Bound materials and Rusk letter transcripts

Series — Series: 7

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The majority of this collection consists of accounts, bills, advertising circulars, county records, correspondence, notes, postcards, promissory notes, and receipts addressed to David Rusk or his son John Rusk.

This collection will have appeal for both the casual observer and the serious historian or researcher. Documents deserving special consideration in the collection include:

• Letters (60) between Texas’ first U.S. Senator, Thomas J. Rusk, and his younger brother David Rusk. These touch on a number of national issues including: Texas annexation, Oregon Territory, the Mexican-American War, the Pearl Incident, the Compromise of 1850, and the route of the Transcontinental Railroad. Rusk also writes his brother about presidential politics, his relationship with Sam Houston, his disgust with Washington’s political culture, and an 1852 nomination to be President.

• David Rusk was the first sheriff of Nacogdoches County and served five consecutive two-year terms, 1837-1846. The archives received all five commissions, signed by Presidents of the Republic of Texas of Sam Houston, Mirabeau Lamar and Anson Jones.

• There are almost 250 items documenting the diverse roles and responsibilities of a sheriff in the Republic of Texas. David Rusk was the tax collector, tax assessor, court officer, and sheriff all at the same time. The materials reflect the vast knowledge Rusk must have possessed to correspond fluently with the citizens and officials.

• William M. Old served in Company H, 4th Regiment, Texas Cavalry, and saw action in the defense of Galveston and in the Red River Campaign. Six detailed-stuffed letters sent to David Rusk in 1863-1864 will provide researchers with news insight into the views and opinions of camp life, the sinking of the Union steamer City Belle, food prices, conscription, and many more subjects.

• When Texas passed a pension law in 1874 to provide for veterans of the Texas Revolution, many of the service records were lost. Veterans recount their service with David Rusk at the Battle of Jacinto and ask him to be a witness to prove their service claim.

• E. M. Chapman sent John Rusk 26 letters between 1887 and 1903. These are a great window into the life of a farmer in central Texas at the turn of the century. Chapman writes poignantly about shifting cotton and land prices, the burdens of being in debt to creditors and his emotional struggle to keep things together for his family.

Dates

Event: The Thomas J. Rusk Letters (59 originals, 1 photocopy) were loaned from 6/24/1975 to early 2005.
Event: Purchased by the University 9/26/2016.
Event: Purchased materials received by the ETRC 10/10/2016.
Event: Addendum of donated materials received by the ETRC 10/24/2016.
Event: Addendum of donated materials received by the ETRC 1/23/2017.
Event: Addendum of donated materials received by the ETRC 3/15/2017.