Inventory of the Alexander Thomson Letter 5 Aug. 1832

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Inventory of the Alexander Thomson Letter 5 Aug. 1832

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tamucush/00115/00115-P.html

According to the biographical information received with the letter and other sources, Alexander Thomson, Jr. was born 29 Aug. 1785 in St. Matthews Parrish, S.C., the only son of Alexander and Lucy (Fontaine) Thomson. Thomson lived in Georgia in his youth, and married Elizabeth Dowsing in Lincoln County, Ga. 31 July 1805. Thomson and his family left Georgia in 1814, moving to Giles County, Tenn., where Thomson rented land from Sterling Clack Robertson, who later became a land , second only to Stephen Austin in the size of his holdings. Thomson emigrated to Texas, and settled at Washington, Tex. around 1830, becoming one of the first settlers in what is now Burleson County in east Central Texas. According to the biographical note, Alexander Thomson and his wife had twelve children, but other sources state they had thirteen. The Thomson letter is addressed to his son William D. Thomson, who later served as the first county clerk of Milam County, and Engrossing clerk of the House of Representatives, First Congress, Republic of Texas, which convened at Columbia, Tex. on October 3, 1836. Alexander Thomson died 1 June 1863 (the biographical note gives May 1865), and was buried in a family graveyard at Yellow Prairie, Tex.. The Alexander Thomson letter, dated 5 Aug. 1832, from Texas, Austin's Colony, is handwritten in ink on both sides of a sheet of paper measuring 31 cm. by 37 cm., originally folded in half to form four pages, each measuring 31 cm. by 18 and a half cm. The text of the letter recounts recent events in Austin's colony which, in retrospect, have direct bearing on the brewing struggle for independence of the colony from Mexico. In the letter Thomson details the build-up of hostilities between Colonel Juan Davis Bradburn, born in Virginia, but in service to Mexico, who was made commander of Fort Anahuac. Fort Anahuac had been established in May 1831 in what is now Chambers County, Tex. by the Mexican govenment to collect customs duties, and to enforce the decree of 6 April 1830 that forbade further colonization by immigrants from the United States. On a high bluff overlooking the mouth of the Trinity River, Anahuac was an essential port of entry for early Texas colonists. As the Fort had been built, Bradford had angered colonists by conscripting labor and supplies from them for the construction. In 1832, he unjustly imprisoned William Barret Travis, Patrick C. Jack, Munroe Edwards, and other colonist. The letter vividly recounts the explosion of anger and artillery in June 1832, which followed after entreaties failed on the prisoners' account. Further hostilites, however, were prevented by the mediation of Colonel José de las Piedras, commanding Mexican troops stationed at Nacogdoches, who ordered Bradburn relieved of command, and the prisoners handed over to the civil courts. The letter details the subsequent show of support by the colonists, led by Stephen Austin, for General Antonio López de Santa Anna, seen as a champion at that time of the colonists republican ideals. Accompanying the letter are three items: a picture labeled apparently taken of an unidentified portrait oil painting; a one page, undated and unsigned biography of Alexander Thomson, on St. Louis Southwestern Railway Lines letterhead; a photocopy (ca. 1980) of a booklet prepared by Ralston P. Haun in Coleman, Tex. around 1936, which includes a transcription of the 5 Aug. 1832 letter, as well as other family letters and papers, the current disposition of which are unknown. empresario Alexander Thomson,

eng,

Cushing Memorial Library,

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SNAC Resource ID: 6639973

Related Entities

There are 18 Entities related to this resource.

Jim Glass

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67v44rn (person)

Robertson, Sterling C.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c12p9n (person)

Piedras, José de las.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bf0fn9 (person)

Cotton Belt Line

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d95vmz (corporateBody)

Ralston P. Haun

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68r2gsr (person)

St. Louis Southwestern Railway Lines

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65w03n3 (corporateBody)

Alexander Thomson

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66z5t3h (person)

Jane Hallowell Hill

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vp0vj0 (person)

Cushing Memorial Library

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nt7c6w (corporateBody)

Bradburn, Juan Davis, 1787-1842

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gt6p00 (person)

Thomson, Alexander, 1785-1865

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fk903g (person)

According to the biographical information received with the letter and other sources, Alexander Thomson, Jr. was born 29 Aug. 1785 in St. Matthews Parrish, S.C., the only son of Alexander and Lucy (Fontaine) Thomson . Thomson lived in Georgia in his youth, and married Elizabeth Dowsing in Lincoln County, Ga. 31 July 1805. Thomson and his family left Georgia in 1814, moving to Giles County, Tenn., where Thomson rented land from Sterling Clack Robertson, who later became a land empres...

Thomson, Alexander, 1785-1863

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dn56bz (person)

Alexander Thomson, born 29 Aug. 1785 in St. Matthews Parrish, S.C., lived in Georgia in his youth, marrying Elizabeth Dowsing in 1805, with whom he had twelve children, including William D. Thomson, to whom the letter is addressed. Thomson and his family emmigrated to Texas, settling in Austin's colony about 1830. As a surveyor and partner of the empresario Sterling Clack Robertson, who represented the colonization project, Robertson's Colony, which was variously known as the Texas Association, ...

Thomson, William D., 1806-1866

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h42sdh (person)

Austin, Stephen F. (Stephen Fuller), 1793-1836

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67p92c2 (person)

Stephen F. Austin, son of Moses Austin, initiated the Anglo-American colonization of Texas by assuming ownership of a land grant given to his father by the Spanish government in 1821. From the description of Austin, Stephen F., papers, 1819-1821. (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 20430891 Stephen Fuller Austin was born on November 3, 1793 in Virginia to Maria and Moses Austin. He was educated in Connecticut and at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kent...

James Monroe Hill

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6296qjp (person)

Santa Anna, Antonio López de, 1794?-1876

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mp52hr (person)

Epithet: President of Mexico British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000297.0x000203 Commander in chief of Mexican Army and President of Mexico during war with United States (1846-1848). Letter thanks Don Juan Valdivia for providing lumber and use of his estate for defense against possible Spanish invasion (1829). From the description of Antonio Loṕez de Santa Anna letter, 1829. (University of the Pacific)...

F. W. Green

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wj96bs (person)

Don Dyal

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62m2v8b (person)