GCHC NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

Grimes County Historical Commission

Issue 3 Volume 2 March 2016 Meetings of the Grimes County Historical Commission are held on the Second Monday of the Month at 7:00 pm in the Courthouse Annex in Anderson, Texas Contact Information Russell Cushman 403 Holland Navasota, TX 77868 (936) 825 8223 rcush403@aol.com Visit us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Grime sCountyHistoricalCommission Online Website (coming soon) www.grimescountyhistoricalcom msion.com

Photo of the Month

Grimes County Historical Commission Executive Board Chairman Russell Cushman Vice Chairman Joe King Fultz Secretary Vanessa Burzynski Treasurer Joe King Fultz

COMMITTEES Historical Markers Denise Upchurch Heritage Preservation Sarah Nash

Bedias Jail Bedias, Texas

Newsletter & Publicity Vanessa Burzynski

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

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Administrator’s Notice

The Central Texian Saturday, March 17, 1855 Anderson, Texas We are requested to announce that Hon. J. Boone, D.D.C. for the district of Grimes and Montgomery will lecture at the Court House in this place on Thursday night next, on the subject of temperance. We trust that our citizens will generally turn out upon that occasion.

Captains Henry and Walker have offered the services of themselves and companies to Gov. Trias of Chihuahua. Their term of service in the United States expired on the 14th instant.

Rangers – The companies of Texas Mounted Volunteers under the command of Captains Henry, Walker and Travis, are by special order of Gen. Smith to be mustered out of service at the expiration of three months from the time they were mustered in. The San Antonio Texan from which we obtain this information, censures Gen. Smith very much for this step, which nothing but orders from the War Department will excuse.

The Indians continue to depredate on the frontier settlements.

The Railroad Convention at LaGrange fixed upon Galveston and Austin as the places of terminus for the contemplated road, and took measures for the survey of three routes, and the opening of books for the subscription of stock.

Those who subscribe select the route; and in case they do not choose that which is finally determined upon, they will be at liberty to withdraw their names.

It is further resolved that no one be allowed to take stock to an amount greater than one-fourth his taxable property.

Letters of administration having been granted to the undersigned on the estate of David B. Floyd, deceased, by the honorable the County Court of Grimes County at the December term thereof, A.D. 1854, notice is hereby given to all persons having claims against said estate to present them duly authenticated within the time prescribed by law.

Elisha Floyd, Administrator.

Letters of administration having been granted to the undersigned upon the estate of Willis I. Roan, deceased, by the Probate Court of Grimes County, at the February term 1855. Persons holding claims against said estate will present them within the time prescribed by law and those indebted must make immediate payment. John P. Roan, Administrator.

Letters of Administration having been granted to the undersigned by the County Court of Grimes County at the January term, 1855, on the estate of E. J. Hendrick, deceased, notice is hereby given to all persons having claims against said estate, to present them authenticated as required by law, and those indebted to the same to make immediate payment. Margaret E. Hendrick, Administratrix.

Joseph H. Dunham, Administrator of the estate of John H. Dunham, deceased, has filed in my office his final exhibit and account current with said estate; also his petition praying for a discharge from said administration; all of which will be heard and acted upon at the next regular term of the County Court for the Probate of Wills to be holden in and for the County of Grimes, at the Court House thereof on the first Monday and 26th day of March, 1855, when and where all persons interested may attend and contest the same if they think proper. J. G. Chatham, Clerk

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

$25.00 Reward Pocket Book Lost – Lost between Barry & Montgomery’s saw mill and Anderson, a small green pocket book containing a $100 bill on the bank of Mobile, a $50 bill Louisiana money, a $20 gold piece, two $10 pieces, one $3 bid and one $1 bill Galveston money, and one very old silver dollar. The finder will receive the above reward by leaving it with Col. Barry or at this office. Thomas. J. Sharp

