This Day In Texas History - February 27

[joe817]

1795 - José Antonio Navarro was born in San Antonio de Béxar. He later became one of three Tejanos to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence.

1836 - The first prisoners taken by Gen. José de Urrea, were the survivors of Francis W. Johnson's party, captured at and near San Patricio, now called the Battle of San Patricio. When the Mexican general reported to Santa Anna that he was holding the San Patricio prisoners, Santa Anna ordered Urrea to comply with the decree of December 30(Santa Anna sought and obtained from the Mexican Congress the decree of December 30, 1835, which directed that all foreigners taken in arms against the government should be treated as pirates and shot). Urrea complied to the extent of issuing an order to shoot his prisoners, along with those captured in the battle of Agua Dulce Creek, but he had no stomach for such cold-blooded killing; and when Father Thomas J. Malloy, priest of the Irish colonists, protested the execution, Urrea remitted the prisoners to Matamoros, asking Santa Anna's pardon for having done so and washing his hands of their fate.

1850 - Carlos Esparza, a supporter of the Mexican folk hero Juan N. Cortina, and various followers attempted to establish a territorial government and separate themselves from the rest of Texas. The Territory of the Rio Grande was intended to protect the interests of Hispanics, but the proposal became politically complicated and was dropped.

1907 - Justina Luckenbach died, four years to the day before the death of her husband Jacob. Both Luckenbachs were born in Germany and came to Texas in late 1845. In January 1846 they were among the first settlers in Fredericksburg. The Luckenbach family became American citizens in 1852 and shortly thereafter sold both Fredericksburg properties and moved twelve miles southeast. When she was appointed postmistress at the site, Sophie Engel named the post office Luckenbach in honor of her fiancé, Jacob and Justina's son Albert. John Russell (Hondo) Crouch, from nearby Comfort, bought the "town" in 1971. Popularized in regional culture as the place where "Everybody is Somebody," Luckenbach achieved mythic proportions in 1977, the year after Crouch's death, when the Waylon Jennings song "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" became a national favorite.

1917 - Future governor John B. Connally, Jr., was born on a farm near Floresville. Although he was associated with Lyndon Johnson, Connally switched to the Republican party in the middle of his political career. The most famous, and the gravest, moment in his public life came when he was wounded in the Kennedy assassination on November 22, 1963.

1948 - Fort Worth Army Airfield is renamed today for Major Horace S Carswell, Jr, a hero of the Pacific War. Carswell stayed with his plane in 1944 rather than abandon a crew member whose parachute was shot up. His plane did not make it, and eventually crashed into a mountain. In 1946 Carswell was postumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

[joe817]

Gonzales Rangers Respond to Fannin's pleay for help: Two appeals to Col. Fannin at Goliad had resulted in an aborted start toward San Antonio with his force of 350 men when Fannin heard of the approach of Gen. Urrea's army. Responding to Col. Travis' appeals, the main contingent of the Gonzales Alamo Relief Force departed the town square of Gonzales at 2 PM Saturday 27 Feb, led by commanding officer Lieutenant George C. Kimble of the Gonzales Rangers. The senior officer accompanying the relief force was courier Capt. Albert Martin who had delivered the appeal to both Smithers and Gonzales. The force was guided by Alamo courier John W. Smith, a resident of San Antonio de Bexar. According to Dr. John Sutherland, the group consisted of 25 men who left Gonzales and increased to 32 with those who joined along the way, in particular near Cibola Creek.

The Gonzales Alamo Relief Force consisting of primarily the men of the DeWitt Colony listed here was the only organized force in Texas which effectively responded without question to the appeals of Travis to aid their doomed colleagues in the mission.

[TLynnHughes]

1907 - Justina Luckenbach died, four years to the day before the death of her husband Jacob. Both Luckenbachs were born in Germany and came to Texas in late 1845. In January 1846 they were among the first settlers in Fredericksburg. The Luckenbach family became American citizens in 1852 and shortly thereafter sold both Fredericksburg properties and moved twelve miles southeast. When she was appointed postmistress at the site, Sophie Engel named the post office Luckenbach in honor of her fiancé, Jacob and Justina's son Albert. John Russell (Hondo) Crouch, from nearby Comfort, bought the "town" in 1971. Popularized in regional culture as the place where "Everybody is Somebody," Luckenbach achieved mythic proportions in 1977, the year after Crouch's death, when the Waylon Jennings song "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" became a national favorite.

