REPUBLIC OF TEXAS, COUNTY OF SAN AUGUSTINE. RESIDENCY OATH SIGNED BY WILLIAM L. SMYTH, APRIL 12, 1839
[San Augustine, TX?]: 183[9]. Single sheet of blue paper, 25 x 20 cm. A partly printed document, completed in manuscript. A small five pointed star with a crescent shape above it stamped in the upper center of the page, followed by the oath. A few manuscript corrections to the printed text. William L. Smyth, who signed this document, declared that he was a resident citizen of Texas previous to the first of [February] 183[8] and that he intended to remain permanently in the country. He also stated he was a married man, and as such, was entitled to 640 acres of land. Oath subscribed before E.O. LeGrand, President, and A.M. Davis, Asst. Comr., and signed by them. Docketed and signed on verso by two witnesses, A.J. McGown and M. Cartwright. Old fold lines, else very good. Item #67105
Smyth was part of the group of immigrants to the Republic of Texas who settled there after Oct. 1, 1837 and before Jan. 1, 1840. This made him eligible for a "third class" headright of 640 acres, as a married man. Edwin Oswald LeGrand (1801-1861) before whom Smyth swore his oath, was one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836. As a member of San Augustine's delegation to the Convention, he also signed the Constitution of the Republic, and later served the county as Chief Justice from 1836-1838. He and Alexander M. Davis were officers of the County Board of Land Commissioners in 1839.
Price: $850.00