Citation Notice State of Texas – Grimes County No. 347 – Sampson Buff vs. E. C. McClenny To the Sheriff of said County – Greeting: Whereas, Sampson Buff of the afore-said State and County, has filed his petition in the District Court of Grimes County, alleging that E. C. McClenny, whose residence to him is unknown, is justly indebted to him in the sum of three hundred and sixty-three dollars and fifty cents for this, to-wit: That some time in the month of __________ A.D. 1853, on John S. Parker, made, executed, and delivered to him the said Buff, a certain note for the sum of $353.50 for value received and that he delivered the said note to said E. C. McClenny in trust and confidence that he would collect the amount thereof and refund and pay over the sum of $363.50 to him, the said Buff; he further alleges that the said E. C. McClenny did collect and receive the full amount of said note from said John S. Parker and he further alleges that the said McClenny has not refunded or paid over said amount to him, not will he, the said McClenny give any account of what he has done in relation thereto, and that he still refuses to refund or pay to petitioner said sum of money and therefore prays judgment and John W. Hutcheson,

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for plaintiff, having made oath that he, said E. C. McClenny, is a transient person or that his residence is unknown to affiant.

You are therefore commanded to summon the said E. C. McClenny to be and appear at the next term of the District Court to be holden for the county of Grimes at the Court House thereof in the town of Anderson, on the second Monday after the third Monday in March, A.D. 1855 by publication in the Central Texian, a newspaper published in the town of Anderson, Grimes County, Texas., of this citation, for four successive weeks previous to the return date hereof, then and there to answer the petition of Sampson Buff now on file in my office.

Herein fail not, under penalty of the law, and have you then and there this Citation with your return endorsed thereon.

Attest: A. Buffington, Clerk of the District Court of Grimes County, with the impression of the seal of this office, this the 7th day of March A.D., 1855. A. Buffington, Clerk District Court Grimes County. B. Franklin Brigance, Deputy.

I William Carley, Sheriff of Grimes County, do hereby certify that the foregoing and above is a true copy of the original placed in my hand. WM CARLEY, Sheriff Grimes County.

Came to hand March 8th, 1855, and ordered to be published in the Central Texian a newspaper published in the town of Anderson, Grimes County, Texas for four successive weeks previous to the return day. WM. CARLEY, Sheriff Grimes County.

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

BEDIAS, TEXAS. Bedias is at the intersection of State Highway 90 and Farm roads 1696 and 2620, twenty-nine miles northeast of Navasota in northeast Grimes County. The community was named for the Bidai Indians, whose Caddo name means "brushwood." The town in turn has given its name to the distinctive tektites—called Bediasites—found in Texas, most of which have been discovered within Grimes County. Settlement of the area began in 1835, when Thomas Phiney Plaster established a plantation a few miles west of the present townsite; earliest reports of the community refer to it as Plasterville. In 1844 Archelaus B. Dodson took up residence on the northern edge of the settlement; his wife, Sarah Bradley Dodsonqv, reportedly designed the first Lone Star flag. A post office was established at Bedias in 1846, 1847, or 1867, according to various sources. A Baptist church was organized in 1848, and the first Methodist congregation in the community was formed by a circuit rider from Palestine in 1871. By 1885 the population had grown to 300 residents, who supported four gristmill-gins, three churches, and four privately operated schools.

In 1903 the International-Great Northern Railroad line reached Bedias. By 1907 the town had five general stores, two banks, two hotels, two gins, and sundry additional businesses; by 1915 a population of 500 was reported. Most of the town's business section was destroyed by fire in 1927 but was soon restored. In 1936 the town reported twenty-five rated businesses and an estimated population of 500. The community's fortunes declined during the 1960s. By 1967 its population had fallen to an estimated 290 and its businesses to five. In 1990 Bedias had a population of 301

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and six rated businesses. The population remained unchanged in 2000 but the number of businesses had grown to thirtyeight.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Grimes

County

Historical

Commission,

History of Grimes County, Land of Heritage and Progress (Dallas: Taylor, 1982). Adele

B. Looscan, "Harris County, 1822–1845," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 18–19 (October 1914-July 1915).

