The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 79, July 1975 - April, 1976 Page: 365
528 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews 365
The editors have favored the reader with brief sketches of the lives of
Pease and his wife, both Connecticut-born and educated. Aged thirty-eight
and thirty-seven respectively at the time of their marriage, each had had
already a full interesting life.
The letters in this collection, and especially those written by Lucadia,
reveal much about the social life, living conditions, travel, and communi-
cation in mid-nineteenth-century Texas. If one expects to find much on
the political and the broader economic life of Texas, or on the business
affairs of E. M. Pease during the period of 1850 to 1857, he will be
disappointed. The letters contain much personal family history, but there
are no letters from Pease in the capacity of governor, 1853-1857. Interesting
comments, however, will be found upon many persons of the period; mode
of dress; manners; social functions (parties, dances, picnics, and other
festivities); gardening; slaves; the problems of building a house and rearing
children on a sparsely settled frontier; religion; funerals; descriptions of life
in city, town, and village; travel and travel accommodations; scenery; and
the weather. One will find comparisons of the New England and Texas
ways of doing things. There are interesting descriptions of conditions in
Austin, Bellville, Brazoria, Galveston, Velasco, New Orleans, and a number
of other places.
The craftsmanship in the production of the book is excellent, as one has
been led to expect from the Encino Press, but the usefulness of the book is
seriously handicapped by the absence of a calendar of the letters, a bibli-
ography, an index, and documentation, all of which are so valuable to a
work of this nature. Exceptionally brief biographical notes at the end of the
book identify key members of the family.Texas A&M University
J. MILTON NANCE
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 79, July 1975 - April, 1976, periodical, 1975/1976; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101203/m1/410/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.