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

Lot Number: 47311

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47311

James W. Robinson Document Signed. One page, 8 1/4 x 4 3/4 inches, Gonzales; October 17, 1840. A receipt certifying that Robinson received "of John Tumlinson admin of James Tumlinson Senr deceased ninety dollars in part payment of a note for one hundred and fifteen dollars due January 1839." Signed, "James W. Robinson," acting as an attorney for Lydia Ann McHenry. Docketed on the verso.

James W. Robinson was elected Lieutenant Governor of the provisional Texas government in 1835 and became provisional Governor in 1836 after the removal of Henry Smith. He took part in the Texas Revolution and fought at the Battle of San Jacinto in April 1836. In the years following independence, Robinson served the new Republic of Texas as a justice of the Supreme Court, holding the position until 1840. During renewed hostilities with Mexico, he was captured by Mexican forces in 1842 but successfully negotiated his release with General Antonio López de Santa Anna the following year.

Lydia Ann McHenry was an early advocate for education in Texas. She settled near Bellville in the Stephen F. Austin colony in 1833 with her sister, Maria Kenney, and Maria's family. In 1834, McHenry helped organize a church at Caney Creek, among the earliest in the colony, and through her correspondence brought Methodist missionaries Martin Ruter, Robert Alexander, and Littleton Fowler to Texas. She later opened two of the territory's earliest schools, both short-lived but significant milestones in the development of education in the state.

Condition: Somewhat toned with smoothed folds. Rough edges, not affecting text. A few light, scattered stains.

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