Samuel Bangs (ca. 1798–1854) was the first printer in Texas, west of the Mississippi, and three Mexican states. Trained in New England, he contributed greatly to the cultivation of a printing culture in the region. Documents printed under his oversight tell some of the story of a turbulent slice of history. Bangs faced a seemingly unending catalog of adversity over the years, from a seven-year imprisonment to being cheated out of his lands to being beset by highway robbers. Despite his tribulations, Bangs created technically impressive and lasting work. Several fine examples of his printed specimens are on display in the museum’s Texas Gallery.
Once such specimen is the Republic of Texas Indenture above. Printed by Bangs and signed by Gail Borden, the first official printer for the Republic of Texas, this document is considered a sort of “Rosetta Stone” for identifying Bangs’ work during this time. A least 18 different fonts are identifiable here, demonstrating the variety of type available to Bangs by this point. The item conveys lots in Galveston sold at auction by the Galveston City Company, and is signed by directors James Love, Levi Jones, Samuel May Williams and Peter J. Menard.
It is a grim irony that Bangs was unable to recover any of the land granted to him after it was swindled from him by Thomas Jefferson Chambers (1802–1865), a lawyer he engaged to attend to his titles while he worked in Mexico.
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