Ayish Bayou District Nov. 5. 1826
Dear Sir,
Understanding that complaints have been made to yon by James
Gaines, respecting some of the inhabitants of your colony, who he
has represented, have written letters to citizens of this District
calculated to excite dissaffection to the laws and the government, I
herein inclose the letters which gave rise to this complaint. They are
written you will see, by my old neighbors and friends, Messrs
Thompson and Payton, and not, as Capt. Gaines imagined by Mr White.
The leters were brought to me from Nacogdoches by Gaines, who,
when he delivered them, remarked that the handwriting was Squire
Whites', and desired me to permit him to read them. Finding that
they contained intelligence which I was requested to keep a secret,
and knowing Gaines of all men in the world to be the most unfit to be
trusted with one, I refused. Immediately his fruitful and
disturbed imagination gave birth to the most dreadful suspicion and
he saw at once, in vision, the peaceful fields of the Ayish Bayou,
a prey to all the horrors of rebellion. Its indeed unfortunate that
we are debarred the privilege of friendly and confidential
correspondence without incurring the imputation of treasonable designs.
I avail myself of the same opportunity to send you a copy of a
letter written by Capt. Gaines to the Governor at Saltillo. It needs
no comment. You will see that he has proscribed some of the most
respectable inhabitants of this District as well as yourself, and that
even an aged and defenceless female could not escape the poison of
his malice.
Jn° Sprowl
[Addressed:] Stephen Austin Esq. San Felipe de Austin Coahuila
& Texas—