In Texas historiography the Sterne Diary is well known for its richness of material, its vividness of description, and its many incisive and human comments about the dramatis personae of the Republic of Texas.

The diarist, Nicholas Adolphus Sterne, was born in Cologne, Germany, on April 5, 1801, and migrat ed to America sixteen years later as a fugitive from the oppressions of his native land. Settling first at New Orleans, he later moved to the Texas-Mexican frontier town of Nacogdoches where he remained until his death in 1852. Here he became an urbane, sophisticated man-of-the- world who was a mover and shaker in the early period of Texas history. As a merchant, land agent, and jurist he observed the goings and comings of many of the giants of Texas history. Not only did he participate with them in shaping the events of his time, he also recorded them with a keen sense of history.