The Maverick family traces its descent from Samuel Augustus Maverick, 1803-1870, the first of the Texas Mavericks, who moved to the territory in the 1830s and settled in San Antonio. Samuel was a rancher and land speculator, and a signatory of Texas' 1836 Declaration of Independence from Mexico. He served as mayor of San Antonio from 1839-1840, and as a member of the State House of Representatives from 1851-1853.
The Mavericks established themselves as a prominent and influential family in the newly-formed state of Texas. They left their mark in various ways: Maverick County was established and named for Samuel Augustus in 1856; he is also anecdotally credited with lending the family name to the American lexicon though his failure to brand his cattle, stray examples of which became known as "mavericks." The family also produced numerous notable and progressive individuals, including: Lola Maverick Lloyd, pacifist, world government activist, and member of the Ford Peace Ship expedition of 1915; Lewis Adams Maverick, professor of Economics at Stanford University, and also a member of the Ford Peace Expedition; Fontaine Maury Maverick (known as Maury Maverick, Sr.), U.S. Representative from Texas; Jessie Lloyd O'Connor, labor activist and journalist; and William Bross Lloyd, Jr., journalist, world government proponent, and conscientious objector who served in a Civilian Public Service camp during World War II.
Letters written to Mary Vance Maverick constitute the bulk of the collection. Mrs. Maverick was the wife of Samuel Augustus' son George Madison Maverick, and mother of Lola and Lewis Maverick. She was born Mary Elizabeth Vance in 1855, and married in 1872. She and her husband had six children: Mary Rowena, Lola, George Vance, Lucy Madison, Augusta Lewis and Lewis Adams. Mary Vance Maverick passed away in 1930.
From the guide to the Maverick family papers, 1780-1985, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)
