The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962 Page: 88
663 p. : ill., maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
the box is approximately fourteen inches wide, twenty-three inches
long, and ten and a half inches deep. The inner lid bears a hand-
written inscription, and a small wooden tray is mounted in the
upper right, just under the lid. Although the veneer is peeling in
many places and some of the original fittings have been lost or
damaged, the old chest is remarkably sound.
The box was made by John M. Gould,4 well known cabinet-
maker in the time of the Convention,5 and was presented by him
to Dr. Richard Rodgers Peebles, pioneer Texas physician., Dr.
Peebles, like Gould, had been .living in the town of Washington-
on-the-Brazos in March of 1836. He had settled there in November
of 1835, coming from Ohio.7
Exactly when the "Ark of the Covenant" was made, or when it
was presented to Dr. Peebles, has not been determined. The fact
that the authenticity of the source of the walnut veneer has been
questioned indicates that Gould may have built the box years
after the signing of the Declaration. Dr. Peebles' reference to
himself, in the inscription, as being "of Austin County, Texas,"
indicates that it was given to him after 1841.8
Written on the wood inside the lid, and still reasonably legible,
is this inscription:
This Box was made by Mr. John M. Gould, and by him presented
to R. R. Peebles, of Austin County, Texas; out of materials taken
from a House in the town of Washington, Texas, wherein sat the
General Convention, which on the day of March, A. D. 1836,
unanimously Resolved S& Declared 'that the Political Relations here-
tofore Existing between the General Govm't of Mexico and her
Texan Colony were, for just causes and substantial reasons, from
that day & hour, considerately, formally and eternally ended,' which
dependence Hall on March io, 1836, "A long improvised table, covered with writings
and stationery, extended north and south upon nearly the whole length of the
floor." He mentions no desk, although he gave a detailed description of the scene
inside the building.
4Inscription by Dr. R. R. Peebles, inside the lid of the box.
5"Address of Hon. Thomas S. Henderson," Supplement to the House Journal of
the Fortieth Texas Legislature, 7.
BInscription inside the lid of the box.
7"Memoranda Concerning Richard Rodgers Peebles," (Biographical File, Texas
Collection, University of Texas Library); Pat Ireland Nixon, The Medical Story
of Early Texas, 528-z853 (Lancaster, Penn., 1946), 257-260.
8Dr. Peebles did not move to Austin County until 1841. Ibid.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962, periodical, 1962; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101195/m1/108/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.