Louis Franke - 1818-1873
German born Louis Franke arrived in Texas in 1845. He came with a master’s degree in law from the University of Jena. Franke volunteered...
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David A. Bowles
david921866
- Apr 8
- 1 min
Fayette Smith’s Last Battle
On April 8, 1864, thirty-two-year-old Fayette Smith from Navasota, Texas, was wounded at the Battle of Mansfield in Louisiana. Not his...
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david921866
- Mar 8
- 1 min
Conrad Meuly – 1812-1865
Swiss born merchant, Conrad Meuly, came to the Republic of Texas from New York with silk hose, scarves, and bolts of expensive fabrics....
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david921866
- Feb 19
- 1 min
Texas Statehood
One hundred seventy-eight years ago, the City of Austin stopped at Noon on February 19, 1846. The town of several hundred residents and...
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david921866
- Feb 9
- 2 min
Austin Lyceum
The Austin Lyceum was granted a charter on February 5, 1841. The first charter issued for a learned society in the Republic of Texas. E....
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david921866
- Jan 7
- 1 min
Getting the News in 1843
On January 7, 1843, Charles DeMorse wrote the following in the Northern Standard newspaper. At the time, the Clarksville paper was the...
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david921866
- Dec 14, 2023
- 1 min
Grandmother's Stories
It was on the lawn of our Austin home that I first heard the story I was destined to write! The tale of a family member being captured by...
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david921866
- Dec 5, 2023
- 1 min
Leroy Tillman Kelso
Leroy T. Kelso was born in Mississippi in 1847 and his family arrived in Texas in 1850. In 1873, the Comanches were raiding in the Hill...
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david921866
- Nov 27, 2023
- 1 min
Alfred Givens Kelso, Sr.
Alfred Givens Kelso, Sr. came to Texas in 1829. He joined the Texas Army as First Corporal under the command of Captain William K....
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david921866
- Nov 15, 2023
- 1 min
Code of the Cow Country
The following poem is something I found in a barn many years ago on a feed sack. I tore it off and have since found the poem in various...
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david921866
- Nov 3, 2023
- 1 min
Father of Texas
The “Father of Texas” Stephen F. Austin was born in Virginia on November 3, 1793. His father Moses Austin received permission from Spain...
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david921866
- Oct 31, 2023
- 1 min
Alsey Silvanus Miller-1820-1885
Sixteen-year-old Alsey Silvanus Miller traveled alone to Texas in the fall of 1836. After a short stay in Washington County, he made Oak...
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david921866
- Oct 25, 2023
- 1 min
Charles DeMorse-1816-1887
Born Charles D. Morse in Massachusetts, he was educated in New Haven and New York City. In 1835, he joined Edwin Morehouse Volunteers to...
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david921866
- Oct 23, 2023
- 1 min
Henry Clay Davis - 1814-1866
“Clay” as everyone called Henry Clay Davis was born in Georgia and raised in Kentucky. He came to San Antonio, Texas and joined the First...
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david921866
- Oct 17, 2023
- 1 min
President Lamar Arrives in Austin
On October 17, 1839, President Mirabeau B. Lamar arrived in Austin with his cabinet and the records from Houston of the Republic of...
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david921866
- Oct 11, 2023
- 1 min
First Protestant Preacher in Texas
The first protestant to preach on Texas soil, Reverend Sumner Bacon, always carried his Bible and a loaded revolver. The Presbyterian...
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david921866
- Oct 6, 2023
- 1 min
Thomas W. Ward – 1807-1872
Captain Thomas Ward was a hero of the Texas Revolution before it began. The Irish-born member of the New Orlean’s Greys lost a leg at the...
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David A Bowles
- Oct 5, 2023
- 1 min
Austin’s First Settler – Jacob M. Harrell – 1804-1853
Jacob M. Harrell, an early settler, was born in Tennessee in 1804. He married Mary McCutcheon, and they had four kids. Harrell came to...
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David A Bowles
- Oct 2, 2023
- 1 min
Sarah Seely DeWitt 1789-1854
Sarah Seely and her husband Green DeWitt founded DeWitt Colony in the spring of 1825. Her husband Green would die in Monclova, Mexico on...
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David A Bowles
- Sep 27, 2023
- 1 min
Michael Ziller
First Footer of the Republic of Texas, Michael Ziller was a German immigrant and ex-soldier under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte. He...
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