The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 9, July 1905 - April, 1906 Page: 282
ix, 294 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
282
Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
NOTES AND FRAGMENTS.
GOVERNOR HOGo's SERVICE IN THE CAUSE OF TEXAS HISTORY.-
Governor Hogg was a real lover of Texas history and an inde-
fatigable collector of books and documents relating to Texas. He
was one of the few lawyers that succeeded in getting up for his
library 'a complete set of the original edition of the Laws of the
Republic and of the early State in the Union. The State Library
was burned with the Capitol in 1881, and practically nothing had
been done for its rehabilitation up to 1891, when Hogg was in-
augurated as Governor. Governor Roberts, indeed, had in his mes-
sage of January, 1881, recommended a salary for a competent his-
tory -and statistical clerk to be State Librarian and to devote him-
self to history and statistics, and also the creation of a contingent
fund to be used in defraying the expenses of procuring records,
documents, and other papers relating to the history 'of Texas. But
nothing came of his recommendations, and nothing was done on
these lines till ten years later when Hogg came in as Governor.
The Library at that time had next to nothing outside of the public
documents, that is, publications of the several States and of the
Federal Government; the miscellaneous books did not exceed
seventy-five and the Texas books numbered less than forty, with
but one newspaper of the early Union, purchased by special ap-
propriation. One of the first acts of the Hogg administration was
the creation, not by enactment, but by the appropriation bill, of
a historical clerk who was de facto State Librarian, and who was
charged specially with looking after the things pertaining to the
history of the State. Governor Hogg manifested quite an interest
in the Library, visiting it often while I was in charge. He sug-
gested the policy, which was at once adopted, of making the Li-
brary outside of the public documents a collection of Texas books
primarily, and secondarily a collection of reference works on history
and literature. Later his influence put ,n the appropriation bill
an item of $500.00 per annum for necccsary expenses in collect-
ing historical data relating to 'Texas. On this fund the Historical
Clerk or State Librarian traveled over the State, carrying out the
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 9, July 1905 - April, 1906, periodical, 1906; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101036/m1/288/ocr/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.