A note written in 1836 by the “Father of Texas,” Stephen F. Austin, is expected to fetch up to $10,000 at a September auction. It’s one of the few known pieces from Austin’s brief tenure as Texas’ first Secretary of State.

Four months after Sam Houston defeated Mexican Gen. Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, the Republic of Texas held its first presidential election. Austin was so confident that he would win that he offered the secretary of state position to Virginia congressman William S. Archer. But at the last minute, Houston announced his candidacy and was overwhelmingly elected president on Sept. 5, 1836.

Houston, one of the first to revere Austin as the “Father of Texas,” chose Austin as his own secretary of state on Oct. 28, 1836. Acting in that capacity, Austin wrote a note requesting a horse from David Randon sometime between his appointment and his death two months later from pneumonia.

Randon was among the first 300 families brought to Texas by Austin by late 1825. He had taken an active part in the Texas Revolution, urging war and organizing militias. “Mr. David Randon – If you or your neighbors have a horse that will do for an express I wish you to let Mr. Digger have him,” Austin writes. “I am authorized by the President of Texas to promise pay for the expenses of this express. S.F. Austin.”

At the time, Randon was a slave-owning plantation owner living in Fort Bend County. According to the docketing on the verso, which is written in another hand, Randon was unable to comply with Austin’s request: “No Horse Recd. from Mr. Landrum [sic].”

The Austin note is now up for sale, featured in Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries’ prescription cialis generic Texana auction scheduled for Sept. 14-15, 2010. It’s expected to fetch between $7,000 and $10,000.

“It appears that Austin originally wrote and signed the note in pencil,” says Sandra Palomino, director of historical manuscripts and Texana at Heritage Auctions. “He subsequently re-wrote it in ink and added a sentence – likely to assuage fears of non-payment – asserting that he was authorized to pay for the horse by ‘the President of Texas.’ It’s an extremely rare piece, given that it includes the signature of Austin from the brief period in which he was Secretary of State.”

Author Bio: Hector Cantu is editorial director at Heritage Magazine (www.HeritageMagazine.com), where this story originally appeared. For a free subscription, visit www.HeritageMagazine.com.

Category: Hobbies/Collecting
Keywords: Texas, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, auction, history, revolution, Lone Star State, Heritage Auction