The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 20, July 1916 - April, 1917 Page: 103

THE
SOUTHWESTERN HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
VOL. XX OCTOBER, 1916 No. 2
The publication committee and the editors disclaim responsibility for views expressed by
contributors to THE QUARTERLY
THE POSTAL SYSTEM OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS1
W. L. NEWSOM
An account of the establishment and operation of the postal
system of the Republic of Texas will necessarily date from Octo-
ber, 1835. 'This paper is not concerned with the system of mail
transportation in operation during the period of Mexican rule,
nor has the system of communication of the committees of safety
and correspondence preceding the revolution been included. The
records are fragmentary and incomplete, and this account is as
full as has been possible in the face of this condition.
Establishment of the System
On October 20, 1835, Mr. A. Thomson made a motion in the
Permanent Council that a committee be appointed to look after
mail routes. The President appointed J. S. Hood, Joseph Bryan,
1The material for this paper has been gathered from many sources.
Among the most important are the following: Journal of the Perma-
nent Council, October 11-27, 1835 (TIE QUARTERLY, VII, 249-278). The
Permanent Council was a sort of central committee composed of repre-
sentatives from several municipalities and was called by Stephen F. Aus-
tin to meet at San Felipe to look after the general administration at
the beginning of the Texas Revolution. Journal of the Consultation
(Houston, 1838). The Consultation assembled November 3, 1835. It was
composed of delegates elected 'by the several municipalities of Texas. It
provided for a provisional government consisting of a governor and a
legislative council, and adjourned November 14. Proceedings of the Gen-
eral Council (Houston, 1839). This was the legislative body created by
the Consultation and its sessions extended from the middle of Novem-
ber, 1835, till the middle of January, 1836. Ordinances and Decrees of
the Consultation and of the General Council (Houston, 1839). Gammel,