Rare copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence is being donated

By JOHN W. GONZALEZ

SAN ANTONIO - Only 13 genuine copies of the 1836 Texas Declaration of Independence are known to exist, and one of them is coming to the Alamo as a permanent gift of the descendants of one of the signers.
 
The family of Samuel Augustus Maverick, who endorsed the declaration a few days before the fall of the Alamo, disclosed the gift this week. The historic document and other Maverick papers will be presented to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library on Thursday.

The gift coincides with the 100th anniversary celebration of the DRT's custodianship of the Alamo.

"Currently, we are working to renovate the exhibit in the Long Barrack, and these documents are relevant to the story we are trying to tell," said DRT Alamo Committee Chairman Madge Roberts.

In February 1836, when San Antonio was besieged by Mexican troops, Maverick was elected as a delegate from the Alamo garrison to the Texas constitutional convention in Washington-on-the-Brazos. He arrived on March 5, the day before the Alamo fell, and was given a copy of the declaration adopted three days earlier.

Some names were printed on the document, but delegates such as Maverick who arrived late added their names in their own hand.

As many as 1,000 copies may have been printed, but only 13 have been located.

The last time one of the copies was auctioned, it sold for $600,000.