Tag: texas

Texas Central Railroad

Houston-Texas-Central_1906_Official-Guide(Image credit, ttarchive.com)

The railroad that later became the Houston and Texas Central Railway dates back to 1848.  It was originally called the Galveston and Red River Railroad.  A charter was granted to Ebenezer Allen to build a line from Galveston north to the Red River.  Construction started a few years later and by early 1856 the first two miles of the line had been completed.  The name change to the Houston and Texas Central was effected in the fall of 1856 when the company was reorganized.

Continue reading Texas Central Railroad

The “Twin Sisters” and Dr. Henry North Graves

800px-Twin_Sisters,_San_Jacinto

“Twin Sister” replicas at San Jacinto Battleground (image in public domain)

The “Twin Sisters” refers to two field pieces (artillery pieces) donated by ladies of Cincinnati, Ohio to the cause of the Texas Revolution.  According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman from 1874, they were two identical six pound rifle cannon that were built by a Mr. Tatum at a foundry in Cincinnati and shipped by riverboat to Texas.  They were delivered in person by Mr. Tatum himself in time to be used by General Sam Houston in the Battle of San Jacinto.  Following the Revolution they became prized relics and were known to have been fired at ceremonial occasions including the fifth anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto and the inauguration of Gen. Houston as President of the Republic of Texas.

Continue reading The “Twin Sisters” and Dr. Henry North Graves

Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley to Lawrence Odell and Ella Pauline Drake Holley on September 7, 1939 in Lubbock, Texas.  He began to perform in the country music genre in Lubbock at high school dances.  He had won a singing contest at age five but got his first guitar when he was fourteen.  Buddy and a former junior high school friend named Bob Montgomery formed a duo they called Buddy and Bob and played anywhere they could get a foothold.  They also were the opening act when other artists would tour the area and two different times, they opened for Elvis Presley in 1955 and one time the same year for Bill Haley and the Comets (“Rock Around the Clock”).  Buddy and some high school friends then formed a group they called Buddy Holly and the Crickets and were known around Lubbock for playing dances and also spots on local radio.  The Crickets were Jerry Allison on drums, Joe Mauldin and Nicky Sullivan on guitars.  Buddy did the lead singing.

Continue reading Buddy Holly

Governor Beauford H. Jester

beaufordjester_lrltexasgov

(Image credit: lrl.texas.gov, the Legislative Reference Library)

Governor Beauford Halbert Jester was born in Corsicana, Texas on January 12, 1893.  His parents were George Taylor and Francis Paine Gordon Jester.  His father George Jester had served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas under Governor Charles Allen Culberson.  Beauford was also descended from the Hampton McKinney family, thought to be the earliest settlers in Corsicana in the 1840s, as his great grandfather was Hampton McKinney and his grandmother was Diadema McKinney, the daughter of Hampton McKinney.  Beauford graduated from Corsicana High School in 1911 and University of Texas in Austin in 1916.  He had attended Harvard Law School for around two years but enlisted in the United States Army when the U. S. entered World War I in 1917.  He was only a month or so from being eligible to graduate when he enlisted.

Continue reading Governor Beauford H. Jester

Walter Cronkite, Jr., World War II Correspondent

Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. is not a name that most people would associate with the State of Texas, but he had Texas roots.  Walter, Jr. was born November 4, 1916 to Dr. Walter L. and Helen Lena Fritsche Cronkite in Missouri.  The surname Cronkite is thought to be derived from a similar sounding Dutch name.  However, traditional genealogical sources show that this particular Cronkite family had resided in the United States as far back as the middle 1600s with similar spelling, though for a time it was spelled “Cronkhite,” with an h after the k.  Dr. Cronkite was a dentist like his own father had been.  The family moved to Houston, Texas when Walter, Jr. was ten years old when Dr. Cronkite had accepted an offer to teach at a local dental school.

Continue reading Walter Cronkite, Jr., World War II Correspondent