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

Lot Number: 47305

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47305

Edwin O. Legrand Signed Republic of Texas Oath for a Second-Class Headright. One page, 7 7/8 x 9 7/8 inches, "Republic of Texas / County of San Augustine," February 3, 1838. An oath submitted on behalf of James W. Bennet and Amon Bennet in San Augustine County by Edwin O. Legrand, Alexander Horton, and Nathaniel Hunt, attesting that the Bennets "were resident citizens of Texas at the date of the declaration of independance [sic] that they did not leave the country during the campaign of the Spring 1836 to avoid a participation in the struggle that they did not refuse to participate in the war that they did not aid or assist the enemy and that they have not previously received a title to their quantum of land." Signed, "Edwin O. Legrand," "A. Horton," and "N. Hunt." Docketed on the verso.

Legrand was one of the fifty-seven signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, and had fought in the Battle of San Jacinto. Horton was an aide-de-camp to Sam Houston during the Texas Revolution and also fought at the Battle of San Jacinto. Hunt was a justice of peace from 1843 until 1846, and his home was the stop for mail between Houston and San Augustine.

Headrights were granted to promote settlement in the new Republic of Texas. The system divided applicants into classes based on when they arrived in Texas and whether they were single or the head of a family. First-class headrights, which conveyed the largest land grants, were reserved for those who had settled in Texas before the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836, with second- through fourth-class headrights offering progressively smaller allotments to later arrivals.

Condition: Somewhat toned with smoothed folds. Minor wear at the edges, including a small chip at the lower right, just touching text; light, scattered staining.

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