The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 87, July 1983 - April, 1984 Page: 438
468 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.), 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:
438 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Missing is Antonio Fernandez, Jose. EL SUPREMO NACIONAL
EMPRENDADO JUSTAMENTE.... Ciudad Victoria, December 8,
1835. Broadside on 4 sheets, 31.4 x 21.5 cm.; and CIRCULAR . . .
NUM. 56, 27 Octubre, 1834. Ciudad Victoria. 1834. 1 p. Broadside,
32 x 21.8 cm. (both items cited and offered for sale in Frontier Ameri-
ca: Rare & Unusual Americana, Catalogue 34, items 14 and 474).
Others may yet come to light-a fact that Jenkins fully admits.
The appendices contain 107 other items from only two of the many
presses upon which Samuel Bangs worked in which he may have had
a hand in printing. Bangs is rightfully credited with being the first
printer not only in Texas, but also in three Mexican provinces (de-
partments or states)-Nuevo Santander (Tamaulipas), Nuevo Leon,
and Coahuila y Tejas-and in the entire area west of the Louisiana
Purchase. The compiler, however, is needlessly concerned whether
one of Francisco Xavier Mina's proclamations, printed on April 12,
1817, by Bangs on the bank of the Rio Grande, near its mouth, was
printed on the Texas mainland or in Tamaulipas. He speculates: "De-
pending on whether it was printed on the north or south bank, it was
either the first Tamaulipas imprint or the first imprint on the Texas
mainland. It is also possible that it was printed aboard ship" (p. 1o).
It certainly could not have been printed in Texas, for the northern
boundary of Nuevo Santander (Tamaulipas after 1821) to 1848 was
the Nueces River.
Bangs worked on newspapers or in printing establishments in Bos-
ton, Cincinnati, Mobile, New York, Galveston, Houston, and George-
town (Ky.) and in Mexico at Victoria, Monterrey, and Saltillo. He es-
tablished the Galveston Commercial Intelligencer-the first newspaper
in Galveston. In his Independent Chronicle (Galveston), he became a
bitter critic of Sam Houston's policies, particularly his policy towards
the Texas navy and Commodore Edwin W. Moore.
Bangs's life was full of failures and hardships. As a printer, he was a
master craftsman, but as a businessman, a publisher of newpapers, a
salesman of printing presses and press supplies, a speculator in lands
in Tamaulipas and Texas, or as operator of a hotel and stagecoach
line, he was a failure. He died penniless, May 31, 1854, while working
as an assistant printer on the Georgetown (Ky,) Herald, on which his
son James was a printer.
Texas A&M University JOSEPH MILTON NANCE
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 87, July 1983 - April, 1984, periodical, 1983/1984; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117150/m1/506/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.