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James Smith Letter of Introduction by
General Sam Houston
On the Envelope [not a full envelope, just
a copy of the writing]:
To Mr. James Prentiss
Wall Street
New York
[left bottom section: Col Smith]
[Letter body]:
Nacogdoches
9th Apr 1835
Dear Sir,
Colonel James Smith, a friend of mine, will hand you this
letter. He visits your city with a view of transacting business,
and any information* which you may have at your command, I hope
you will be kind enough to impart to him, to forward him in his
business.
Colonel Smith is a Gentleman and any civilities which you may be
so kind as to extend to him, will be gratefully received by him,
and appreciated by your oft [?] s___ [?] & friend.
Sam Houston
[scrawl]
Mr. James Prentiss
*Spelling corrected
Note: James Prentiss was apparently a land speculator and
broker. In the July 1973 Texas Monthly page 3 is an article by
Bill Porterfield:
Sam Houston, Warts and All
"Lawyer and speculator Houston's best client was the
Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company, whose offices included New
Yorkers James Prentiss and Samuel Swartout."
Two articles about James Prentiss are in the Handbook of Texas
online:
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/view/PP/fpr24.html
This article about the Union Land Company in Texas mentions
him.-I don't know if James Smith had anything to do with these
dealings or not, but the article is interesting:
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/view/UU/ufu1.html
Source from collection:
Sam Houston Papers, 1814-1957, Center for American History, The
University of Texas at Austin. Letter scanned from a copy found
in the collections in the Center for American History, the
University of Texas at Austin
Box
2E250
General correspondence, 1815, 1835-1843
General correspondence, 1844-1863 and undated
Date Taken: 9 Apr 1835
Place Taken: Nacogdoches, Texas
Owner: Center for American History, the University of Texas at
Austin
Contributed by Sandra
Smith Gwilliam, February 2003
Copyright © 2003, Sandra Smith Gwilliam, All Rights Reserved.
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