Show UNCOMMON 11 A ON A AMERICANS M E R I 1 C A N S 0 0 0 B by y elmo 0 western scott watson V P per U n 1 0 n first war correspondent ON F N THE monument which they erected over his grave are inscribed thi these sc words he was a poet journalist author and farmer eminent in all yet this does less than justice to the career of george wilkins kendall A native of new hampshire Hamp shin shirt kendall became a printed at an early ige and aej followed his trade in many cities he was in new york in 1833 when an outbreak of the dreaded cholera caused him to take ship for new orleans there he entered the employ of a paper called the true american and while working there conceived the idea of a new daily newspaper which should follow the policies that had made the new york sun and philadelphia ledger edger so successful taking into partnership francis A lumsden a fellow em employee kendall launched the new orleans picayune in january 1837 he was only twenty eight at the time and his resources were small but he was such an enter enterprising pAsing editor that the picayune soon became one of the best known papers in the country at the outbreak of the war with mexico in 1846 new orleans became the chief outfitting outwitting out fitting point tor for the american forces it was also the natural center of communication between the armies in the field and washington ker dall was quick to see the journalistic opportunity which this offered he organized a system of relays of horses and riders between mexico and new orleans and of fast boats between new orleans and baltimore then he accompanied the armies of scott and taylor and began sending back vivid firsthand first hand accounts of their battles frequently writing his dispatches while cannon and bullets whistled around him kendall supplied the government with its first knowledge of the battle of buena vista and it was again this enterprising journalist who informed washington that the treaty of peace had been signed he came out of the war with the title of major and a bullet in his knee received at the storming of chapulle pec in his later years he retired to a farm in texas where he was a successful farmer and stock raiser and he died there in 1837 1867 ambassador to his native land E WAS born a yankee during athe 1 the early days of the american republic forty years later having helped establish a new american republic he came back to his native land the accredited minister to its government from the government of the younger nation of which he later became the last president and that in brief is the paradoxical career of anson jones born at great barrington mass on january 20 1798 young jones decided to become a doctor after several years study in litchfield conn he was licensed to practice in 1820 then the wanderlust seized him and he wandered to philadelphia to new 0 orleans lea lean n t to south america and finally settled in texas in 1833 at the outbreak of the troubles bet between ideen texas and mexico he was among the first to advocate a declaration la of texar independence ce when the war started he enlisted as a private but was soon appointed a surgeon in the texas army of liberation with it he served at san jacinto and after the republic was founded he became representative from brazoria to he texan congress in 1833 he was appointed d minister to the united states thus this yankee came back to his homeland as an ambassador from a foreign power while in wash ington he was elected to the texas senate and later became its president during the second term of sam houston as president of the lone star republic jones was his secretary of state and in 1844 he was elected president ert that was a critical year in the affairs of the new nation there was talk of annexation by the united states and a sharp division of opinion arose among texans over it one of those who was opposed t to it was the president but the citizens of the republic voted overwhelmingly in favor of it and on december 29 1845 the republic of texas came to an end ana the state of texas succeeded it bowing to the inevitable jones turned over the reins of government to james pinckney henderson the first governor of the state of texas and retired to his home in washington coul county coulty ty in 1857 he was prominently mentioned as a candi I 1 date for united states senator but he was destined never to return to washington where he had once gone as ambassador in a fit of insanity he died by his own hand 0 on n january 8 1858 1358 convinced to the last that texas had made a mistake in giving up its independence |