Texas . . . by Milam . . . From several references in the Lamar papers and from internal evidence it appears that Texas . . . by Milam . . . (Philadelphia, 1839) was written by Henry Thompson , a lawyer of Houston, who had early in Lamar's administration been the President's private secretary.

On August 18, 1839, Thompson writes Lamar from New York:

“I send no's 1 and 2 of a series of chapters on Texas, they have taken very well, and are re-printed in the Balto and N York papers, they are intended to be correct pictures of T—The 3d no' is of more inport than the rest which are rather preparatory chapters— . . . The Boston papers have the chapters with quite a compliment to the Author”; on September 19, from Philadelphia: “I am publishing a little work on Texas small—with a map, Chapters &c—it will be out in one month”; on December 28, from Houston: “2000 copies of Texas by Milam sold in the North 2d Edition in press—Good! at last.”

The author of the book is evidently a lawyer, as appears from his familiarity with legal terms and procedure and from his use of the phrase “my brethren of the bar” (p. 49). He is a partisan of the Lamar administration: he gives merely a perfunctory notice of General Houston (pp. 70-71), since “the victor of Santa Anna; and the Hero of San Jacinto, must not be omitted in these pages”; of Lamar (pp. 18-20) and Handy (pp. 87-88) he speaks with personal knowledge and enthusiasm. His style resembles Thompson's in his letters to Lamar. Moreover, in the letter of September 19, noted above, the same objection is made to the bonding system of Texas in relation to the depreciation of the currency as is urged on pp. 63 and 64.

The map referred to in the letter of September 19 does not appear in the State Library copy, one of the first edition, the only copy to which I have had access; and there is no sign of its ever having been included.

Elizabeth H. West .

How to cite:
West, Elizabeth H., "Texas . . . by Milam", Volume 016, Number 1, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 106 - 107. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v016/n1/review_22.html
[Accessed Sun Nov 23 12:37:01 CST 2008]