The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 90, July 1986 - April, 1987 Page: 14
492 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
September, 1835. The Texans, once so confident that Santa Anna's vic-
tories and 1833 election to the presidency were in their favor, at last
learned that the general was not necessarily their friend."
Nevertheless, many of the requested reforms were approved in 1834,
including the repeal of the restriction against immigration from the
United States and the postponement of tariff collection until 1835-
Texas, however, remained wedded to Coahuila, and while Austin was
incarcerated, the Texans remained quiet in order not to put him in
jeopardy.24
A schism in the governance of Coahuila in 1834, when centralist and
federalist factions organized rival capitals, created an opportunity for
reopening the question of separate statehood for Texas. Upon the rec-
ommendation of Thomas Jefferson Chambers, recently named supe-
rior judge for Texas, and the Texas legislators, a public gathering in
San Antonio, sanctioned by the jefe, called for a meeting of Texans to
be held in San Antonio to discuss the situation and what steps to take.
Even before receiving the official announcement, Henry Smith, a
Whartonite and the recently appointed political chief for the new de-
partment of the Brazos, a man extremely prejudiced against native
Mexicans, issued his own call for action. The central committee at San
Felipe, however, fearing for Austin's safety in Mexico City, opposed
Smith and stressed the recent reforms as an indication of improving
conditions. Ironically, the committee included six men who had at-
tacked Anahuac and Velasco two years earlier: Wylie Martin, Robert
Peebles, William Pettus, William B. Travis, William H. Jack, and Fran-
cis W. Johnson. These temporary defenders of the status quo managed
to defeat the call for a convention with the aid of James F. Perry, the
empresario's brother-in-law, and Thomas F. McKinney, a merchant and
partner of Samuel May Williams. McKinney denounced Smith and the
Whartonites as "Demagogues and scoundrels" and prayed that "the
vengeance of heaven [,] earth and hell fall upon them .. ."25
The calm imposed by the conservative San Felipe committee disinte-
grated in January, 1835, when, after a hiatus of almost three years, cus-
toms collectors returned to Texas. No troops were sent to the Brazos
River, but forty soldiers reinforced the deputy collector at Anahuac.
2s Barker, Life of Stephen F. Austin, 372-388.
24Ibid., 374, 381; Binkley, Texas Revolution, 18-19.
25Barker, Life of Stephen F. Austin, 400-402; Henson, Samuel May Williams, 63; Thomas F.
McKinney toJ. F. Perry, Nov. 4, 1834, Barker (ed.), Austin Papers, III, 16 (quotations); J. F. Perry
to S. F. Austin, Dec. 7, 1834, ibid., 33-35. The Handbook of Texas account of the schism in the
article "Coahuila and Texas" is not altogether reliable. Webb, Carroll, and Branda (eds.), Hand-
book of Texas, I, 365.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 90, July 1986 - April, 1987, periodical, 1986/1987; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117152/m1/40/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.