Star of the Republic Museum Notes, Volume 8, Number 3, Spring 1984 Page: INSIDE BACK COVER
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by the coming of railroads. In the Republic period the legal
tender issued by the government was often nearly worthless.
At the time of issue by the government in 1841, a Republic of
Texas two dollar change note was worth only four cents. Yet,
this was only one of several currencies "floating around."
Nacogdoches merchant Kelsey Douglas privately issued
currency in denominations of one, two, three, and five dollars.
Redeemable in New Orleans, they were freely circulated and
accepted. When Douglas died in 1840, the bills were
discontinued.
The issuing of certificates of stock in towns was a
common practice. One of the more interesting stock certifi-
cates from the collection is for the town of Swartwout, Texas.
Swartwout was laid out along the Trinity River in 1838 as a
project of New York financier, Samuel Swartwout. Because
of his successful promotion of Andrew Jackson as a presiden-
tial candidate, Swartwout was rewarded after the election with
the lucrative appointment of U. S. Customs Collector in the
port of New York City. Also at this time he became active
in Texas land speculation and development. In 1838
Swartwout left suddenly for Europe, and a subsequent investi-
gation revealed that between one and two million dollars was
missing from the customs account. For some time thereafter,
"Swartwouting" was synonymous with embezzlement. In
1840 he returned to the United States and the government
finally agreed to accept in payment whatever Swartwout could
realize from the sale of his Texas lands. The town of
Swartwout, of which Sam Hosuton was a stockholder,
continued as a river port until the 1870's.
The exhibit also contains a varied selection of docu-
ments about famous people who have been associated with
Texas, including letters and documents concerning Lily
Langtry and Cynthia Ann Parker. The beautiful daughter of
a New Jersey clergyman, Lily Langtry rose to become the
toast of London in the 1870's. Called the "Jersey Lily,"
she used publicity and photography to take society by storm.
At one time the mistress of Edward VII, the Prince of Wales,
she went on to become a celebrated actress. Even Texan
Judge Roy Bean knew of her and invited Lily to visit him at
Langtry, which he claimed was named after her. Actually the
town was called Langtry after a railroad contractor by that
name who had been in charge of construction in the area.
She wrote her regrets and instead offered to present the town
with an ornamental drinking fountain. Judge Roy Bean's
quick reply was that "it would be quite useless, as the only
thing the citizens of Langtry did not drink was water."
Several years later Lily did visit Langtry on her way out to
California, but unfortunately the Judge was already dead.
The collection includes a letter from Lily to William Waiter
of New York.
Another important Texana document in the collection
is a court order placing Cynthia Ann Parker under the
guardianship of her uncle James W. Parker, in absentia. In
1836 at the age of nine she was captured by Comanchesduring a raid on Fort Parker, Texas. She spent the next
twenty-five years among her adopted tribe and eventually
married a Comanche chief, Peta Nocona. Of their two sons,
Pecos and Quanah, the latter was destined to become an
important chief in his own right. Apparently she was once
contacted by a trading party, but claimed to be content with
no desire to return to her white family. Yet in 1860, Cynthia
and her two-year old daughter, Prairie Flower, were recaptured
in a raid and brought back to her relatives. She was despon-
dent in a white man's world; she never smiled and even tried to
escape several times. Four years later, devastated by the death
of her daughter, Cynthia Ann supposedly starved herself to
death.
A Texas Ranger sword, Schuetzen percussion rifle, and
guns belonging to "Billy the Kid" and William "Billy" Dixon
can also be viewed. The Showers-Brown Collection presents
a diverse assortment of Texana reflecting the heterogeneous
composition of Texas and the Texans who influenced and
determined its destiny. This distinctive exhibit will be on
display through November 1984.
/Mr. and Mrs. L. Cletus Brown, Jr.
'
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Star of the Republic Museum (Washington, Tex.). Star of the Republic Museum Notes, Volume 8, Number 3, Spring 1984, periodical, Spring 1984; Washington, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1623781/m1/3/: accessed May 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.