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James Bowie Autograph Pay Order Signed. ...
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Sold on Nov 30, 2022 for:
$47,500.00
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Description
James Bowie Autograph Pay Order Signed. One page, 7.75" x 3.125" (sight), Natchez [Mississippi]; March 10, 1829. A manuscript document ordering L. Hughes to pay Angus McNeill $134. McNeill (1806-1882) first met Jim Bowie in 1826 while he was a planter in Natchez, Mississippi (where Bowie first made a name for himself as a knife fighter during the 1827 Vidalia Sandbar Fight). The two men soon became friends as well as business associates. Eighteen months after that infamous fight, Bowie had this order drawn up. He writes, in full:"M. L Hughes Sir You will please play M. Angus McNeill One Hundred and Thirty four Dollars and oblige Your / Natchez 10 March 1829". Boldly signed, "James Bowie".
James Bowie signed items are extremely uncommon. The example offered here is particularly notable for its large signature and ornate paraph. It has been attractively matted and framed to the overall size of 17.375" x 13". Not examined outside of the frame.
Before he met McNeill, Bowie had lived in Louisiana where he was involved in slave smuggling and a large land theft scheme involving forged land grants. Though he made money in these nefarious ventures, it all started to disappear by 1821, when creditors began taking him to court for unpaid debts. Bowie continued to dabble in land speculation with his brothers, Rezin and Stephen, establishing the 1,800-acre sugar plantation of Arcadia near Thibodaux, Louisiana. Bowie moved to Texas permanently on January 1, 1830, and became involved in new land speculation schemes including one relating to an 1828 Mexican law granting Texas land to citizens which aroused the ire of empresario Stephen F. Austin. Later that year, he became a Mexican citizen and a Roman Catholic, all with the understanding that he would establish cotton and wool mills in Coahuila. Through McNeill, Bowie bought textile machinery for $20,000, liquidating the remainder of his assets in Louisiana. The following year he married Ursula de Veramendi, the daughter of his sponsor, Juan Martín de Veramendi, one of many wealthy Mexicans that Bowie had become acquainted with. It was in the home of McNeill that Bowie, in 1833, himself lying on the brink of death with yellow fever, learned of the deaths of Ursula and her two young children back in Texas. Bowie returned to Texas and led troops during the Texas Revolution, taking part in the Battle of Concepción and the Grass Fight. He died on March 6, 1836, during the defense of the Alamo, assuring his place in the pantheon of Texas heroes.
McNeill accompanied Bowie to Texas in 1835, having been accepted as a colonist in the failed Vehlein grant. Due to his knowledge of Texas, he was appointed by the citizens of Natchez to a committee to aid Mississippians serving in the Texan army. A resident of Houston into the 1840s, McNeill joined the First Regiment, Texas Mounted Rifles, in 1846 and served six months during the Mexican War. He continued his military service during the Civil War as a private in the Twenty-Second Brigade, Texas State Troops. He died at Eagle Lake in 1882.
Condition: Slightly uneven edges. Even toning along right margin. Very light scattered soiling. Smoothed folds.
Auction Info
2022 November 30 Texana Signature® Auction #6264 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
November, 2022
30th
Wednesday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 3
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 1,594
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