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

Bedias Jail

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with tin over a thick wooden ceiling. It measures 2.51 meters across the front and 3.11 meters on each side. The distance from the ground to the top of the walls is 2.22 meters. The door is wooden and measures 89 cm by 1.90 meters. There are three windows. The window on the front is small (27 cm x 34 cm) and has two round metal bars. The other two windows are on the north and south sides and measure 21 cm x 61 cm. They have 7 bars.

Window on the South Side

This calaboose is located in Grimes County. It is on the corner of the 22100 block of West Street and the 3600 block of Main Street in Bedias, Texas on a lot owned by the Bedias Civic Club. It was originally located across the street between the current post office and State Highway 90.

The exact date of the construction of this jail is not known, and I was unable to find a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map for the town of Bedias. According to Mackie Bobo (Mayor of Bedias), this jail was built in the 1920s and used until the 1950s after which time it was moved two blocks away to a site owned by the Williams family. They needed a barn and they added on to it and it remained hidden and forgotten until Mike and Mackie Bobo purchased the property.

When they demolished the barn they were surprised to find the old Bedias jail inside.

The Bobo family recognized its historical significance and donated it to the Bedias Civic Club who is charged with the responsibility of maintaining it for prosperity. McAdoo Plaster was the father of Mackie Bobo, and he said that this jail was used mainly as a place to lock up drunks on Saturday night. This task was carried out by the local Constable or Sheriff. The front of the jail faces west. It is made of wood, and the roof is covered

Two bars are missing from the window on the north side. The floor is also wood.

There is a bed inside but it is not original to the jail. There were no Sanborn maps at the agencies visited for Bedias, Texas. This structure conforms to Floor Plan 1a (see Floor Plans). This calaboose was recorded at TARL as historic site 41GM459.

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

BIDAI INDIANS. The Bidai (Beadeye, Bedias, Biday, Viday) Indians lived between the Brazos and Trinity rivers in southeastern Texas. Although at times they ranged a larger area, their main settlements were in the vicinity of present Grimes, Houston, Madison, Walker, and Trinity counties, and a number of place names record their former presence in this area. The earliest reference to the tribe was in a Spanish document of 1691 which noted that a group of "Bidey" lived in proximity of the Hasinais. In 1718 and 1720, reported that an agricultural people by the name of Bidai lived near the Trinity in eastern Texas. In 1748–1749 some of the Bidais were briefly at San Francisco Xavier de Horcasitas Mission before San Ildefonso Mission was built nearby for the Bidai, Deadose, and Akokisa Indians. These missions, which were established on the San Gabriel River near the site of present Rockdale, were abandoned by 1755. In 1756–57 Nuestra Señora de la Luz Mission was established on the lower Trinity River for the Akokisas and Bidais, and some of the Bidais settled near this mission for a short time. It was the grouping of the Bidais with these other groups that has caused some confusion as to the origins and language of the tribe. It was typically thought that the Spanish grouped natives on missions because they spoke common or similar languages. Thus, the Bidais were believed to have had some kinship to the Atakapa people. Upon further study, scholars have concluded that diverse languages were spoken by mission residents but that they might have spoken a second common language in dealing with one another. In the 1770s, the Bidais were reported to have been in league with the French to sell guns to the Lipan Apaches, enemies of the Spanish. In 1776–77 the Bidai population was reduced by about 50 percent in a single epidemic, and by 1820 only a few small groups of Bidais survived.

Some of these joined the Akokisas; others joined the Koasati, who were living nearby;

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and still others were taken in 1854 to the Brazos Indian Reservation in what is now Young County. The last group eventually ended up in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, where their identity was soon lost. In 1830 Jean Berlandier wrote that the tribe was dependent on hunting for their existence and that they were very poor. He also described their customs as resembling those of the Caddos. He believed them to be one of the "oldest of the native people." While later studies associated the Bidai with Atákapa customs and rituals, conclusive evidence concerning their culture is not known.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lawrence

E.

