The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 20, July 1916 - April, 1917 Page: 108
426 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
The acts described in the preceding part of this paper show
that the duties of the postmaster-general were many and arduous.
The establishment of post-offices, appointment of postmasters, and
the making of contracts for carrying the mails in a country sparsely
settled and having bad roads, and with no money provided for
carrying on all this business, called for the activities of a master
mind. The whole plan, as established and put into operation by
the first postmaster-general, John Rice Jones, was modeled after
the system of the United States. Forms and blanks were sent to
the governor and Council from the United States for that pur-
pose by Edward Hall in 1835.
The duties and salary of the postmaster-general remained prac-
tically the same as under the Provisional government. The salary
was two thousand dollars a year. The act of 1840 increased the
bond of the postmaster-general to twenty-five thousand dollars.
After the abolition of the office the clerk in the state department
received from six hundred dollars to nine hundred dollars a year.
Finances
When the Permanent Council proposed the first mail route from
San Felipe de Austin to Cantonment Jessup, to the headquarters
of the Army, or to Bexar, and to Velasco, the expense was to be
met by subscription supplemented by the income from the postage
rates as fixed by the Council. This was the beginning of the mail
service in Texas before the Republic was organized The Gen-
eral Council made no appropriations for the post-office department,
but instructed the postmaster-general to report the deficiency and
this would be met by the ways and means committee of the legis-
lature.
The First Congress appropriated on December 20, 1836, one
thousand dollars "for the purpose of facilitating the transportation
of the mail, the same to be paid out of any money not otherwise
be determined approximately from correspondence in this letter book.
George Sinks wrote his first official letter on January 29, 1841; A. C.
Hyde wrote his first -official letter on December 21, 1841; W. D. Miller
wrote his, August 10, 1842; John Hall wrote his, December 28, 1842;
Dan. T. Toler wrote his, January 12, 1844; and Joseph Daniels wrote his
first official letter on March 5, 1844.
6Comptroller's Letters, December 28, 1835. Texas State Library.
6THE QUARTERLY, VII, 276-278.108
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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/m1/114/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.