Auction Name: 2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 47002

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47002

William B. Travis Autograph Document on a Petition Written Entirely in the Hand of His Partner Thomas Nibbs. Two pages of a bifolium, 8 3/8 x 13 1/8 inches; "Department of Brazos, Jurisdiction of Austin"; March 21, 1835. A petition for an injunction filed by Travis and Nibbs on behalf of their client, George Huff asking for an extension in which to fulfill his duties as executor of the estate of Samuel Sawyer and that the sheriff be ordered to "desist from levying" a $300 fine against him. Signed at the conclusion by Nibbs, "Travis & Nibbs for Petitioner."

Travis writes the judgment below: "Having read & considered the foregoing petition it is ordered that the execution in favor of a Wyly Martin v George Huff Adm[inistrator] of Samuel Sawyer be stayed for three months & that the Shff [Sheriff] suspend all proceedings on the same for the term, 21st March 1835." Signed, "Geo: Ewing" by the presiding judge. With filing docket on the integral page in Nibbs' hand.

William B. Travis arrived in Texas in 1831, settling at Anahuac on Galveston Bay. Ambitious and trained in the law, Travis quickly sought a partnership with Thomas J. Nibbs, a local attorney who also served as a customs collector. By 1835, the year this petition was filed, Travis' reputation as a political figure aligned with resistance to Mexican authority had spread well beyond the coast. Per the biographical entry for George Huff on TSHAonline.org, Huff was already doing business with Travis in 1833 and 1834 and was aware of Travis' involvement in the Anahuac Disturbances. A great association document establishing the existing ties between one of the most notable of the Alamo Defenders and a member of the Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred.

Condition: Moderate wear along the flattened folds, and a long separation along the integral fold. Lightly toned and foxed throughout. A few smears of ink on the page containing the filing dockets.

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