Aten,

Indians of the Upper Texas Coast (New

York: Academic Press, 1983). Jean Louis Berlandier, Indians of Texas in 1830, ed.

John C. Ewers and trans. Patricia Reading Leclerq (Washington:: Smithsonian, 1969).

William W. Newcomb, The Indians of Texas (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1961).

Andre Sjoberg, The Bidai Indians of Southeastern Texas (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1951).

The Texas State Times (Austin, Tex.) Vol.1 No. 47 Saturday, October 21, 1854 The Bedia Tribe – We saw upon our streets yesterday almost the entire remains of a once powerful tribe of Indians, the Bedias.

Some five or six women, one brave and a few children are the only survivors, and in a few years the tribe will be extinct.

Although well cared and provided for by the people of the country, with some of whom the most of them have been aquainted from their earliest years, they cannot refrain from manifesting by their countenance and language, their sorrow for the present depressed situation of their tribe, when interrogated as to its former power and greatness. – Central Texan

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

Bethel Cemetery During the Republic of Texas era, settlers in this area came together to form the Bethel Community. In 1843, a visitor died of smallpox and was buried at this site, which became Bethel Cemetery. Among those buried here is Sarah Bradley Dodson, known as the Betsy Ross of Texas. Part of an “Old 300� family from Stephen F. Austin's first Texas colony, Dodson created a lone star flag in 1835 to send with her husband, Archelaus, during the Texas Revolution. The flag was one of two that flew over Washington-on-the-Brazos at the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836.

In 1852, four years after his wife died of pneumonia, Archelaus Dodson gave this burial ground to trustees of Bethel Presbyterian Church, who built a chapel next to the cemetery circa 1844. In 1904, trustees of the burial ground opened an adjacent section for local African Americans. That section of Bethel is sometimes known as Salem Cemetery.

Today, a link to a community long gone, Old Bethel Cemetery is the final resting place of generations of Texas pioneers and area residents.

Following the dedication of the marker, the cemetery association recognized James Gustine, Billie Stone and his wife, Linnie Stone, for their many years of devoted service to the Grimes County Bethel Cemetery Association.

FM 1372, CR 410 Bedias, Texas Grimes County Year Erected: 2005 Marker Type: HTC Medallion and 24" x 16" interpretive plaque

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GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

Sarah Bradley Dodson In 1823 Edward Bradley and his family left their Kentucky home to join the 1st three hundred of Stephen F. Austin’s colony.

They settled on the lower Brazos River between Richmond and Columbia. Three years later, in 1826, the Dodson family of North Carolina made Texas their home.

The Bradley’s had a daughter, Sarah, and the Dodson’s had a son, Archelaus. Fate had them meet, fall in love, and marry in May of 1835. Archelaus was among the early Texas volunteers when hostilities broke out with the Mexicans in the fall of 1835. He joined Andrew Robinson in forming the Harrisburg Company of Texas volunteers.

Sarah designed and made a flag for the volunteers. The Harrisburg Company flew this tri-color Lone Star Flag on their march from Harrisburg to Gonzales to join John H. Moore’s small army. Shortly thereafter Stephen Austin assumed command and Sarah’s flag passed to him. The flag was in San Antonio for the December 1835 siege of that city.

During the following March 1836 two other Lone Star flags flew over the Alamo before its fall – the Troutman Flag of the Georgians and the McGahey Flag of Independence. On April 21st of that year, Texas won its independence. During the days of the resultant Texas Republic, in 1844, with her family, Sarah moved from Fort Bend County to the Bedias community in northern Grimes County.

Sarah died of pneumonia in 1848 and received internment on the Dodson’s property. Four years later her husband gave the acreage where she was buried to the community for a cemetery, church and school. It is now known as the Bethel Cemetery.

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Though known as the “Betsy Ross of Texas,” Sarah’s grave went unmarked for 100 years until the Bedias Community in 1935 organized a centennial for Sarah’s flag. At that time, descendants of her family and others placed a pink granite tombstone at her grave.

