9, 1846, the 1st Legislature approved an act “to define the duties of Secretary of State,” which among other things required the Secretary of State to arrange and preserve all books, maps, parchments, records, documents, deeds, conveyances, and other papers belonging to the State, that have been or may be properly deposited there.

An act of February 11, 1854 created a Board of Commissioners composed of the Secretary of State, the Comptroller, and the Attorney General, to superintend the arranging and filing of the archives of the late Republic of Texas and of the State Legislature, and also the recording of the Journals of the said Congress and State Legislature ... to be deposited in the General Land-office of the State. An act of December 14, 1863 made the Secretary of State the custodian of the records of the Senate and House of Representatives. And an act of March 25, 1887 provided that the entire archives of the late Republic of Texas, ... together with the records, books, and journals of said Congress would be deposited in the Office of the Secretary of State, and declared to be Archives of said office.

(Sources include: the Secretary of State Republic of Texas records appraisal report (December 1998); and the enabling legislation (1836-1887).)

From the guide to the Department of State Post Office records, 1836-1846, undated, (Texas State Archives)

The Secretary of State is a constitutional officer of the executive branch of state government, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term concurrent with the governor's (a two-year term at first, a four-year term since 1974). The office was first created by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836 (Article VI, Section 10), and has been continued by each succeeding Constitution.

The only duty of the Secretary of State specified by the Constitution of 1836 was to receive returns of all elections for officers who are to be commissioned by the President (General Provisions, Section 2). The 1st Congress approved a Joint Resolution on December 13, 1836 defining the duties of the heads of departments of the government. However, the duties of this cabinet (composed of the Secretaries of State, War, Navy, and Treasury, and the Attorney General) were expressed in extremely vague terms, i.e.: to conform to and execute the instructions of the president, whether general or particular; and to give respectively and collectively, such needful aid and counsel whenever required so to do by the chief magistrate of the republic, as may be requisite to a firm, wholesome and harmonious administration of the government. Much of our knowledge of what the Secretary of State did during the Republic period derives from the existing records themselves. Although never so stated in law, obviously a major function of the Secretary of State under the Republic of Texas was diplomatic, a function unique to Texas' history as an independent nation.

During the next nine years of the Republic's existence, Congressional acts added little in the way of explicit duties: to receive from the chief justices of the county courts a description of their county boundaries, and such other information and observations relative to the same, as they may conceive conducive to the convenience of their citizens (December 17, 1836); to furnish Texan consuls with instruction for the proper regulation of foreign trade (December 18, 1837); to contract for the printing of the laws and journals of the Republic of Texas, and to arrange for their distribution (December 18, 1837 and later dates); to contract for the translation and compilation of Republic laws into Spanish ( the Castilian language ) (December 18, 1837 and January 12, 1842); to become the depository for a Library purchased for the Republic of Texas (January 24, 1839); to create a Patent Office, as a bureau of the office of Secretary of State, and to grant patent rights for any new and useful art, machine, instrument or composition of matter, liberal arts, sciences or literature, books, maps or charts, or any new and useful improvement of the same . . . invented or discovered (January 28, 1839); to draw from the war department funds appropriated to run a boundary line between the Republic of Texas and the United States (November 26, 1840); to assume the duties of the Postmaster General, appointing and supervising a clerk for a bureau called the General Post Office, and to receive from the former Postmaster General all records of the abolished Post Office Department (January 18, 1841); to issue writs of election to fill certain vacancies in counties (December 7, 1841).

Except for its diplomatic duties, most of the functions of the Secretary of State under the Republic were apparently continued during the period of early statehood following annexation. An act of the 1st Legislature (approved May 9, 1846) to define the duties of Secretary of State included the following: to maintain a register of all official acts of the governor, and to provide the same to the legislature when required (this duty had also been spelled out by the first state Constitution, 1845); to keep a complete register of all officers appointed and elected in the state; to commission all such appointed and elected officers when not otherwise provided for by law; to record depositions and affirmations required by law to be made by resident aliens wanting to hold real estate in Texas; to arrange and preserve all books, maps, parchments, records, documents, deeds, conveyances, and other papers belonging to the State, that have been or may be properly deposited there, and sealed with the state seal (which copies shall be considered admissible as evidence in the state's courts of law); to attend every legislative session to receive bills which have became laws, and to bind and maintain such bills and enrolled joint resolutions in the office of the Secretary of State; to deliver a certified copy of these laws (with indices and marginal notes) to the public printer, and to edit and correct them after printing; to distribute the printed laws and journals to a list of state, local, and federal officials specified; and to furnish forms to county election officials for election returns, and to receive certified election returns from these officials for members of the legislature (this last duty included in an act regulating elections, approved May 11, 1846).

An act of February 11, 1854 created a Board of Commissioners composed of the Secretary of State, the Comptroller, and the Attorney General, to superintend the arranging and filing of the archives of the late Republic of Texas and of the State Legislature, and also the recording of the Journals of the said Congress and State Legislature ... to be deposited in the General Land-office of the State. An act of December 14, 1863 made the Secretary of State the custodian of the records of the Senate and House of Representatives. And an act of March 25, 1887 provided that the entire archives of the late Republic of Texas, ... together with the records, books, and journals of said Congress would be deposited in the Office of the Secretary of State, and declared to be Archives of said office.

From the guide to the Department of State diplomatic correspondence, 1831-1832, 1835-1846, undated, (Texas State Archives)