Aaron Mower of Philadelphia set the type for volume 1, number 1, of
the _Gaceta de Texas_, dated "Nacogdoches, 25 de Mayo, de 1813," which
is preserved at the National Archives and is the earliest evidence of
printing activity in Texas. A political dispute forced the removal of
Mower's press and type from Nacogdoches to Natchitoches, in Louisiana,
where this Spanish-language newspaper was actually printed and
issued.[70] Other transient presses operated briefly at Galveston in
1817, at Nacogdoches in 1819, and at San Antonio de Bexar in 1823.[71]
The permanent establishment of Texas printing dates from September
1829, when Godwin B. Cotten introduced a press at San Felipe and
founded the _Texas Gazette_. In March 1832 he relocated at Brazoria.
D. W. Anthony purchased both the press and the paper in the summer
of 1832, and until July 1833 he continued to publish the paper at
Brazoria under a new name, _The Constitutional Advocate and Texas
Public Advertiser_.
The earliest Texas printing in the Library of Congress is the number
of the paper dated June 15, 1833, which offers news only from the
United States and from overseas. "From the City of Mexico," writes
Anthony, "we have heard nothing this week, except mere disjointed
rumors from the interior. By the arrival of the next mail at San
Felipe, we may reasonably expect that some certain intelligence will
be received, of what the legislatures have done." Gathering news was
one problem; he reveals another in the following paragraph:
We are glad to be able at length, to present the ADVOCATE
to our readers, on a sheet of its accustomed size. We
stated before, that its being diminished two columns
lately, was the consequence of a mistake made by our
merchant in filling our order for paper. We now have an
ample supply, and of excellent quality, so that we shall
have no more apologies to offer on that score. These
things, however, cost money, and that in hand, which we
hope our good friends will not altogether forget.
Among the advertisements is the usual "JOB PRINTING DONE AT THIS
OFFICE" and also an announcement of the "CONSTITUTION OF TEXAS, With
or without the Memorial, For Sale at this Office and at the stores
of W. C. White, San Felipe: David Ayres, Montville: and T. W. Moore,
Harrisburg." Anthony printed these historic documents shortly after
the Texas convention held at San Felipe in April, and the _Advocate_
began to carry this advertisement on May 11, 1833.[72]
The Library's copy of the four-page newspaper has been removed from
a bound volume. Since it is inscribed "Intelligencer, W. C.," it
was obviously sent to the office of the _National Intelligencer_
at Washington City, as the capital was then called. It is slightly
mutilated: an item has been cut from an outer column, affecting the
third and fourth pages. There is no record of the issue in _A Check
List of American Newspapers in the Library of Congress_ (1901), but
its location does appear in the union list, _American Newspapers
1821-1936_ (1937).
[Illustration: _Last page of_ The Constitutional Advocate and Texas
Public Advertiser, _June 15, 1833_.]
[Footnote 70: See Clarence S. Brigham, _History and Bibliography of
American Newspapers 1690-1820_ (Worcester, 1947), p. [1069].]
[Footnote 71: A reliable survey of early Texas printing is in Thomas
W. Streeter's _Bibliography of Texas 1795-1845_ (Cambridge [Mass.]
1955-60), pt. 1, vol. 1, p. xxxi-lxi.]
[Footnote 72: See nos. 40 and 41 in Streeter's _Bibliography of
Texas_.]