Jacob and Justina were my great great great grandparents. No kidding!

T.

[ELB]

From Three Roads to the Alamo by William C. Davis:

Rain the next day eased the water problem -- and also dampened the ardor of the Mexicans, for they relaxed their bombardment -- and Travis took advantage of the lull to send a party to repair some of his damaged outer wall, especially on the north. In a hard north wind, he sent Bonham out with another plea for reinforcements, giving him Bowie's horse for the ride. Bowie would not be needing it now.

Bowie's illness became dramatically worse, and his sister-in-law Juana Alsbury had no doubt whatsoever that it was typhoid. Bowie believed so as well, and knowing the disease to be contagious, he insisted on leaving her quarters rather than endanger her and her sister...With the help of the soldiers, the weakening shell of a once might man made his way to a small room immediately to the left of the main gate, next to the officers' quarters, and there he would wait to see which of his twin enemies he must meet first, death from his fever or the Mexicans...

Crockett, meanwhile, may have come close to visiting death on another of the more noted men in the vicinity. He had already engaged in target practice during the day, as Mexican artillerymen set up and then operated their forward battery in the bend of the San Antonio that came near the fort. The people in the town became convinced that he killed the very first soldado to fall, with a two-hundred yard shot from his long rifle. Then, on the afternoon of February 27, Santa Anna himself rode forward to one of his batteries, only be fired on by the Texians from the Alamo, and the tejanos in Bexar swore that one of the bullets that sent him scurrying to safety came from Crockett's rifle.

[joe817]

Jacob and Justina were my great great great grandparents. No kidding!

T.

Good grief girl! Incredible! Are you a member of the DRT???? You should be eligible. And that would be an honor that cannot be surpassed! My wife is eligible. The daughters are trying to talk her into joining.

I love to join the SRT, but I can only trace back 5 generations, and don't think I'm eligible, UNLESS I find that missing ancestor! I'm trying to trace the genealogy, but info is sketchy at best.

[TLynnHughes]

Jacob and Justina were my great great great grandparents. No kidding!

T.

Good grief girl! Incredible! Are you a member of the DRT???? You should be eligible. And that would be an honor that cannot be surpassed! My wife is eligible. The daughters are trying to talk her into joining.

I love to join the SRT, but I can only trace back 5 generations, and don't think I'm eligible, UNLESS I find that missing ancestor! I'm trying to trace the genealogy, but info is sketchy at best.

I have started my pursuit of a membership with DRT. Jacob is on the list that already qualifies me for membership. I just have to submit all the documentation that proves it. Since I went back to school full time to get my degree (while continuing to work full time), it hasn't been high up on the priority list. I should get my degree in December and then I'll have a LOT more time to take care of it.

williamkevin has similar problems to you. His Dad was born in Texas but the town that he claimed to have been born in (Hanley or Handley) doesn't exist anymore and we haven't had much luck pursuing it beyond that. My mother's side is the Luckenbach side. My father's family settled Garrison, Texas. I'm Texan to the CORE!

Keep trying to find that missing ancestor, you just never know what might turn up.

T.

[joe817]

ELB, fascinating! Many thanks for adding your posts.

About that book. Is it a good "read just before you go to sleep" book? I read every night before lights out, and sounds like a very good read.

[ELB]

Thank you for the kind words.

About that book. Is it a good "read just before you go to sleep" book? I read every night before lights out, and sounds like a very good read.

It is a very good read, but if you are a reading fanatic like I am, I don't now about the just-before-lights-out bit -- when I find a book I like, and start reading it at bedtime, I tend to read straight through to the last page, whereupon I discover it is now 5 a.m.

But I have re-read sections of this book many times, which is one of my markers for a good book. Mr. Davis has documented it with loads of footnotes, and besides citing sources, uses the footnotes to discuss some of the ambiguities and controversies of Texas history. These are as informative as the main text.

[budroux2w]

I love these threads. Watching the Alamo (04) right now. I know it's not 100% but it's a good movie. "I would like to ask each of you what it is you value so highly so are willing to fight and possibly die for. We will call that Texas"