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[Identification of item], Samuel Houston Correspondence (WLU Coll. 0065), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA.
The February 5, 1821 letter was written by Matthew Stephenson in Leesburg, Va. to his uncle, Samuel Houston in Natural Bridge, Va. Stephenson writes about the winter weather, Doctor Chapman and his preaching locally and in Jonesborough and Elizabethton, Tn.
The June 20, 1836 letter was written by Houston in Rural Valley to George A. Baker, J. W. Jordan, J. M. Ruff, J. M. D. Taylor, and William White in Lexington, Va. concerning their invitation to him to celebrate American Independence Day in Lexington. He declines to attend. He says, "I have been sorry to learn too often they [July 4th celebrations] have been Bacchanalian entertainments rather than temperate hilarity. I have no willingness to attend provided you will exclude distilled liquor and close before night comes on having explicity honored God in proper ways..."
The Reverend Samuel Houston was born on January 1, 1758. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees at what is now Washington and Lee University from 1791-1826. He's listed in the 1888 Washington and Lee University Alumni Directory as having attended sometime between 1749-1782. Houston served as a soldier during the American Revolution. He died on January 20, 1839.