urn:taro:utexas.cah.02070 A Guide to the David Crockett Papers, 1806, 1828-1836, 1927 Original EAD encoding by Laurel Rozema according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. November 2010 Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Crockett, Davy, 1786-1836 Crockett, David, papers 1806, 1828-1836, 1927 Materials are written in English. 1/2 in. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin The David Crockett Papers, 1806, 1828-1836, 1927, contain Photostats, photocopies, and transcripts of letters from Crockett, his marriage bond, and a genealogy. Biographical Note

Renowned Congressman, frontiersman, and soldier David "Davy" Crockett (1786-1836) was born in Greene County, Tennessee, to John and Rebecca (Hawkins) Crockett. In 1806, he married Mary "Polly" Finley (d. 1815), with whom he had three children. Shortly after her death, Crockett married Elizabeth Patton, a widowed mother of two.

Crockett enlisted in the Tennessee Militia in 1813 and fought in the Creek War and War of 1812. After moving to Lawrence County in 1817, he was a justice of the peace (1817-1819) and town commissioner in Lawrenceburg (1818-1821). Crockett served in the Tennessee Legislature (1821-1825) and the United States House of Representatives (1827-1831; 1833-1835). Originally a Jacksonian, Crockett became a member of the Anti-Jacksonian Party during his second term as Congressman, vehemently opposing President Andrew Jackson on several issues, including the Indian Removal Act.

Following his loss for a fourth congressional term in 1835, Crockett moved to Texas and swore allegiance to the provisional government or future republican government of Texas. Crockett soon joined Col. William B. Travis at San Antonio de Bexar in February 1836 and died the next month during the Battle of the Alamo.

Sources:

Lofaro, Michael A. Crockett, David. Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed November 12, 2010. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcr24.

Lofaro, Michael A. David <emph render="singlequote" >Davy</emph> Crockett. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, online edition. Accessed November 12, 2010. http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=C165.

 Scope and Contents

The David Crockett Papers, 1806, 1828-1836, 1927, contain Photostats, photocopies, and transcripts of letters from Crockett, his marriage bond, and a genealogy. The letters, 1828-1836, primarily concern his opinion of Andrew Jackson during Crockett’s terms as U.S. Congressman. The Photostat marriage bond regards his 1806 marriage to Polly Finley, while the 1927 genealogy identifies the family tree of his mother Rebecca Hawkins.

 Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Crockett, Davy, 1786-1836 -- Archives. Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845 Subjects (Organizations) United States. Congress. House. Subjects Politics, Practical -- United States. Places Washington (D.C.) -- History -- 19th century. Tennessee -- History -- 19th century. Texas -- History -- 19th century. Preferred Citation

David Crockett Papers, 1806, 1828-1836, 1927, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Processing Information

This collection revised by Stefanie Wittenbach, August 1984.

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 2D15 Correspondence and genealogy, 1828-1836, 1927 [Photostats, photocopies, and typescripts] 3S191 Marriage bond for Polly Finley and Davy Crockett, 1806 [Photostat]