The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 35, July 1931 - April, 1932 Page: 175
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Pioneer Printing in Texas
chosen in September, 1836, as first president of the Republic of
Texas. In December, 1845, Texas was admitted to the union of
the states.
The act of annexation, complicated by certain boundary dis-
putes, precipitated the Mexican War, in which the United States
was victorious. American sovereignty was conceded, and all points
at issue were settled in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, concluded
February 2, 1848.
The story of Samuel Bangs and his printing at Galveston has
hitherto been surrounded with much uncertainty. The principal
authority on which our knowledge regarding the press of Bangs
was formerly based gives the date of his work as 1816.2 But
thanks to a recent searching inquiry by Mrs. Lota M. Spell,8 going
back to original sources, we are now able definitely to fix the year
of Bangs's first printing on Texas soil as 1817 and to trace the
activities of this printer both before and after this date.
Samuel Bangs was born in Boston about 1794, the third of his
name in direct succession. His father was a glazier, and the source
of Bangs's knowledge of the printing art is not known. When
Colonel Mina and Dr. Mier set out from England on their expedi-
tion to Mexico, they brought with them a press but no printer.
They stopped at Baltimore for supplies and hoping for financial
support, and while they were there Bangs was enlisted as a member
of the little force. They left Baltimore in September, 1816, and
early in 1817 they were off the coast of Texas, and halted at
Galveston Island. The portable press from England was set up,
and a printing office was established under the direction of Dr.
Joaquin Infante, Bangs apparently acting only as printer.4 On
February 22, 1817, was printed a Proclama del General Mina, dated
at Galveston. This constitutes the earliest known Texas printing,
and although no copy of this broadside (which was undoubtedly
the form it took) can be located today, the full text has been re-
'Gray, A. C., "History of the Texas Press," in Dudley G. Wooten's Com-
prehensive History of Tewas (Dallas, 1898), II, 368.
'Spell, Lota M., "Samuel Bangs, the First Printer in Texas," Hispanic
American Historic Review (Durham, 1931), XI, 248-258. Mrs. Spell has
gone to original documents in the Mexican and Texan archives and pre-
sents a remarkably detailed and authoritative account. For the further
facts regarding Bangs's activities here set forth I am indebted to the same
authority.
'Bustamante, Carlos Maria de, Cuadro Historicca de la Revoluoion Mexi-
cana (Mexico, 1844), IV, 337.175
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 35, July 1931 - April, 1932, periodical, 1932; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101092/m1/179/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.