The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 20, July 1916 - April, 1917 Page: 104
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
and A. Houston.2 This is the first record of any action to estab-
lish a mail system in the Republic of Texas. On October 23,
the Council went into a committee of the whole on the subject
of mails, and, "after due deliberation, appointed John Rice Jones
postmaster-general to take charge of the affairs and put them
into operation."8 He was to do this as soon as possible.
This committee on mail routes also presented on the 30th an
outline plan for carrying out the organization of a post-office de-
partment. It set forth the need of communication between the
different parts of the country, and recommended that weekly
service be put into operation from San Felipe to San Augustine,
from San Felipe to Velasco, from San Augustine to Bevil's Mill,
from San Felipe to the Sabine River, and, as soon as it could be
done with safety, from San Felipe to Bexar. It recommended
that the postmaster-general be authorized to open subscriptions to
obtain contributions or loans to aid in putting the project into
immediate operation. And it resolved further, that the post-
master-general be empowered to. ask and demand and receive
fixed rates of postage for all letters and packets transported by
mail.4
On November 3, 1835, the Permanent Council reported to the
Consultation that it had ordered to be carried into effect, by
subscription and under certain regulations, a mail service from
San Felipe de Austin to Cantonment Jessup in the United States,
to the headquarters of the army, or to Bexar, and to Velasco. It
recommended that the Consultation take up the subject at a suit-
able time and that branch routes be ordered."
Governor Henry Smith made reference to the post-office depart-
ment in his message to the General 'Council on November 16,
1835. He commended the action of the previous council and urged
Laws of Texas, I and II (Austin, 1898). Post-Office Directory, 1836-1842,
Volumes 68-69, and Post-Office Letter Book, 1840-1842, Volume 71, MS.,
records in State Department of Texas. House Journals, Seventh to Ninth
Texas Congresses, and United States Senate Document No. 1, 29th Con-
gress, 2d Session. A more complete bibliography will be found at the end
of the article.
'THE QUARTERLY, VII, 266.
"Ibid., 270.
4Ibid., VII, 276-278.
5Gammel, Laws of Texas, I, 513.104
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 20, July 1916 - April, 1917, periodical, 1917; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101070/m1/110/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.