The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 13, July 1909 - April, 1910 Page: 3
341 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Navy of the Republic of Texas.
Resolved that the Senate and the house of representatives of
the Republic of Texas in congress assembled proceed to Elect by
joint ballot an agent whose duty it shall be to repair immediately
to Baltimore or some other seaport town of the United States of
the north for the purpose of buying or building arming and equip-
ping for the public service of the Republic of Texas one corvette
of 18.24 medium, 2-10 Gun Briggs mounting medium 18 pound-
ers-and two substantial schooners . . . provided the cost of
said vessels shall not exceed $250,000 which said amount is hereby
appropriated out of any unappropriated money now in, or that
hereafter may be in the treasury.
The resolution was amended to authorize the purchase of a five
hundred ton ship mounting eighteen guns, two three hundred ton
brigs of twelve guns each, and three schooners of one hundred
and thirty tons, mounting five or seven guns each; to appropriate
two hundred and eighty thousand dollars for the purpose; to in-
struct the secretary of the treasury to furnish said agent with a
draft for the above appropriated sum on Messrs. Gilmer and
Burnley, the "commissioners to negotiate a five million loan" ;"
and to pledge solemnly the public faith for the payment of this
amount. It became a law with the President's approval on Novem-
ber 4, 1837.2
To carry out the provisions of this act, President Houston ap-
pointed Peter W. Grayson agent. Grayson had represented Texas
as commissioner to the United States in 1836, when the country
was seeking recognition, and his appointment for the present task
was considered .a wise one. At about this time, however, he be-
came candidate for the presidency of Texas, and during the cam-
paign committed suicide in a fit of despondency at Bean's Station,
Tennessee. John A. Wharton was anxious to succeed him, but
President Houston appointed Samuel M. Williams. Williams at
'Gammel, Laws of Texas, IX, 1355-1356.
'Ibid., I, 1355-1356; Gouge, Fiscal History of Texas, 70.
'Report of Secretary of Navy in -louse Journal, 3d Tex. Cong., 1st Sess.,
15-20. The following amusing reason is given for the president's refusal
to appoint John A. Wharton. He had previously appointed William H.
Wharton minister to the United States to secure the recognition of Texan
independence. It is related that Wharton was not pleased with the ap-
pointment, and remarked that the president was sending him into honorable
exile to get him out of some one else's way. Houston did not hear of this
until some months later, when John A. Wharton applied for the agency.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 13, July 1909 - April, 1910, periodical, 1910; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101051/m1/11/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.