urn:taro:utexas.cah.01757 A Guide to the George W. Grover Papers, 1841-1842 Original EAD encoding by Megan Mummey according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. July 2010 Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Grover, George W. Grover, George W. Papers 1841-1842 Materials are written in English. 1934 37 items Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin Photostats and typescripts comprise the George W. Grover Papers, 1841-1842, which document Grover’s experiences on the Texan Santa Fe Expedition. Biographical Note

George Washington Grover (1819-1901), Galveston merchant and city leader, participated in the Texan Santa Fe expedition in 1841, an effort to bring New Mexico under Texas’ jurisdiction. Prior to the expedition, Grover, who moved to Texas in 1839, served in the battle of Plum Creek, 1840, with Mathew Caldwell. During the Texan Santa Fe expedition, Grover, along with other members of the expedition, was captured near San Miguel, New Mexico, and imprisoned in Mexico City. During his incarceration, Grover edited a manuscript newspaper, The True Blue, under the name Simon Pure. Grover intended The True Blue, which included foreign news and short stories, to lighten the mood of his fellow Texan prisoners. After his release in April 1842, Grover wrote a memoir of his experiences, entitled Minutes of Adventure from June, 1841. He joined the California Gold Rush in the later half of the 1840s, but eventually returned to Texas to engage in the mercantile business. A civic leader, Grover served as an alderman, 1861, and as mayor pro tem. Grover died in Galveston in 1901.

Source: Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Grover, George Washington," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/GG/fgr78.html (accessed July 15, 2010).

Scope and Contents

Photostats and typescripts comprise the George W. Grover Papers, 1841-1842, which document Grover’s experiences on the Texan Santa Fe Expedition. The papers contain photostats of his prison newspaper, The True Blue, as well as photostatic newspaper clippings concerning the Texan Santa Fe Expedition. The papers also contain both a photostat and a typed transcript of Grover’s memoirs, Minutes of Adventure from June, 1841. The memoirs constitute one of the principal primary sources documenting the Texan Santa Fe Expedition. Furthermore, the papers include a photostatic muster roll for the expedition and a typed list of the Texas prisoners captured during the Mier Expedition in 1842, listing the various companies and their fates.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Grover, George Washington, 1819-1901--Archives. Brenham, Richard Fox, 1810-1843. Cooke, William Gordon, 1808-1847 Subjects Texan Santa Fé Expedition, 1841. Texan Mier Expedition (1842-1844) Places Santa Fe (N.M.) San Miguel (San Miguel County, N.M.) Mexico City (Mexico) Galveston (Tex.) Preferred Citation

George W. Grover Papers, 1841-1842, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Related Material

For the originals of these papers see the George Washington Grover Papers, 1824-1896, at the Galveston and Texas History Center Rosenberg Library.

 Processing Information

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.

 Detailed Description of the Papers Inventory 2D224 Photostats: Muster roll Literary Efforts: Newspaper clippings The True Blue newspaper, 1842 Minutes of Adventure from June, 1841 2R6 Typescripts: Minutes of Adventure from June, 1841 List of the Texas prisoners captured at Mier