On January 14, 2002, the Grimes County Commissioner’s Court proclaimed the Dodson flag the official Grimes County Banner.

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

THE DODSON FLAG

The first Constitutional Convention met at Washington on the Brazos, on March 1st, 1836. Two out of three of the delegates were under 40 years old, and all had been elected for the express purpose of declaring the independence of Texas from Mexico and forming a government for the new republic. Mindful of the constant danger from the advancing Mexican army, no one knew when they all might have to leave to join the fight. On the opening day, a "Norther" blew through and the temperature inside the meeting hall - a wooden building with scraps of cloth for windows and doors - was 33 degrees.

Historians record that flying over the hall was the flag designed and made by Sarah Dodson.

Recognized as the first "Lone Star" flag, she had originally created it for her husband Archelaus, a member of the Robinson Company of army volunteers formed in September, 1835, at Harrisburg, Texas. After serving at Gonzales, this company marched under the Dodson flag to San Antonio to lay siege to the Alamo.

Like practically all of the Texas volunteers, these men returned to their homes to prepare for winter after San Antonio had been taken from the Mexicans, not realizing the strength of the Mexican reinforcements invading Texas. After the Mexicans crushed the remaining forces at the Alamo and massacred the Texans at Goliad, the Robinson Company was assigned to protect the retreating civilians.

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This exodus was known as the "Runaway Scrape." Plagued with measles, whooping cough and practically no provisions the Texans made their way through the swamps and marshes on foot and by ox cart. Nearly everything was soaked by the torrents of rain and flooded streams. On April 21st, the refugees could hear the cannon fire of the battle of San Jacinto, and doubled their pace, fearing the worst.

A courier on horseback from Sam Houston caught up with the convoy, and the families of Texans learned of the thrilling victory at San Jacinto.

This flag was introduced to the Congress of the Republic of Texas on December 28, 1838, by Senator William H. Wharton and was adopted on January 25, 1839, as the final national flag of the Republic of Texas.

When Texas became the 28th state of the Union on December 29, 1845, the national flag became the state flag. From 1879 until 1933 there was no official state flag, although the Lone Star remained the de facto state flag. The Revised Civil Statutes of 1879 repealed all statutes not explicitly renewed and since the statutes pertaining to the flag were not among those renewed, Texas was formally flagless until the passage of the Texas Flag Code in 1933.

The actual designer of the flag is unknown.

Dr. Charles B. Stewart is credited with drawing the image used by the Third Congress when enacting the legislation adopting the flag, and Sen. William H. Wharton introduced the flag to Congress.

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

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DODSON, ARCHELAUS BYNUM (1807– 1898). Archelaus Dodson, participant in the Texas Revolution, son of Obadiah and Sarah (Garrison) Dodson, was born in North Carolina on December 31, 1807. He left for Texas in 1826, and was living in Harrisburg in 1827. He married Sarah Bradley there on May 17, 1835; they had six children. When the local committee of vigilance and safety learned of Gen. Martín Perfecto de Cos's planned invasion of Texas and sent out a call to arms on September 19, 1835, Dodson joined other Harrisburg volunteers in forming a company under Capt. Andrew Robinson.

Dodson was elected first lieutenant.

PLASTER, THOMAS PHINEY (1804–1861).

Thomas Phiney Plaster, soldier and planter, was born in North Carolina on June 26, 1804. He moved from Giles County, Tennessee, in 1835 with his wife, Dollie B. (Samuel), and established a plantation near the site of present Bedias in Montgomery (now Grimes) County, Texas. From March 1 until April 1, 1836, he served as a lieutenant in Capt. L. B. Franks's ranger company on the northern frontier. On April 2 he enlisted in Lt. Col. James C. Neill's so-called "Artillery Corps" and was elected second sergeant. At the battle of San Jacinto Plaster manned one of the "Twin Sisters."

