The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, July 1964 - April, 1965 Page: 367
574 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Notes and Documents
man edited "Letters of the 'Dawson Men' from Perote Prison,
Mexico" in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XXXVIII
(April, 1935). James M. Day's editing of the "Diary of James A.
Glasscock, Mier Man" appeared in Texana, I (Spring and Sum-
mer, 1963), while his editing of the diary of "Israel Canfield on
the Mier Expedition," was published in Texas Military History,
III (Fall, 1963). Thus, there has been a considerable volume of
data printed about the Perote prisoners; yet for a number of them
the information remains rather scant. Still buried in Probate
Records in Texas county courthouses there must be veterans' let-
ters such as the ones in this series which were written by A. S.
Thurmond and William Ryon in 1843 and 1844 and come from
Fort Bend County records. They were called to this editor's at-
tention by Walter P. Freytag of La Grange who says that the
material was printed in the La Grange Journal several years ago.
The reproduction here is from photostatic copies of the originals.
Almost certainly there must be somewhere in "the old states"
caches of family papers that contain other letters written from
Perote or concerning the men imprisoned there. Typescripts of
several have been sent recently to the Eugene C. Barker Texas
History Library at the University of Texas by Henry B. McKoy of
Greenville, South Carolina. McKoy's great grandmother, Eliza
Anne Berry of Wilmington, North Carolina, was a sister of
Patrick Usher, who died in Mexico. Correspondence in the
Thomas W. Bell papers, acquired by the library about 1959, in-
dicated the Andrew Jackson papers as a source of information
about the Mier men, and microfilm of the unpublished Jackson
correspondence provided biographical leads on at least sixteen
Perote prisoners. Related to the Jackson papers are the Waddy
Thompson papers in the University of Texas Archives, also a
source of letters written by the prisoners.
None of the letters is of great significance in itself, and the
light collectively shed is not particularly illuminating. But the
letters do furnish some biographical background which may turn
out to be the threads that will unravel other portions of the fabric
of the history of the Republic of Texas.
Patrick Usher, born in Ireland, came to Texas from North
Carolina in 1835. He took part in the battle of San Jacinto and367
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, July 1964 - April, 1965, periodical, 1965; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101198/m1/438/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.