February 6, 1861; The New York Herald
A despatch from New Orleans states that a report prevailed there that the Texas State Convention has passed a secession ordinance by a vote of 154 to 6. Should the report be true, and there is little reason to doubt its correctness, Texas will make the seventh State which has cut loose from the Union.
There are various reports in circulation relative to the condition of affairs at Pensacola, but the latest accounts announce the gratifying intelligence that an armistice has been concluded between Lieutenant Slemmer, the commander of Fort Pickens, and the State forces. The Mississippi troops were to leave Pensacola for their homes on the 4th inst. but the Alabama troops would remain until relieved.
The trial of Gordon Hires, mate of the American bark Anna, charged with the murder of a colored seaman, named John Tuttle, was commenced yesterday in the Unites States Circuit court, before Judge Smalley. It will be recollected that six colored men out of eight of the same hue, died on the voyage from Laguna to England, and the matter was thereafter fully investigated at Southampton. The second mate is now being tried for the murder of one of those colored men.