The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 20
605 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Marshall Star State Patriot, Clarksville Western Star, Jefferson Spirit
of the Age, Bonham Western Argus, and Rusk Pioneer supported
the Whig cause albeit against uneven odds in the war of the printed
word. At least three other papers, the Galveston News, Victoria Ad-
vocate, and Corpus Christi Star, took neutral positions and published
Whig political news in the same manner as they did Democratic news."
When Texans debated the issues in i848, the Whigs were almost
entirely on the defensive; an understandable position considering the
record of the national Whig party on Texas. Epperson, Ochiltree,
and other Whigs had to defend against the charge that Taylor and
Fillmore represented an antislavery party that wished to deny Texas
her rightful boundaries. They were accused of supporting a candidate
who had no claim to office other than his military reputation." And
at the same time they found the Democrats attempting to tarnish
Taylor's military reputation by accusing him of being critical of
Texas soldiers during the Mexican War. This development is worthy
of brief detail as a somewhat typical campaign practice of the day.
Representative Timothy Pillsbury first made the accusation in a
letter to Hamilton Stuart, editor of the Galveston Civilian and Gal-
veston Gazette, in February, 1848, in which he claimed that General
Taylor had informed the secretary of war from Mexico in 1846-
"Thank God, the last Texian is discharged."" The Democratic papers
played up this charge so successfully that at one point Ochiltree
promised to resign as elector if it could be proven true. Samuel
Yerger was concerned enough to write to Taylor asking for a denial
of the existence of any such letter. Taylor sent a copy of the dispatch
in question which mentioned the mustering out of the Texas mounted
volunteers with relief because of some "atrocities" that had been com-
mitted but which contained no such statement as that quoted by
Pillsbury. The denial apparently came too late to gain wide circula-
tion, and the Whigs were no doubt hurt by this "issue."'"
Houston Democratic Telegraph and Texas Register, August io, 31, 1848; Galveston News,
October 20, 27, 1848.
13Houston Democratic Telegraph and Texas Register, August lo, October 5, 1848;
Clarksville Northern Standard, July 17, 1852; Corpus Christi Star, October 1o, 1848;
Victoria Advocate, October 12, 1848.
3SClarksville Northern Standard, September 16, October 28, 1848; Houston Democratic
Telegraph and Texas Register, August 31, November 2, 1848; Galveston Civilian and
Galveston Gazette, September 28, 1848.
"Nacogdoches Times, July 22, 1848; Galveston Civilian and Galveston Gazette, August
17, 1848; Houston Democratic Telegraph and Texas Register, August 31, 1848.
15Nacogdoches Times, October 14, 1848; Houston Democratic Telegraph and Texas
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970, periodical, 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117147/m1/36/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.