Sarah Bradley Dodsonqv designed and, with help of other Harrisburg women, made the first tricolor Lone Star flag of Texas; when the company of Andrew Robinson, Jr., was mustered into the revolutionary army in 1835, she presented it to the members. The Robinson company participated in the siege of Bexar and did not return to East Texas until early 1836, still led by the Dodson flag. Dodson was among those detailed to ensure the safety of women and children beyond the Brazos River in the Runaway Scrape; he contracted measles from some of the sick children and was unable to participate in the battle of San Jacinto.

He was tried by court-martial for a now unknown offense and sentenced by Brig.

Gen. Thomas J. Rusk to be reprimanded before the entire army on parade on the evening of June 27, 1836, and dismissed from service. He rejoined the army on July 5, however, as a private in Capt. George Washington Poe's First Artillery Battalion, and by August 1 had been promoted to quartermaster of the First Cavalry Regiment of the First Brigade, Army of the Republic of Texas. From then until November 22, 1836, he was stationed at Camp Johnson, on the Lavaca River.

The Dodsons continued to live in Fort Bend County until 1844, when they claimed their headright in Grimes County. Sarah Dodson died in 1848, and Dodson married Katherine Maria McKnight McWhorter, a widow with several children, in 1850. He moved the family to Live Oak County in 1860 and became a rancher with his brother-in-law, Martin Culver, a cattleman.

Dodson died on his ranch about five miles south of Alice on March 10, 1898, and was buried in the Old Collins Cemetery.

Thereafter he returned to his plantation, where by 1840 he owned 2,952 acres. By 1850 his Grimes County real estate had increased in value to $1,400. By 1860 it was worth $11,000, and that year he reported $6,000 in personal property. His wife died in 1857, at age forty-nine, in giving birth to their ninth child, named Dollie after her mother. Plaster served for several years as postmaster at Bedias, and after annexation he was elected to the First Legislature of the state of Texas. He died of pneumonia in Austin on March 27, 1861, and is buried in the State Cemetery. At the time of his death he was doorkeeper of the Texas House of Representatives.

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

Runaway Scrape The Runaway Scrape is the period in early 1836 generally beginning with the Siege and Fall of the Alamo and ending with the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21. It was a period of terror and panic among the settlements of Texas, as Santa Anna and the Mexican armies swept eastward from San Antonio, virtually unopposed.

The term Runaway Scrape was the name Texans applied to the flight from their homes when Antonio L贸pez de Santa Anna began his attempted conquest of Texas in February 1836. The first communities to be affected were those in the south central portions of Texas around San Patricio, Refugio, and San Antonio. The people began to leave that area as early as January 14, 1836, when the Mexicans were reported gathering on the Rio Grande.

When Sam Houston arrived in Gonzales on March 11 and was informed of the fall of the Alamo, he decided upon retreat to the Colorado River and ordered all inhabitants to accompany him.

Couriers were dispatched from Gonzales to carry the news of the fall of the Alamo, and when they received that news, people all over Texas began to leave everything and make their way to safety. Houston's retreat marked the beginning of the Runaway Scrape on a really large scale.

During the runaway, the colonists gathered a few personal possessions, abandoned their homes, and headed eastward under most difficult conditions. Rain and cold weather during the period slowed the settler's eastward progress along the muddy roads and trails. There was widespread hunger and sickness, and many died. News of Santa Anna's atrocities (some true, but some distorted by rumor) added to the frenzy.

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Washington-on-the-Brazos was deserted

by March 17, and about April 1 Richmond was evacuated, as were the settlements on both sides of the Brazos River. The further retreat of Houston toward the Sabine left all of the settlements between the Colorado and the Brazos unprotected, and the settlers in that area at once began making their way toward Louisiana or Galveston Island. The section of East Texas around Nacogdoches and San Augustine was abandoned a little prior to April 13. The flight was marked by lack of preparation and by panic caused by fear both of the Mexican Army and of the Indians.

