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Broadside, 17.75" x 6.25". CONDITION: Very good, .25" chip at upper left corner and minor loss to lower right corner, damp stain at lower right. A scarce broadside in praise of the heroic conduct and "noble traits" of Andrew Neill, a Scottish-born Texan soldier and attorney campaigning for Lieutenant Governor as an independent in 1855. After immigrating to the United States as a young man and establishing himself as a probate judge in Mississippi, Andrew Neill (1813 1883) joined the Texas Revolution, fighting as captain of a volunteer company under Felix Huston. He then settled in Texas, practicing law first in Gonzales and then in Seguin, and at the same time leading quite an adventurous life: "He participated in various Indian campaigns and took part in the expedition to repulse Rafael Vásquez from San Antonio in March 1842. While trying a case in district court in San Antonio in the fall of 1842, he was captured by Adrián Woll and taken as a prisoner to Mexico…but Neill managed to escape, traveled to Veracruz, sailed for New Orleans, and was back in Texas in January 1843" (Handbook). In 1854, Neill served as grand master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas, and during the Civil War relocated to Galveston to serve as a lieutenant colonel in the First Texas Partisan Rangers. He moved to Austin in 1875. This broadside, published before the 1855 Texas gubernatorial election and authored by Waco-based lawyer and land agent J. Douglass Brown, is a panegyric on Neill, who "At the solicitation of many of his fellow citizens…offers himself the candidate for Lieutenant Governor…free of party." Without touching on any particular political issues, the broadside narrates how Neill left "his home, friends, and his all" to aid the fledgling state with "men, means and arms" in its "perilous hour"; alludes to Neill s numerous "most daring, hairbreadth escapes" during the Revolution, as well as his "fortune to escape the dark dungeons of Mexico" ("Old Texians will tell you these things. His fellow suffering prisoners will testify to their correctness"); praises his high civil standing and impeccable character ("A man of morals and virtue, entirely temperate in his habits, courteous, polite, and agreeable; a soldier and scholar…His whole life displays a man devoted to the cause of right and principle"), and, of course, states his ceaseless devotion "to Texas and her interests." Neill campaigned against nominees from the Democratic Party and the Know-Nothing Party. The latter entered the state s political scene just a month before this broadside was printed, "Posing as a river improvement convention" but in fact nominating candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, congress, and several other offices (McClellan p. 32). Neill took just twelve percent of the vote, losing, along with his Know-Nothing rival, to the Democratic nominee. Not in OCLC or Raines, A Bibliography of Texas. However, a copy is held at Beinecke Library. Also, Winkler (who spells "Douglass" with one s) indicates an example at the University of Texas, Austin presumably among Neill s papers, which are held there though we find no record of it online. A rare antebellum Texas broadside emphatically endorsing the character of an adventurous and politically independent candidate. REFERENCES: Winkler, Check List of Texas Imprints 553; McClellan, Waymon. "1855: The Know-Nothing Challenge in East Texas," East Texas Historical Journal Vol. 12, No. 2 (1974); "Neill, Andrew," Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association.
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