urn:taro:utexas.cah.01239 A Guide to the John Salmon “Rip” Ford Papers, circa 1836-1896 Original EAD encoding by Shelley Rowland according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. April 2009 Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Ford, John Salmon John Salmon “Rip” Ford Papers circa 1836-1896 Materials are written in English. 1 ft., 8 in. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin Papers document the life of John Salmon "Rip" Ford (1815-1897), military commander, elected official, and newspaper editor. The bulk of the collection consists of Ford’s personal memoirs. Biographical Note

John Salmon “Rip” Ford (1815-1897) was born near Greenville, South Carolina on May 26, 1815. Raised in Tennessee, Ford moved to Texas in 1836. He served in the Texas army until 1838 and practiced medicine in San Augustine. In 1844, Ford was elected to the House of the Ninth Congress of the Republic of Texas, where he presented the resolution to accept annexation to the United States. Ford moved to Austin in 1845 and became editor of the Texas Democrat. During the Mexican War, he served as regimental adjutant under John Coffee Hays. In 1849, he explored a route later known as the Ford and Neighbors Trail and became a captain in the Texas Rangers. In 1852, Ford was elected to the Texas Senate. He returned to military service in 1858, and commanded many operations and explorations, including leading Confederate forces in the battle of Palmito Ranch, the last battle of the Civil War. Ford relocated to Brownsville in 1868, where he edited the Brownsville Sentinel and served as mayor in 1874. He was a delegate of the State Constitutional Convention in 1875 and served in the Texas Senate from 1876 to 1879. He was appointed superintendent of the Deaf and Dumb School in 1879. Ford died in San Antonio on November 3, 1897.

Creator’s Sketch prepared from information contained in the Handbook of Texas Online.

 Scope and Contents

The bulk of the collection consists of Ford’s personal memoirs, 1815-1892, including his original manuscripts and typescript copies. Also included are an 1844 medical account book, three typescript copies of Ford’s John C. Hayes in Texas, and an 1896 letter from Ford to John L. Dix, Jr., concerning the 1896 presidential campaign and the poor state of the Texas economy.

 Access Restrictions

Unrestricted access.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Ford, John Salmon -- Archives. Subjects Journalism -- Texas -- History. Texas -- History -- Republic, 1836-1846. Texas -- History -- 1846-1950. Preferred Citation

John Salmon “Rip” Ford Papers, circa 1836-1896, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Detailed Description of the Papers Inventory 2D153 Memoirs [original]: 2D153 Pages 1-137 2D154 Pages 138-722 2D155 Pages 723-900 2D155 Miscellaneous pages 2D155 Index to memoirs 2D155 Medical account book, 1844 2Q510 Memoirs [typescript]: 2Q510 Volume I [copies 1-3], 1815-1836 2Q510 Volume II [copy 1], 1837-1845 2Q511 Volume II [copies 2-3], 1837-1845 2Q511 Volume III [copies 1-2], 1846-1851 2Q476 Volume IV [copies 1-2], 1851-1860 2Q476 Volume V [copies 1-3], 1860-1865 2Q476 Volume VI [copy 1], 1864-1865 2Q507 Volume VI [copies 2-3], 1864-1865 2Q507 Volume VII [copy 1], 1866-1892 2Q512 Volume VII [copies 2-3], 1866-1892 2Q512 John C. Hayes in Texas, by Colonel John S. Ford [typescript copies 1-3] 2D155 [2009-049]: 2D155 Letter, John S. “Rip” Ford to John L. Dix, Jr., July 15, 1896