The people used any means of transportation or none at all. Added to the discomforts of travel were all kinds of diseases, intensified by cold, rain, and hunger. Many persons died and were buried where they fell. The flight continued until news came of the victory in the battle of San Jacinto. At first no credence was put in this news because so many false rumors had been circulated, but gradually the refugees began to reverse their steps and turn back toward home, many toward homes that no longer existed.

The news of the Texas victory at San Jacinto was received amid great rejoicing by the participants of the Runaway Scrape.

The settlers immediately began the return to their settlements. For most, however, it meant the beginning of a rebuilding, for many of the homes and settlements were either burned by the Texans to prevent supplies from falling into the hands of the Mexicans, or by the Mexican army as it moved eastward. The recovery seemed speedy, however. Within a short time, the settlements were restored and the material evidence of the invasion disappeared.

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

TWIN SISTERS. On November 17, 1835, after Francis Smith convinced the people of Cincinnati, Ohio, to aid the cause of the Texas Revolution, the Ohioans began raising funds to procure two cannons and their attendant equipment for Texas. Since the United States was taking an official stance of neutrality toward the rebellion in Texas, the citizens of Cincinnati referred to their cannon as "hollow ware." Two guns, probably six pounders, were manufactured at the foundry of Greenwood and Webb in Cincinnati and then shipped down the Mississippi to New Orleans. William Bryan, an agent of the Republic of Texas in New Orleans, took official possession of the guns on March 16, 1836. From New Orleans the guns were placed on the schooner Pennsylvania and taken to Galveston Island. For some reason they were not accompanied by their limbers and ammunition, perhaps because the dangerous military situation in the republic did not allow for any delays. The cannons arrived in Galveston at the beginning of April 1836. On board the Pennsylvania was the family of Dr. Charles Rice, who was moving to Texas. Upon arrival in Galveston the guns were presented to representatives of Texas under the sponsorship of Dr. Rice's twin daughters, Elizabeth and Eleanor. Someone in the crowd made notice of the fact that there were two sets of twins in the presentation, the girls and the guns, and thus the cannons became the Twin Sisters.

After several unsuccessful attempts to get the Twin Sisters to the Texas army under Sam Houston, which was retreating toward the Sabine before the forces of Gen. Antonio L贸pez de Santa Anna, the Twins finally reached the army on April 11, 1836. A thirty-man artillery "corps" was immediately formed to service the guns, the only artillery with the Texas army, and placed under the command of Lt. Col. James Clinton Neill. Only nine days later the Twin Sisters saw their first action during a skirmish between the armies of Houston and Santa Anna on April 20. In this fight Neill was wounded, and command of the guns passed to George W. Hockley. The next day, April 21, 1836, saw the battle of San Jacinto and the securing of fame for the Twin Sisters. That afternoon near the banks of Buffalo Bayou the Texas army struck at Santa Anna's

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unsuspecting troops. The Twins were probably near the center of the Texans' line of battle and ten yards in advance of the infantry. Their first shots were fired at a distance of 200 yards, and their fire was credited with helping to throw the Mexican force into confusion and significantly aiding the infantry attack. During this battle the Twins fired handfuls of musket balls, broken glass, and horseshoes, as this was the only ammunition the Texans had for the guns. Among the crews serving the guns were several men who later made prominent names for themselves in Texas history, including Benjamin McCulloch, a future Confederate general who helped bring the Twins back from oblivion in 1860. In 1840 the Twins were reported to have been moved, along with other military stores, to Austin, where on April 21, 1841, they were fired in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto. When Sam Houston was inaugurated as president of the republic that year, the twins were fired as Houston kissed the Bible after taking the oath of office.

Little is known about them after this. In 1845 Texas was annexed by the United States.

Under the terms of annexation the state was to cede to the federal government "all fortifications, barracks, ports and harbors, navy and navy yards, docks, magazines, arms, armaments, and all other property and means pertaining to the public defense."

Historians have questioned whether the Twin Sisters, which were by 1845 considered to be historical relics with little military value, were in fact turned over to the United States. But evidence indicates that they were, and certainly the government of Texas and its citizens believed that they had been.

