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Autograph letter signed by Thomas Jefferson Chambers. In Spanish. 25 lines, in ink on 2 pages of 4-page stampless cover. 

Thomas Jefferson Chambers, who moved to Mexico in 1826 before being named surveyor general of Texas in 1829, writes to the commander of the military forces in Nacogdoches about the necessity for and prospects of replacing land commissioner Juan Antonio Padillo, who had been arrested on a bogus murder charge. This cast a shadow over the surveying of land grants and issuing of titles in which Chambers and Padillo had been engaged, but was to open up future opportunities for Chambers. The letter translates in part: “I am sending to the inhabitants of that border… an order by His Excellency, the governor of the state… that he be designated to replace Mr. Juan Antonio Padilla as the commissioner who is to issue them their land titles… it is probable that they will hold meetings in order to draw up their petitions, I am advising you of this… I have understood that you will probably be commissioned as the inspector of colonization for the general government. I am glad of this… If it is true that you have received this appointment, please let me know in Saltillo, since I would like to consult you about some points of the colonization law… your attentive servant, who kisses your hands, Thomás Jefferson Chambers.