Letter sent from Washington-on-the-Brazos by Texian legislator and publisher William Washington Gant describing commerce in the Republic of Texas and receipt of a letter from J. Pinckney Henderson regarding difficulty caused by slavery in attempting to achieve diplomatic recognition for Texas by Great Britain. Dated February 8, 1838, and sent to John Gant of Tennessee, the three page letter gives an account of business conditions in Texas, family connections, and his plans to travel to the Guadalupe River, along with his thoughts on politics in the United States.
William Washington Gant (1809-1840) was the publisher of Texas Reporter, one of the first newspapers in Texas and fought at the battle of San Jacinto, and was elected to the First Congress of the Republic of Texas as a representative for Washington County. Apparently close enough to J. Pinckney Henderson to receive a letter regarding ongoing diplomatic negotiations with Great Britain, Gant's letter reads in part:
These prices will continue for some time, for Emigrants will continue to come in; and they are necessarily compeled to purchase the whole of their provisions and Goods for the first year, and our Merchants are generally interested in the locating of lands, and have directed their time and means in that way. I think is a very favorable time to bring Goods to Texas. Negro men here from $200. to $300. Women from $100. to $200... I received a letter from J. Pinckney Henderson, our Minister at the Court of Great Britain, a few days since; his account is pretty favourable for a recognision of us by that Power. Slavery he says will be the greatest obstacle.