All Texas military stores were removed to the federal arsenal at Baton Rouge, including the Twins, and there they remained unnoticed and neglected for fifteen years. Then came the election of Abraham Lincoln and the secession crisis. Even before Texas called the Secession Convention, men were beginning to think about preparing for war. McCulloch, recalling his service with the Twin Sisters at San Jacinto, thought that these guns should once again be on Texas soil.

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

He wrote to Governor Houston informing him of the current status of the Twins. Houston agreed and wrote to the United States secretary of war asking for the return of the Twins. Before action could be taken on this matter, however, Texas had seceded from the Union. The Texas Secession Convention appointed a commission to ask Louisiana for the return of the Twin Sisters, but inquiries showed that the cannons had been sold to a foundry in Baton Rouge as scrap iron some years before.

George Williamson, commissioner for Louisiana to the state of Texas, discovered that one of the guns was still at the foundry, although in poor condition, and that the other had been bought by a private citizen in Iberville Parish. Having found the cannons, Williamson asked the Louisiana legislature to purchase and repair them before presenting them to the state of Texas. The Louisianans passed an appropriation of $700 to "procure the guns, mount the same in a handsome manner," and forward them to Texas. The guns arrived on April 20, 1861, the twenty-fifth anniversary of their original firing.

The Twins next appeared during the battle of Galveston, January 1, 1863. Lt. Sidney A. Sherman, son of Texas revolutionary hero Sidney Sherman, was killed while in command of one of the Twin Sisters at that battle. After the recapture of Galveston the Twins once again disappeared until November 30, 1863, when Maj. A. G. Dickinson, commander of the Confederate post at San Antonio, reported that they were in the rebel arsenal at Austin, although in very poor condition. On February 8, 1864, Lt. Walter W. Blow wrote to Col. John S. (Rip) Ford, who was preparing an expedition to recapture the Rio Grande from invading federal troops, that he was preparing to send the Twins to San Antonio so that they could accompany Ford's command. However, there is no certainty that the cannons actually accompanied Ford on his campaign. Blow's February 1864 report is the last official and certain mention of the Twin Sisters. There are various stories as to their fate at the end of the war. One of the most intriguing and plausible is that a group of Confederates led by Henry North Graves buried the guns to prevent their

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removal by Union forces in August 1865 somewhere in either Houston or Harrisburg.

Graves's story is backed up by the diary account of a Union soldier, M. A. Sweetman, who reported having seen the Twins near Market Square in Houston on July 30, 1865. He recognized them by the presentation plaques attached to them by the state of Louisiana when they were returned to Texas in 1861.

However, this report, like all others regarding the final fate of the Twins, has never been conclusively proved. To this day the Twin Sisters' final resting place remains a favorite Texas mystery.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Galveston Daily News, November 14, 1909.

Frank X. Tolbert, The Day of San Jacinto (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959; 2d ed., Austin: Pemberton Press, 1969). Amelia W. Williams and Eugene C. Barker, eds., The Writings of Sam Houston, 1813–1863 (8 vols., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1938–43; rpt., Austin and New York: Pemberton Press, 1970). E. W. Winkler, "The Twin Sisters Cannon, 1836– 1865," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 21 (July 1917). Jesse A. Ziegler, Wave of the Gulf (San Antonio: Naylor, 1938).

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2016

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Grimes County Cemetery Books Volumes 1-4. Each volume sells for $50 each or you can purchase the entire set of books for only $150. For more information Contact John Ray Maxwell at 936-394-8273.

Navasota Bluebonnet Books can be purchased for only $60 at the Blues Alley

Volume 1 – North (Bedias/Iola/Keith) Volume 2 – Central (Anderson/Shiro/Roans Prairie/Singleton) Volume 3 – South (Courtney/Plantersville) Volume 4 - Navasota Grimes County Heritage and Progress books are $75 each. For more information contact Russell Cushman.