Partly printed document completed in manuscript, signed by Temple Lea Houston (1860-1905), as District Attorney. Oldham County, Texas, 5 April 1883. 1 page, legal folio (2 sheets affixed together), 7 7/8 x 20 1/2 in. Docketing and names of witnesses to verso.

A court document documenting a salacious adultery case in Oldham County, Texas, signed by Temple Lea Houston (1860-1905), the youngest son of Sam Houston. In part, the indictment reads: "One Frenchy who was then and there a married woman…and one Mickey McCormick [not married to Frenchy…did then and there unlawfully live together in a state of cohabitation…and there on divers times unlawfully and carnally know each other."

After an itinerant childhood participating in cattle drives and working as a night clerk on a riverboat, Temple met Senator James Winwright Flanagan, a former political ally of his father. Flanagan secured a page position in the US Senate for 3 years, which inspired Houston's decision to pursue law. He returned to Texas in 1877, and enrolled as a cadet at the newly-established Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Texas A&M), later transferring to Baylor where he studied law and philosophy, graduating with honors in 1880. After further legal study at Georgetown, he was admitted to the Texas Bar and became the youngest practicing lawyer in the state when he opened his practice in Brazoria. He was appointed Brazoria County attorney in 1881, later accepting a position from Governor Oran Roberts as district attorney of the 35th Judicial District, which encompassing 26 unorganized counties in the Texas Panhandle. It was in this role that Temple signed this interesting document.

Condition: lower section of document detached along old folds.

[Texas, Legal History, Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Sex History, Women's History]